Former Red Sox Manager Jimy Williams Dead At 80

BOSTON, MA — Former big league player and Boston Red Sox manager Jimy Williams, who led the team from 1997-2001, has died, the Red Sox announced Monday.

Williams died in Florida after a brief illness, the team said, according to multiple reports.

He is survived by his wife Peggy, four children, and eight grandchildren.

"Jimy Williams was a true staple and leader of the Red Sox," the team wrote in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Monday afternoon. "We send our love to the Willams family."

Williams signed his first professional contract as an infielder with the Sox in 1964 and enjoyed a brief big-league playing career outlined in his biography at the Society for American Baseball Research.

As a manager, Williams led the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros along with the Red Sox, being named American League Manager of the Year in 1999.

He served as the third-base coach for the Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves for 13 years and the bench coach for the Philadelphia Phillies for two years, winning a world championship ring with the Braves in 1995.

This story is being updated.