Dick Williams in the Hall of Fame

Dick Williams will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and although he'll be wearing an A's hat his importance to me was getting the Padres to the World Series in 1984.

Williams had a way of bringing success to previously underachieving teams before his hard-nosed style grew old with players and management.

True enough.

And his 1984 Padres made their first World Series appearance in history. During Williams' four San Diego seasons, a team that had had only one winning season in its first 13, never finished below .500.