Carl Yastrzemski vs. Dick Williams. Two men with strong personalities. Later on they would clash, but in the spring of 67, there was a truce, perhaps an uneasy one.
A Clif Keane piece is entitled “I’m No Troublemaker, Yaz tells Williams.” Keane begins by saying that Williams was Carl’s fourth manager in his seven years with the team, a fact which says something about the Sox’ success, or lack of it. The article states that Yastrzemski started out having good realtions with Williams’ three predecessors-Mike Higgins, Johnny Pesky, and Billy Herman, but each one eventually soured. In his books, Yaz has written that Pesky lost his respect by engaging in pointless arguments about hitting with characters like Dick (Dr Strangeglove) Stuart., and also hints that Herman cared more about his golf game than managing the team. “Carl,” wrote Keane, “has acquired a reputation as a troublemaker spoiled by the management and the press. Some went so far as to predict that once Williams has finished as Red Sox manager, Carl is sure to step in.” The idea was way off; Yaz didn’t even enjoy being captain of the team, let alone running it.
Interestingly, Keane talked about the emphasis on physical fitness in the Sox camp: “The place has been jumping with exercises, volleyball, running, sliding and so forth”. It has been written (though no Globe writer seems to have picked up the story at the time) that Ted Williams, in camp as a hitting adviser, scoffed at Dick’s methods and angrily walked out of Winter Haven, not to return.
But back to Dick and Yaz. Carl spoke positively about Williams’ first spring. “There’s no griping, the men want to do the work, and should because we have a good ballclub here. Dick is a hard worker, we see that in him.” But Keane also brought up Williams’ reputation as a needler. When the two were teammates on some uninspired Sox squads in the mid-60’s, Dick once told Carl: “You run the bases like Jackie Robinson, only you get caught.”
Yaz was not amused, and never forgot the incident.
Early in 67 camp, the two had a meeting at which Carl told Williams that despite his reputation, he would do what the manager wanted him to do. “If he wants a bunt, he’ll get a bunt. A chop to move a man ahead, and he’ll get it.”
The truce held in the Impossible Dream year. But Williams did not stop needling players, and when the team began to fade, relations between Dick and Carl also did. But that way years away. For now, the new guy seemed to be doing all the right things.
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