Matt Williams is a retired American baseball player and former manager. He’s 56 years-old. He played major league baseball for the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, and the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was the manager of the Washington Nationals for two seasons. Williams has served in various other coaching roles.
Matt Williams was drafted in the first round as the 3rd overall pick in the 1986 Major League Baseball Draft by the San Francisco Giants. Williams made his MLB debut on April 11, 1987. He led the National League in RBIs in 1990. He was the National League home run leader in 1994. Williams made the NL All-Star roster 4 times with the Giants. His first time making the All-Star Team was in 1990. He had three consecutive All-Star appearances from 1994 to 1996. Williams won the Gold Glove Award three times (1991, 1993, 1994). He was a Silver Slugger three times (1990, 1993, 1994). Williams was traded to the Cleveland Indians after the 1996 season.
Matt Williams spent the 1997 MLB season with the Cleveland Indians. He won the Gold Glove Award for the 4th time in his career. He also won his 4th Silver Slugger Award. Matt Williams was granted his request to be traded following the 1997 season. The Indians sent Williams to the expansion team Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Arizona Diamondbacks were added as an expansion team in 1995 along with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Diamondbacks played their first season in 1998. After an offseason trade from the Indians, Matt Williams made the 1998 roster for the Diamondbacks. He made it to his 5th and final All-Star Game in 1999. He helped lead the Diamondbacks to a World Series title in 2001. The Diamondbacks became the fastest expansion team to win a World Series title when they triumphed in game 7 over the 3-time defending champions New York Yankees. The game was played in Bank One Ballpark (changed to Chase Field in 2005 after JP Morgan Chase CO bought Bank One). Matt Williams retired from baseball in 2003. He finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .268, hitting 378 home runs, and recording 1,218 runs batted in.
Matt Williams returned to baseball in 2010 where he became a part of the Diamondbacks coaching staff. He remained on the staff until the end of the 2013 season when he departed to fill the managerial vacancy for the Washington Nationals ahead of the 2014 season.
The Washington Nationals hired Matt Williams to be their manager for the 2014 season. The Nationals won 96 games in 2014 and claimed their 2nd NL East title since relocating from Montreal in 2005. Williams won NL Manager of the year in 2014. The Nationals saw a drop in performance in 2015 where they won just 83 games and finished 2nd in the NL East. Matt Williams was fired at the end of the season. He finished with a 179-145 record in two seasons.
Matt Williams returned to the Diamondbacks again for the 2016 season where he served as 3rd base coach. He was the 3rd base coach for the Oakland A’s in 2018 and 2019. Williams is currently the 3rd base coach for the San Diego Padres.
The San Diego Padres are set to play the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2022 NLCS.
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