BOSTON – While Dick Williams and Terry Francona both managed the Red Sox to unforgettable seasons that will forever be etched in minds of fans, they were cut from very different managerial cloths.Williams was gruff, no-nonsense, old-school. Francona takes a much different approach.”He even said once, and I don’t remember where we were, but he said, ‘I don’t think I could manage now or I don’t think I’d want to,'” Francona said. “And I believed him.”But it was Williams who inserted Francona the player into his first major league game. Francona was a first-round pick of the Expos in 1980. He made his big league debut on Aug. 19, 1981, in Houston, with Williams as his manager.”I was supposed to start,” Francona said. “Nolan Ryan was pitching (for the Astros). That was when they had the air (traffic) controllers’ strike. So, I got to the game in the fifth inning. Found my way into the dugout. He said ‘Kid, you’re leading off next inning.’ No hello, no nothing, that was it. They took Nolan out because it was a pitch count (issue) because we just came back from the (players) strike.”Francona was quickly introduced to Williams’ style.”I remember my third game I didn’t get a bunt down,” he said. “He met me at the dugout and reminded me I better get the bunt down or I’d be doing it in (Triple-A) Denver. I also remember making a base-running play where I took an extra base. And I just happened to look up when I got to second. He was standing up like he reacted (positively). I remember thinking this (guy) cares. He probably didn’t want you to know that. But I remember thinking alright.”Francona didn’t play for Williams very long. Williams was fired in September. But he would go on to manage until 1988, a total of 21 seasons for the Red Sox, A’s, Angels, Expos, Padres and Mariners. He led his teams to four pennants and two World Series titles, with the A’s in 1972 and 1973.But, for Williams, who also played for 13 seasons and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008, no season matched 1967 – his first season managing – especially the final game, he told me in the book “Yogi Was Up with a Guy on Third?””We beat Minnesota and we go to the World Series for the first time in 21 years. That was huge,” Williams said. “I’ve been on a couple of World Series winners with Oakland?So I’ve had a number of thrilling games?.The final game of 1967 that (Jim) Lonborg pitched against Minnesota that put us in the World Series. That has to be huge. I’m a first-year rookie manager in the major leagues?I don’t know of anything, even winning World Series, that I mention, that can top that final game in 1967 with Boston.”That Impossible Dream season changed the course of baseball in Boston.Williams died Thursday at the age of 82 at a hospital near his home in Henderson, Nev., due to a ruptured aortic aneurysm. The Red Sox held a moment of silence before their game against the Orioles at Fenway Park.”One of the best managers I ever played for,” said Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, the 1967 American League MVP, upon learning of Williams’ death. “Dick was very instrumental in accomplishing the Impossible Dream.””Dick was more responsible for me getting to the major leagues than anyone,” said Mike Andrews, the second baseman on the Impossible Dream team.”I played for him at Triple-A Toronto and we came to the Red Sox together. He could get the best out of me. He was a tough manager but a very good one. I am so happy he was alive when I was inducted into the Hall of Fame (in 2008). Definitely one of the most knowledgeable baseball people I’ve ever known. In 1967 he did it his way and was the reason we jelled as a team. He literally ‘drove the machine’ and we responded.””Dick Williams inherited a Red Sox team that had finished with a losing record in eight consecutive seasons and immediately set a new tone and course,” Red Sox principal owner John Henry said. “Dick was an outstanding leader who demanded excellence and accountability from all his players, leading th