{{Short description|American baseball player (1910–1992)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Dib Williams |image=DibWilliamsGoudeycard.jpg |position=Infielder |birth_date={{Birth date|1910|1|19}} |birth_place=Greenbrier, Arkansas, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1992|4|2|1910|1|19}} |death_place=Searcy, Arkansas, U.S. |bats=Right |throws=Right |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=April 27 |debutyear=1930 |debutteam=Philadelphia Athletics |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=September 29 |finalyear=1935 |finalteam=Boston Red Sox |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Batting average |stat1value=.267 |stat2label=Home runs |stat2value=29 |stat3label=Runs batted in |stat3value=201 |teams= *Philadelphia Athletics ({{mlby|1930}}–{{mlby|1935}}) *Boston Red Sox ({{mlby|1935}}) }}
'''Edwin Dibrell Williams''' (January 19, 1910 – April 2, 1992) was an American professional baseball infielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1930 to 1935 with the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox. Listed at {{convert|5|ft|11|in|m}} and {{convert|175|lb|kg}}, he batted and threw right-handed.
==Biography== Williams was born in 1910 in Greenbrier, Arkansas, and attended Hendrix College and Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University).<ref name=brm/> At Hendrix, he played college basketball, college football, and competed in track and field.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hendrixwarriors.com/sports/2013/11/23/BB_1123131724.aspx?id=62 |title=Warriors in the Pros |website=hendrixwarriors.com |publisher=Hendrix College Athletics |accessdate=March 20, 2021}}</ref> At Oklahoma A&M, he played on the non-varsity baseball team in 1928,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73972297/eight-freshmen-to-get-numerals/ |title=Eight Freshmen to Get Numerals |newspaper=Cushing Daily Citizen |location=Cushing, Oklahoma |page=8 |date=May 23, 1928 |accessdate=March 20, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> was a quarterback on the football team—earning a varsity letter in 1926, 1927, and 1928<ref>{{cite web |url=https://okstate.com/sports/2020/12/21/football-letterwinners.aspx |title=All-Time Letterwinners: W |website=okstate.com |accessdate=March 20, 2021}}</ref>—and was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://dc.library.okstate.edu/digital/collection/OYearbook/id/7049 |title=The Redskin |volume=20 |page=333 |date=1929 |via=okstate.edu |accessdate=March 20, 2021}}</ref>
Williams' professional baseball career spanned 1929 to 1947; he missed the 1943–1945 seasons while serving in the United States Army.<ref name=brm/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fold3.com/record/629725692/edwin-williams-1910-veterans-affairs-birls-death-file |title=Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File |publisher=United States Department of Veterans Affairs |website=fold3.com |url-access=subscription |accessdate=March 20, 2021}}</ref> Primarily a second baseman, he played every infield position, and one game as a left fielder, during his time playing professionally.<ref name=brm/>
Williams played in Major League Baseball with the Philadelphia Athletics from 1930 to 1935, including all seven games of the Athletics' loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1931 World Series.<ref name=br/> Williams' contract was sold to the Boston Red Sox on May 1, 1935, and he finished the year with Boston, his final major league season.<ref name=retro/> In six major league seasons, Williams compiled a .267 batting average with 29 home runs and 201 runs batted in in 475 games played.<ref name=br/> Defensively, he had a .955 fielding percentage in 215 games at second base, and fielded .930 in 195 games at shortstop.<ref name=br>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/willidi01.shtml |title=Dib Williams Stats |website=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=March 20, 2021}}</ref>
In addition to playing professionally as late as 1947, Williams managed minor league teams in 1941 and 1946–1948.<ref name=brm>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=willia008edw |title=Dib Williams Minor League Statistics & History |website=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=March 20, 2021}}</ref>
Williams died in 1992 at age 82 in Searcy, Arkansas, and was buried in his hometown of Greenbrier.<ref name=retro>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/W/Pwilld107.htm |title=Dib Williams |website=Retrosheet |accessdate=March 20, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73917176/edwin-dibrell-williams/ |title=Edwin Dibrell Williams |newspaper=New York Daily News |agency=AP |page=38 |date=April 5, 1992 |accessdate=March 20, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== *{{cite web |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dib-williams/ |title=Dib Williams |first=Bill |last=Nowlin |website=SABR |accessdate=March 20, 2021}}
==External links== *{{Baseballstats|br=w/willidi01|brm=willia008edw|retro=W/Pwilld107}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Dib}} Category:1910 births Category:1992 deaths Category:People from Greenbrier, Arkansas Category:Hendrix College alumni<!--does not appear to have played college baseball here--> Category:Oklahoma State Cowboys football players<!--lettered in football for three seasons here--> Category:Major League Baseball infielders Category:Philadelphia Athletics players Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:Boston Red Sox players Category:Baseball players from Arkansas Category:Minor league baseball managers Category:Little Rock Travelers players Category:Syracuse Chiefs players Category:Sacramento Solons players Category:Decatur Commodores players Category:Columbus Red Birds players Category:New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Category:Augusta Tigers players Category:Borger Gassers players Category:United States Army personnel of World War II Category:Sportspeople from Faulkner County, Arkansas