Paul Michael, American actor, died from heart failure he was , 84

Paul Michael was an American actor best known for his role as TJ, the hapless boss of a burger bar in children's television show 'Spatz' died from heart failure he was , 84. He was a regular guest star on American television appearing in Kojak, Hill Street Blues, Alias, Gilmore Girls and Frasier among others. He played a cop in the Hollywood movie Batman.
He also played King Johnny Romano on Dark Shadows. He was best known for his connections to the Robert Langdon series of novels by Dan Brown, having narrated the American release audiobooks for both The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol, as well as the 2006 docu-drama Opus Dei Unveiled, focusing on the primary antagonist group featured in Da Vinci Code.

(August 15, 1927 – July 8, 2011)

Personal life

Michael was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He began singing at a young age in school productions. He served as a sergeant in the Army in the South Pacific during World War II. Later, under the G.I. Bill, he received a B.A. in English literature from Brown University. He was in a relationship for 23 years with actress Marion Ross. He is survived by his two sons Matt and Greg Michael.^[1]

Death

Michael died from heart failure on July 8, 2011 at his home in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 83.^[1]

 

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Ricardo Alegría, Puerto Rican anthropologist, died from complications from heart disease he was , 90.

Ricardo Alegría was a Puerto Rican scholar, cultural anthropologist and archeologist known as the "Father of Modern Puerto Rican Archaeology"died from complications from heart disease he was , 90.  .

(April 14, 1921 – July 7, 2011)

Early years

Alegría was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he received his primary and secondary education. He was motivated by his father, Jose Alegría, who taught him to love Puerto Rico and to be proud of its history and culture. In 1941 at the University of Puerto Rico, he founded the Puerto Rican Fraternity Alpha Beta Chi in search of a fraternity that based its principles in equality, fairness and acceptance of all that wanted to join. In 1942, Alegría earned his Bachelors of Science degree in archeology from the University of Puerto Rico. He continued his academic education in the University of Chicago where in 1947 he earned his Masters in Antropology and History. In 1954, Alegría earned his PhD. (doctorate) in Antropology from Harvard University.^[2]

Institute of Puerto Rican Culture

Alegría was named the first director of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture by Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rico's first elected governor. He was responsible for the creation of the "Archaeological Center of Investigation of the University of Puerto Rico". Alegría also created the "Center of Popular Arts of the Puerto Rican Cultural Institute", the program of publication of books of the institute, and created the logo for the Institute of Neurobiology in Puerto Rico.
Alegría was responsible for the renovation and restoration of historical Old San Juan under the leadership of then San Juan mayor Felisa Rincón de Gautier. He is also responsible for the restoration of the ruins of "Caparra" and "Fort San Jeronimo". As a result of his work "Old San Juan" was declared a "Historical World Treasure". In 1976, Alegría opened the "Center of Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean". In 1992, he established the "Museum of the Americas".^[3]

Anthropology pioneer

Alegría is credited with being a pioneer in the anthropolic studies of the Taino culture and the African heritage in Puerto Rico. His extensive studies have helped historians understand how the Taínos lived and suffered, before and after the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in the island. Alegría estimated that about one third of all Puerto Ricans (2 million out of 6 million) have Taíno blood and therefore the Taínos where not completely extinct and some had to survive. Recently, the results of recent DNA studies have proved him right.^[4]

Written works

The following is a list of books which Alegría has either authored or co-authored.

• "Ball Courts and Ceremonial Plazas in the West Indies"
• "The three wishes; a collection of Puerto Rican folktales"(1969) ( with Lorenzo Homar)
• "History of the Indians of Puerto Rico"
• "El Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1955–1973 : 18 años contribuyendo a fortalecer nuestra conciencia nacional"
• "Taino: Pre-Columbian Art & Culture from the Caribbean" (with Fatima Bercht and Jose J. Arrom)
• "Las primeras representaciones gráficas del indio americano, 1493–1523"
• "Descubrimiento, conquista y colonización de Puerto Rico, 1493–1599" (with Mela Pons Alegría)
• "Historia y Cultura de Puerto Rico: Desde La Epoca Pre-Colombina Hasta Nuestros Dias"
• "Excavations at Maria de La Cruz Cave & Hacienda Grande Village Site, Loiza, Puerto Rico" (with Irving Rouse)
• "La vida de Jesucristo según el santero puertorriqueño Florencio Cabán"
• "San Juan de Puerto Rico" (with Manuel Méndez Guerrero and María de los Angeles Castro Arroyo)
• "Cafe" (1967)
• "Programa De Parques Y Museos Del Instituto De Cultura Puertorriquena" (1973)
• "La Fiesta De Santiago Apostol En Loiza Aldea"
• "El Fuerte De San Jerónimo Del Boquerón"

Awards and recognitions

In 1993, President Bill Clinton presented Alegría with the "Charles Frankel Prize" for his contributions in the field of archaeology. In 1996, he was awarded the "James Smithson Bicentennial Medal". In 2001, Alegría received from the hands of Nancy Morejon "The Haydee Santamaria Medal" in Havana, Cuba. In 2002, Alegría received the "Luis Muñoz Marín Medal" in recognition of his life achievements from Puerto Rican Governor Sila Calderón. Puerto Rican artist Lorenzo Homar honored Alegría by making an artistic graphic poster of him.^[4]
Alegría also received recognition from cultural and architectural organizations in Peru, Venezuela, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, where he also received an honorary doctorate. The city of Havana recognized his influence in the project to remodel the city's historical district (similar to Alegría's work in Old San Juan) by honoring him with a plaque, which, while he was alive, was the only monument honoring a living Puerto Rican in the entire city.
Puerto Rican folk duo Los Niños Estelares dedicated a tribute song to Alegría, named "Alegría, Doctor Alegría", in their 2010 album, Namasté. In it they describe many of Alegría's accomplishments, his educational background, and -partly in jest, due to Alegría's impressive credentials- likened him to Indiana Jones. In the lyrics, they name Alegría "the last Puerto Rican hero."

Legacy and death

Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa became inspired by Alegría's work and incorporated a fictional character based on him, named Ricardo Santurce, in his play "El loco de los balcones". "I admire him a lot; his work was extraordinary. Not only did he resucitate a barrio, Old San Juan, which is very beautiful, but he did it without allowing it to be turned into a museum. He gave it a great vitality and integrated it to current life, showing in a quite concrete way that the past can be a very rich and stimulating element for the present. I wish all Latin American countries had a Ricardo Alegría”.
Ricardo Alegría lived in Old San Juan in his later years, until his death on July 7, 2011. He had been hospitalized in San Juan's "Centro Medico" (Medical Center Hospital) a few weeks before his death. After a brief recovery, he relapsed, and was returned to the Medical Center, where he died of heart failure.^[5]

 

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Peter Aucoin, Canadian educator (Dalhousie University) died he was , 67.

Peter Charles Aucoin was a professor emeritus of political science and public administration at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. He is recognized as one of the leading theorists on the practice and reform of public administration and governance. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the Order of Canada. He also served as an advisor to the Government of Canada as well as provincial and municipal governments.

(October 3, 1943 – July 7, 2011)

Early life

Aucoin was born in 1943 in Halifax.^[4] He attended Saint Mary's University High School, and went on to get his Bachelor of Arts from Saint Mary's University. He earned his master's degree from Dalhousie University, and his Ph.D. from Queen's University.^[3]

Career

Aucoin was appointed to the Dalhousie University faculty in 1970, and became a full professor nine years later.^[3] From 1985 to 1990, he was the director of the School of Public Administration, and from 1992 to 1995, he served as chairman of the Department of Political Science.^[5] When he retired in 2009, he was the Eric Dennis Memorial Professor of Government and Political Science and Professor of Public Administration.
Aucoin worked in an advisory capacity to the Canadian government at federal, provincial, and municipal levels.^[2] He was the Science Advisor for the Science Council of Canada, and coordinated research with the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada from 1985 to 1986. He was the director of research for the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing from 1990 to 1991, as well as the Halifax Commission on City Government.^[3] He was also senior fellow of the Canada School of Public Service.^[5] Aucoin also was called upon several times to be the lead expert witness in court cases relating to election and referendum law, including spending limits on third party election advertising in Canada.^[6][3] He was a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Research on Public Policy.^[2][7]
From 1995 to 1996, Aucoin was the president of the Canadian Political Science Association. He also was previously the vice president of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. He also served on many editorial boards of both Canadian and international academic journals. He co-edited the book series published by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada.^[2] Aucoin himself was a prolific writer, authoring and editing fifteen books and eighty articles and book chapters.^[3] His article "Administrative Reform in Public Management: Paradigms, Principles, Paradoxes and Pendulums" has been cited over 500 times.^[8]
Aucoin died on July 7, 2011.^[9]

Awards and recognition

• 1994: J. E. Hodgetts for an article published in Canadian Public Administration^[10]
• 1995: Charles Levine Book Prize for The New Public Management: Canada in Comparative Perspective
• 1999: Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia 1999 Medal for Excellence in Public Administration
• 2004: J. E. Hodgetts for an article published in Canadian Public Administration^[10]
• 2005: Governor General Vanier Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Public Administration
• 2006: elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
• 2006: Dalhousie University Alumni Association Award for Teaching Excellence
• 2007: appointed a Member of the Order of Canada^[1][2]
• 2011: received an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law from Saint Mary's University^[3]

 

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Manuel Galbán, Cuban guitarist (Buena Vista Social Club), died from a heart attack. he was , 80

Manuel Galbán  was a Grammy winning Cuban guitarist, pianist and arranger, most notable for his work with Los Zafiros, Ry Cooder and the Buena Vista Social Club died from a heart attack. he was , 80. The last surviving member of Los Zafiros, he died on July 7, 2011 of cardiac arrest at his home in Havana, Cuba.

(January 14, 1931  – July 7, 2011)

Biography

Manuel Galbán was born on January 14, 1931 and grew up in the small fishing town of Gibara in the Holguin province of western Cuba. After playing guitar and tres in various local youth groups, he got his first professional gig at the age of 14 playing guitar with the Orchestra Villa Blanca. In 1956 he moved to Havana, where he spent seven years playing in bars and clubs and making frequent appearances on radio.
In 1963 he joined the legendary vocal group Los Zafiros, after a mutual friend had recommended him to them. His playing proved to be a such hit with Los Zafiros that he was told by singer Miguel Cancio "Galbán, from now on you're working with us; you're exactly what we're looking for". Galbán was such an essential ingredient to the sound of Los Zafiros that the distinguished Cuban pianist Peruchin once said "to replace Galbán you would need two guitarists". He left the group in 1972 after working hard for years to allay the personal problems that plagued its various members.
Thereafter he spent three years with Cuba's national musical ensemble, Dirección Nacional de Música, and then a further 23 years with the Grupo Batey as a guitarist, vocalist and pianist, touring extensively across four continents.
In 1998 he joined the traditional Cuban group Vieja Trova Santiaguera with whom he toured and released two highly acclaimed albums. He also he appeared in the Wim Wenders film Buena Vista Social Club, filmed with Ry Cooder during the sessions for the debut solo album by Ibrahim Ferrer. Later he recorded with Ferrer and Buena Vista Social Club bassist Cachaíto Lopez, leading to his present engagement as the featured guitarist with the touring ensemble named after the film.
In 2001 he recorded Mambo Sinuendo with Ry Cooder which won the 2003 Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Says Cooder of the making of the album "Galbán and I felt that there was a sound that had not been explored, a Cuban electric-guitar band that could re-interpret the atmosphere of the 1950s with beauty, agility, and simplicity. We decided on two electrics, two drum sets, congas and bass: a sexteto that could swing like a big band and penetrate the mysteries of the classic tunes. This music is powerful, lyrical, and funny; what more could you ask?"^[3]

Style and equipment

Galbán's distinctive electric guitar sound makes liberal use of reverb, tremolo, diminished arpeggio runs and palm mutes. Using a Fender Telecaster with heavy gauge strings, he references the tone of Duane Eddy and the early surf guitarists whilst playing the melodic runs and chordal patterns associated with traditional Cuban music.^[4] He has been pictured using Fender Twin, Roland JC120 and Fender Bassman amps, as well as a Dunlop TS-1 stereo tremolo pedal.

 

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Humberto Leal Garcia, Mexican murderer, died from a lethal injection he was , 38.

Humberto Leal García, Jr. was a Mexican inmate on death row in the U.S. state of Texas for the May 21, 1994, rape, torture, and murder of Adria Sauceda in San Antonio.^[2] Despite calls from U.S. President Barack Obama, the U.S. State Department and Mexico on Texas for a last-minute reprieve, Leal was executed by lethal injection as scheduled on July 7, 2011.



(January 16, 1973 – July 7, 2011)

Early life and crime

Leal, a mechanic,^[3] was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico,^[4] and moved to the United States when he was two years old.^[5][6] He suffered from brain damage and was sexually abused by a priest as a child.^[7]
On May 21, 1994, Leal kidnapped, raped, and murdered 16-year-old Adria Sauceda.^[8] The girl had been at a party and become intoxicated, and a group of men gang-raped her. Leal is said to have offered to drive her home, and the two struggled when Sauceda tried to get out of the car a little distance away from the party.^[9] Official court documents state "There was a 30- to 40-pound asphalt rock roughly twice the size of the victim's skull lying partially on the victim's left arm; Blood was underneath this rock. A smaller rock with blood on it was located near the victim's right thigh.” There was also a stick 15 inches (380 mm) in length extending out of her vagina, with a screw at the end.^[10] Leal claimed that she fell and hit her head.^[9] No one was charged in the gang rape.^[9]

Case and trial

Leal was never informed that, as a Mexican national, he was entitled to assistance from the Mexican consul.^[10][11] However, at the time of his arrest he did not reveal his Mexican citizenship, and the issue of consular access was not raised during the trial.^[12] Critics of the decision to execute him said that he incriminated himself, which a better lawyer might have advised him not to do, and that he had other legal difficulties, including the court-appointed lawyer's failure to challenge questionable evidence.^[2][11][13] The jury convicted him after 45 minutes of deliberation.^[2] Texas maintained that he confessed before his arrest and so a change of legal counsel or strategy would have made no difference.^{[citation needed]}
As Texas law does not allow the death penalty for murder alone if the victim is over age five, prosecutors had to prove, in order for Leal to be sentenced to death, not only that he had killed Adria Sauceda, but that the murder was committed in the course of another felony offense—in this case, rape and kidnapping.^[9] Leal's lawyers criticized the lack of DNA evidence supporting the sexual assault charges.^[13]
Defenders of Leal stated that the original case relied partly on controversial and flawed methods such as bite mark analysis and the use of luminol to detect blood.^[14][15]

Legal controversy

The failure to inform Leal of his rights created legal controversy. In 1998, he appealed his death sentence on the grounds that police had not informed him that he could call the Mexican consulate. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had already upheld the sentence in February of that year, but international law had not been considered in the ruling.^[16]
A 2004 ruling by the International Court of Justice (in Avena and Other Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States of America)) found that he and about 50 other Mexican nationals condemned to execution in the United States had been denied their right under the Vienna Convention to be told that they may contact their consular officials. A 2008 Supreme Court decision declared the international court's decision binding, but said that it was necessary that Congress pass a law obliging states to comply.^[17]

As the date scheduled for Leal's execution approached, the Obama administration made a number of comments concerning the execution, saying that it would cause "irreparable harm" to US interests abroad, including the demonstration of "respect for the international rule of law," and "have serious repercussions for United States foreign relations, law-enforcement and other co-operation with Mexico, and the ability of American citizens traveling abroad to have the benefits of consular assistance in the event of detention."^[11][18]

Supreme Court case

The administration submitted a 30-page^[11] brief to the Supreme Court asking them to stay Leal's execution while Congress considered legislation relating to the right of foreign nationals on death row to contact their consulate for legal aid. On July 7, 2011, the court ruled 5–4 that Congress had had adequate time to do so, and wrote in an unsigned majority opinion that it would not "prohibit a state from carrying out a lawful judgment in light of unenacted legislation." Justice Stephen G. Breyer, in his dissent, which the other three dissenting justices joined, wrote that the execution would damage American foreign policy interests and that the court should defer to the executive branch's traditional prerogative with regard to foreign relations.^[17]

Execution and reactions

After 16 years of appeals, Leal was executed by lethal injection at 6:21 pm C.S.T. on July 7, 2011. He admitted responsibility for the crime and said he was sorry,^[19] and his final words included "Viva México".^[10] Leal's last meal consisted of fried chicken, pico de gallo and guisada tacos.^[20]
On July 8, a spokesman for Texas governor Rick Perry stated "If you commit the most heinous of crimes in Texas, you can expect to face the ultimate penalty under our laws."^[21] Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's ambassador to the United States, said that "the government of Mexico has never called into question the heinous nature of the crimes attributed to Mr. Leal and in no way condones violent crime," but condemned the execution; Sarukhan had earlier tried to contact Perry, who would not take his call.^[3][21]
Euna Lee, an American journalist who was arrested in North Korea in 2009, criticized the United States' failure to comply with the Vienna Convention, saying that she believed "prompt consular access" protected her from physical mistreatment while a prisoner, and that the decision in the Leal case would encourage foreign governments to violate the rights of American citizens abroad.^[22]
Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that Leal's execution undermined "the role of the International Court of Justice, and its ramifications [were] likely to spread far beyond Texas."^[21]

 

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Olav Versto, Norwegian journalist and editor (Verdens Gang), died when he drowned he was , 60,

Olav Versto was a Norwegian journalist and editor, primarily known for his work for the newspaper Verdens Gang  died when he drowned he was , 60,.

(31 July 1950 – 7 July 2011)

Education and career

Versto received a cand.mag. degree from the University of Oslo in 1976.^[1] He started his career in the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in 1977, and was hired as a subeditor of Verdens Gang, Norway's largest newspaper, in 1987. From 1994 to 2008 he was the political editor of Verdens Gang. After that he became the editor of the op-ed section of the newspaper.^[2]
Olav Versto hailed from Vinje, and was the grandson of Olav Aslakson Versto and son of Aslak Versto, both politicians. He was himself politically involved, and was a forceful activist for the failed campaign for Norwegian European Union membership in 1994.^[3] In his later years, Versto was involved in the debate over the conflict between Islam and the West.^[4] In 2003, he went far towards supporting the US-led invasion of Iraq, a controversial stance in Norway at the time.^[5]
Versto was married to Kari Storsletten, journalist in the newspaper Aftenposten. The two were in 2007 ranked as number four among the most powerful media couples in Norway, by the online business newspaper NA24.^[6]

Death

Versto was found dead in the harbour of Farsund on 7 July 2011.^[2] Police believe he may have slipped on the rain-soaked floor of his boat and fell into the water.^[7]
Following his death, Versto was praised by several prominent figures, including Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, former Prime Ministers Gro Harlem Brundtland, Kjell Magne Bondevik, Kåre Willoch and World War II veteran Gunnar Sønsteby.^[8]

 

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Dick Williams, American baseball player and manager (Oakland Athletics), Hall of Famer, died from a ruptured aortic aneurysm he was , 82

Richard Hirschfeld "Dick" Williams was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front office consultant in Major League Baseball died from a ruptured aortic aneurysm he was , 82. Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967–69 and 1971–88, he led teams to three American League pennants, one National League pennant, and two World Series triumphs. He is one of seven managers to win pennants in both major leagues, and joined Bill McKechnie in becoming only the second manager to lead three franchises to the Series. He and Lou Piniella are the only managers in history to lead four teams to seasons of 90 or more wins. Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008 following his election by the Veterans Committee.


(May 7, 1929 – July 7, 2011)

Biography

Playing career

After growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, and Pasadena, California, Williams signed his first professional contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, and played his first major league game with Brooklyn in 1951. Initially an outfielder, he separated a shoulder making a diving catch early in his career, weakening his throwing arm. As a result, he learned to play several positions (he was frequently a first baseman and third baseman) and became a notorious "bench jockey" in order to keep his major league job. He appeared in 1,023 games over 13 seasons with the Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Athletics and Boston Red Sox. A right-handed batter and thrower, Williams had a career batting average of .260 with 70 home runs.
He was a favorite of Paul Richards, who acquired Williams four different times between 1956 and 1962 when Richards was a manager or general manager with Baltimore and the Houston Colt .45s. Williams' stay in Houston during the 1962-63 offseason was brief, because he was soon traded to the Red Sox for another outfielder, Carroll Hardy.
His two-year playing career in Boston was uneventful, except for one occasion. On June 27, 1963, Williams was victimized by one of the greatest catches in Fenway Park history. His long drive to the opposite field was snagged by Cleveland right fielder Al Luplow, who made a leaping catch at the wall and tumbled into the bullpen with the ball in his grasp.^[2]

Managerial career

An "Impossible Dream" in Boston

On October 14, 1964, after a season during which Williams hit a career-low .159, the Red Sox gave him his unconditional release. At 35, Williams was at a career crossroads: Richards gave him a spring training invitation but no guarantee that he would make the 1965 Astros' playing roster; the Red Sox offered Williams a job as playing coach with their Triple-A farm team, the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League. Looking to begin a post-playing career in baseball, Williams accepted the Seattle assignment. Within days, a shuffle in 1965 affiliations forced Boston to move its top minor league team to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League. This caused Boston's Triple-A manager, Edo Vanni, a Seattle native, to resign in order to remain in the Pacific Northwest. With an unexpected opening for the new Toronto job, Williams was promoted to manager of the 1965 Leafs. As a novice pilot, Williams adopted a hard-nosed, disciplinarian style and won two consecutive Governors' Cup championships with teams laden with young Red Sox prospects. He then signed a one-year contract to manage the 1967 Red Sox.
Boston had suffered through eight straight seasons of losing baseball, and attendance had fallen to such an extent that owner Tom Yawkey was threatening to move the team. The Red Sox had talented young players, but the team was known as a lazy "country club." Williams decided to risk everything and impose discipline on his players. He vowed that "we will win more ballgames than we lose" — a bold statement for a club that had finished only a half-game from last place in 1966. In spring training he drilled players in fundamentals for hours.
The Red Sox began 1967 playing better baseball and employing the aggressive style of play that Williams had learned with the Dodgers. Williams benched players for lack of effort and poor performance, and battled tooth and nail with umpires. Through the All-Star break, Boston fulfilled Williams' promise and played better than .500 ball, hanging close to the American League's four contending teams — the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox and California Angels. Outfielder Carl Yastrzemski, in his seventh season with the Red Sox, transformed his hitting style to become a pull-hitter, eventually winning the 1967 AL Triple Crown, leading the league in batting average, home runs (tying Harmon Killebrew of the Twins), and RBI.
In late July, the Red Sox rattled off a ten-game winning streak on the road and came home to a riotous welcome from 10,000 fans at Boston's Logan Airport. The Red Sox inserted themselves into a five-team pennant race, and stayed in the hunt despite the loss of star outfielder Tony Conigliaro to a beanball on August 18. On the closing weekend of the season, led by Yastrzemski and 22-game-winning pitcher Jim Lonborg, Boston defeated the Twins in two head-to-head games, while Detroit split its series with the Angels. The "Impossible Dream" Red Sox had won their first AL pennant since 1946. The Red Sox extended the highly talented and heavily favored St. Louis Cardinals to seven games in the 1967 World Series, losing to the great Bob Gibson three times.
Despite the Series loss, the Red Sox were the toasts of New England; Williams was named Major League Manager of the Year by The Sporting News and signed to a new three-year contract. But he would not serve it out. In 1968, the team fell to fourth place when Conigliaro could not return from his head injury, and Williams' two top pitchers — Lonborg and José Santiago — were injured. He began to clash with Yastrzemski, and with owner Yawkey. In September 1969, with his club a distant third in the AL East, Williams was fired with nine games left in the season.

Two titles in a row in Oakland

After spending 1970 as the third base coach of the Montreal Expos, Williams returned to the managerial ranks the next year as boss of the Oakland Athletics, owned by Charlie Finley. The iconoclastic Finley had signed some of the finest talent in baseball – including Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi – but his players hated him for his penny-pinching and constant meddling in the team's affairs. During his first decade as the Athletics' owner, 1961-1970, Finley had changed managers a total of ten times.
Inheriting a second-place team from predecessor John McNamara, Williams promptly directed the A's to 101 victories and their first AL West title in 1971 behind another brilliant young player, pitcher Vida Blue. Despite being humbled in the ALCS by the defending World Champion Orioles, Finley brought Williams back for 1972, when the "Oakland Dynasty" began. Off the field, the A's players brawled with each other and defied baseball's tonsorial code. Because long hair, mustaches and beards were now the rage in the "civilian" world, Finley decided on a mid-season promotion encouraging his men to wear their hair long and grow facial hair. Fingers adopted his trademark handlebar mustache (which he still has to this day); Williams himself grew a mustache.
Of course, talent, not hairstyle, truly defined the Oakland Dynasty of the early 1970s. The 1972 A's won their division by 5½ games over the White Sox and led the league in home runs, shutouts and saves. They defeated the Tigers in a bitterly fought ALCS, and found themselves facing the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. With the A's leading power hitter, Jackson, out with an injury, Cincinnati's Big Red Machine was favored to win, but the home run heroics of Oakland catcher Gene Tenace and the managerial maneuvering of Williams resulted in a seven-game World Series victory for the A's, their first championship since 1930, when they played in Philadelphia.
In 1973, with Williams back for an unprecedented (for the Finley era) third straight campaign, the A's again coasted to a division title, then defeated Baltimore in the ALCS and the NL champion New York Mets in the World Series – each hard-fought series going the limit. With their World Series win, Oakland became baseball's first repeat champion since the 1961-62 New York Yankees. But Williams had a surprise for Finley. Tired of his owner's meddling, and upset by Finley's public humiliation of second baseman Mike Andrews for his fielding miscues during the World Series, Williams resigned. George Steinbrenner, then finishing his first season as owner of the Yankees, immediately signed Williams as his manager. However, Finley protested that Williams owed Oakland the final year of his contract and could not manage anywhere else, and so Steinbrenner hired Bill Virdon instead. Williams was the first manager in A's franchise history to leave the team with a winning record after running it for two full seasons.

From Southern California to Montreal and back

California Angels

Seemingly at the peak of his career, Williams began the 1974 season out of work. But when the Angels struggled under manager Bobby Winkles, team owner Gene Autry received Finley's permission to negotiate with Williams, and in mid-season Williams was back in a big-league dugout. The change in management, though, did not alter the fortunes of the Angels, as they finished in last place, 22 games behind the A's, who would win their third straight World Championship under Williams' replacement, Alvin Dark.
Overall, Williams' Anaheim tenure turned out to be a miserable one. The Angels did not respond to Williams' somewhat authoritarian managing style and finished last in the AL West again in 1975. They were 18 games below .500 (and in the midst of a player revolt) when Williams was fired in July 1976. While managing the Angels, he once held a practice in the lobby of his team's hotel using only wiffle balls and bats; the point was to demonstrate that his hitters were so weak, they could not break anything in the lobby.

Montreal Expos

When Williams switched to the National League, however, he regained his winning touch. In 1977, he returned to Montreal as manager of the Expos, who had just come off 107 losses and a last-place finish in the NL East. After cajoling them into improved, but below .500, performances in his first two seasons in Montreal, Williams turned the 1979-80 Expos into pennant contenders. The team won over 90 games both years, but finished second each time to the eventual World Champion (the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980). The Expos, with a fruitful farm system and young All-Stars such as outfielder Andre Dawson and catcher Gary Carter, seemed a lock to contend for a long time to come.
But Williams' hard edge alienated his players and ultimately wore out his welcome. He labeled pitcher Steve Rogers a fraud with "king of the mountain syndrome" – meaning that Rogers had been a good pitcher on a bad team for so long that he was unable to "step up" when the team became good. Williams also lost confidence in closer Jeff Reardon, whom the Montreal front office had acquired in a much publicized trade with the Mets. When the 1981 Expos performed below expectations, Williams was fired during the pennant drive. With the arrival of his easy-going successor Jim Fanning, who restored Reardon to the closer's role, the inspired Expos made the playoffs for the only time in their 36-year history in Montreal. However, they fell in heartbreaking fashion to Rick Monday and the eventual World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers in a five-game NLCS.

San Diego Padres

In 1982, Williams took over another chronic loser, the San Diego Padres. By 1984, he had guided the Padres to their first NL West Division championship. In the NLCS, the NL East champion Chicago Cubs – making their first postseason appearance since 1945 – won Games 1 and 2, but Williams' Padres took the next three games in a miraculous comeback to win the pennant. In the World Series, however, San Diego was no match for Sparky Anderson's Detroit Tigers, a team that had won 104 games during the regular season (having gone a record 35-5 by late May) and swept the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS. Although the Tigers won the Series in five games, both Williams and Anderson joined Dark, Joe McCarthy, and Yogi Berra as managers who had won pennants in both major leagues (Tony La Russa joined this group in 2004 and Jim Leyland followed suit in 2006).
The Padres fell to third in 1985, and Williams was let go as manager just before 1986 spring training. His record with the Padres was 337–311 over four seasons. As of 2011, he was the only manager in the team's history without a losing season.^[3] His difficulties with the Padres stemmed from a power struggle with team president Ballard Smith and general manager Jack McKeon.^[3] Williams was a hire of team owner (and McDonald's restaurant magnate) Ray Kroc, whose health was failing. McKeon and Smith (who also happened to be Kroc's son-in-law) were posturing to buy the team and viewed Williams as a threat to their plans. With his San Diego tenure at an end, it appeared that Williams' managerial career was finished.

Final seasons in uniform

In 1986, the Seattle Mariners, another perennial loser, called on Williams to be manager. When the Mariners lost 19 of their first 28 games under Chuck Cottier, Williams came back to the American League West for the first time in almost a decade. The Mariners showed some life that season and almost reached .500 the following season. However, Williams' autocratic managing style no longer played with the new generation of ballplayers. Williams was fired from his last managing job with Seattle 23-33 and in sixth place in June 1988. Williams' career won-loss totals were 1,571 wins and 1,451 losses over 21 seasons.
In 1989, Williams was named manager of the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association, a league featuring mostly former major league players 35 years of age and older. The Tropics went 52-20 in the regular season and ran away with the Southern Division title. Despite their regular season dominance, the Tropics lost 12-4 to the St. Petersburg Pelicans in the league's championship game. The Tropics folded at the end of the season, and the rest of the league folded a year later.
He remained in the game, however, as a special consultant to George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees. In 1990, Williams published his autobiography, No More Mister Nice Guy. His acrimonious departure in 1969 distanced Williams from the Red Sox for the remainder of the Yawkey ownership period (through 2001), but after the change in ownership and management that followed, he was selected to the team's Hall of Fame in 2006.
Williams's number was recently retired by the Fort Worth Cats. The Cats were a popular minor league team in Fort Worth and Williams played there while he was working his way through the Dodgers system. The Cats merged/disbanded around 1960 but in recent years returned as an independent minor league team. The "New" Cats retired Williams' number.

Managerial statistics

Team	Year	Regular Season				Post Season
		Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
BOS	1967	92	70	.568	1st in American League	3	4	.429	Lost to St. Louis Cardinals
BOS	1968	86	76	.531	4th in American League	-	-	-	-
BOS	1969	82	71	.536	3rd in AL East	-	-	-	-
OAK	1971	101	60	.627	1st in AL West	0	3	.000	Lost to Baltimore Orioles
OAK	1972	93	62	.600	1st in AL West	7	5	.583	Won World Series
OAK	1973	94	68	.580	1st in AL West	7	5	.583	Won World Series
CAL	1974	36	48	.429	6th in AL West	-	-	-	-
CAL	1975	72	89	.447	6th in AL West	-	-	-	-
CAL	1976	39	57	.406	4th in AL West	-	-	-	-
MON	1977	75	87	.463	5th in NL East	-	-	-	-
MON	1978	76	86	.469	4th in NL East	-	-	-	-
MON	1979	95	65	.594	2nd in NL East	-	-	-	-
MON	1980	90	72	.556	2nd in NL East	-	-	-	-
MON	1981	44	37	.543	2nd in NL East	-	-	-	-
SDP	1982	81	81	.500	4th in NL West	-	-	-	-
SDP	1983	81	81	.500	4th in NL West	-	-	-	-
SDP	1984	92	70	.568	1st in NL West	4	6	.400	Lost to Detroit Tigers
SDP	1985	83	79	.512	3rd in NL West	-	-	-	-
SEA	1986	58	75	.436	7th in AL West	-	-	-	-
SEA	1987	78	84	.481	4th in AL West	-	-	-	-
SEA	1988	23	33	.411	7th in AL West	-	-	-	-
Total		1571	1451	.520		21	23	.477	Won 2 World Series

Induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Dick Williams was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in December 2007, and was inducted on July 27, 2008.^[4]

Personal life

His son, Rick Williams a former minor league pitcher and Major League pitching coach is currently a professional scout for the Yankees. Before Dick Williams became a Major League manager in 1967, he successfully appeared on the television quiz shows The Match Game and the original Hollywood Squares. According to Peter Marshall's Backstage with the Original Hollywood Squares, Williams won $50,000 as a contestant on the latter show. Marshall's son, Pete LaCock, played nine seasons (1972–1980) in the Major Leagues — but never for Williams.

Arrest

In January 2000, Williams pleaded no contest to indecent exposure charges in Florida.^[5][6] This occurred just weeks before the Baseball Hall of Fame Veterans Committee's vote in that year's inductees.
"What happened to me down in Fort Myers when I was arrested evidently hurt me quite a bit," Williams told the New York Times in a telephone interview. "What came out on that in the papers was not true. I was not masturbating on the balcony. I'm going to issue a statement about it so the explanation goes across the country."^[7]

Death

Dick Williams died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm at a hospital near his home in Henderson, Nevada on July 7, 2011.^[8][9]

 

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