REDS PRESIDENT RESIGNS TO ENTER FAMILY BUSINESS
Cincinnati Reds president Dick Williams has resigned to pursue other interests with his family’s property development business, the team said Wednesday.
The 50-year-old Williams worked in Reds baseball operations for 15 years and has been president since 2016. The Reds said he is leaving to work more closely with family-owned and controlled North American Properties, which has an ownership stake in the team.
Nick Krall will continue in his role as vice president and general manager.
Williams told the Cincinnati Enquirer he had informed Reds CEO Bob Castellini in August that this season would be his last, no matter how the Reds finished.
Williams was involved in rebuilding the team after playoff appearances in 2010, ’12 and ’13. The Reds had fallen on hard times in recent years but in this coronavirusshortened season notched their first winning season and playoff appearance in seven years. The Atlanta Braves eliminated Cincinnati in a two-game sweep of their wild-card series last week.
“It is the right time for me to begin a transition, both professionally and personally,” Williams said in a statement. “I have been affiliated with this organization in one way or another for most of my life, but I have been working here full-time for 15 years. More than anything, I was so proud to represent this unbelievable city of ours. It was the honor of a lifetime to be a small part of assembling teams that went out and battled for these fans.”
Williams was credited with strengthening the team’s scouting and farm system, implementing analytics and establishing a sports science and wellness department.
Williams’ father is the Reds chairman and his uncle is the vice chairman in the current ownership group. He has a long family history with the organization. His grandfather, W. Joseph Williams Sr., was one of the principal owners in the group that bought the team in 1966 and owned the club through the Big Red Machine era.
Francona’s surgeries
Terry Francona’s mind brief ly wandered to a life without baseball while he battled through a major health scare.
Retirement stared him in the face.
“Some days when I was extremely frustrated, the thought crossed my mind,” the Indians manager said. “When it was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I tried not to think like that.”
Francona revealed Wednesday that he underwent several surgeries in a four-day span and required an extended stay in intensive care at the Cleveland Clinic while dealing with medical issues that sidelined him for all but 14 games this season.
The 61-year-old Francona, who plans to return in 2021, said he’s relieved to have the ordeal, which beat him up mentally and physically, behind him.
After initially undergoing a surgery for a gastrointestinal issue that had bothered him for nearly a year, Francona thought he was recovering when some blood-clotting issues led to more operations and four days in ICU.
Notable
ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC averaged 1,836,000 viewers for 16 broadcasts in the expanded wild-card round, drawing far more viewers for 16 games but an average down vastly from the singleknockout contests in previous years.
The most-watched game was the New York Yankees’ opening 12-3 win over Cleveland on Sept. 29, which averaged 2,642,000 despite taking place partly opposite a presidential debate.
• Major League Baseball is moving ahead with planning to eliminate the separate governing body of minor league baseball as part of a project to shrink affiliations from 160 to 120.