Blue Jays Fire Williams, Look for a Manager

Jimy Williams was fired Monday as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, who were picked by many to challenge for the division title but currently are sixth in the American League East.

Williams, who is the first major league manager to be dismissed this season, was replaced on an interim basis by Cito Gaston, only the fourth black to manage in the major leagues.

Gaston, though, is not among the candidates to replace Williams on a permanent basis, said General Manager Pat Gillick.

Gillick, who expects to name a manager within a week to 10 days, said: “We’re not going to choose anyone from this coaching staff. We don’t feel it’s an easy transition to make from coach to manager on our ballclub.

“We think one of the problems was with Jimy making the transition from the coaching staff. That’s why we would prefer someone with managerial experience.”

Gaston, the senior member of the Blue Jays’ coaching staff, has been the team’s hitting instructor since before the 1982 season.

Williams, formerly the Blue Jays’ third base coach, was hired as manager on Oct. 25, 1985, after Bobby Cox quit to become general manager of the Atlanta Braves.

The Blue Jays, who won the American League East under Cox in 1985, finished fourth under Williams in 1986 with an 86-76 record.

In 1987, they led by 3 1/2 games with a week to play. But Toronto lost its last seven games and finished with a 96-66 record, two games behind the Detroit Tigers, who swept a three-game series against the Blue Jays on the final weekend of the season. Last season, the Blue Jays tied for third with an 87-75 record, finishing two games behind the division champion Boston Red Sox.

This season, though, the Blue Jays were 12-24 before Monday night’s 5-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

“The circumstances are such that, after 36 games, we felt it was necessary to make a change,” Gillick told Associated Press. “We are all disappointed.”

The Blue Jays had never before fired a manager in midseason.

Among the rumored candidates to replace Williams are Lou Piniella, former manager of the New York Yankees, and Dick Williams, former manager of the Angels, the Red Sox, the Oakland Athletics, the San Diego Padres, the Montreal Expos and, most recently, the Seattle Mariners.

The Toronto Globe and Mail also reported today that Marcel Lachemann, the Angels’ pitching coach, was among the candidates.

Gaston, who joins Frank Robinson, Larry Doby and Maury Wills as the only blacks to manage in the major leagues, said he would do his best to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Doby, director of community affairs with the New Jersey Nets, was interim manager of the Chicago White Sox in 1978. Wills was manager of the Mariners for parts of two seasons before being fired in 1981. Robinson is manager of the Baltimore Orioles.

Gaston, a former major leaguer who once roomed with Hank Aaron when both played for the Atlanta Braves, said in past interviews that he wasn’t sure he wanted to manage permanently in the major leagues.

“I expect that, sooner or later, somebody is going to ask me, and I’m a little curious myself how I’ll react,” Gaston told Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun in spring training. “I really love my work here and I think I’m pretty good at it.

“There are so many more demands on your time as a manager, and I just don’t know if I want to give up what free time I have.”

A SUCCESSFUL START

George Bell drives in three runs as Toronto wins its first game under interim manager Cito Gaston, beating the Cleveland Indians, 5-3. American League Roundup, Page 4.