In this photo taken Sept. 26, 2015, Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams watches a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Washington. The Washington Nationals say they have fired Matt Williams and his coaching staff. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
WASHINGTON — Manager Matt Williams was fired by the Washington Nationals on Monday after a season in which the team went from World Series favorite to failing to make the playoffs.
The club announced the move a day after finishing the regular season barely above .500 at 83-79, second to the New York Mets in the NL East.
“This entire season was a disappointment,” general manager Mike Rizzo said during a telephone conference call. “It was not our best year. It wasn’t Matt’s best year. It wasn’t my best year. As an organization, it wasn’t our best year. All of us, together, feel the disappointment.”
Williams is gone after only two seasons in his first job as a skipper in the majors. Last year, he was voted NL Manager of the Year after the Nationals finished with the best record in the league. In February, the Nationals exercised his 2016 contract option.
Williams grew up in Carson City and graduated from Carson High School in 1983. He played for former Carson High coach, and current Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Division I Commissioner Ron McNutt. Williams played his college baseball at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
But Williams presided over a 2015 season filled with defeats, discord and the embarrassing spectacle of a dugout dustup between NL MVP front-runner Bryce Harper and teammate Jonathan Papelbon during a game the day after the team was eliminated from playoff contention.
Williams said he had no idea of the extent of the skirmish until much later in the day. Even though he was, of course, in the dugout at the time, Williams said he hadn’t been aware of exactly what happened — including that Papelbon grabbed Harper by the throat. None of his players or coaches told him about it right away, and he said he hadn’t asked to know more.
“Not one single incident was the tipping point of making a decision with Matt Williams,” Rizzo said. “Like I said during the season, (we were) going to take his whole body of work into consideration.”
The Nationals also said Monday they will not renew the contracts of the seven members of Williams’ staff: bench coach Randy Knorr, pitching coach Steve McCatty, hitting coach Rick Schu, third base coach Bobby Henley, first base coach Tony Tarasco, bullpen coach Matt LeCroy, and defensive coordinator Mark Weidemaier.
Before the season began, no one was shy about predicting big things for Washington — not even the Nationals themselves. But the team fell apart in the second half.
Williams tried to deal with a long list of injuries, including to half of the everyday lineup for long stretches: Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon and Denard Span. The ideal lineup was available for only two games all season.
“We had some things that went sideways and we had a whole bunch of injuries, and not much you can do about that except adjust and move on,” Williams said Sunday.
Williams previoulsy worked as a first and third base coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Williams, who played for the Giants, Indians and Diamondbacks during his career, had never managed at any level before the Nationals job.