Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams told SI.com's Peter King that part of his inspiration in hiring Robin Ventura without any previous managerial experience was the out-of-the-box thinking of the San Francisco 49ers.

Williams' son Kyle Williams is a wideout and return specialist for the 49ers.

"I haven't told anybody this,'' Williams told King, "but in talking to (San Francisco GM) Trent Baalke and coach (Jim) Harbaugh, and watching the dynamics of how their organization works, sometimes they think out of the box, and that can take you from a bleak situation to a solution. Talking to them, and listening to some of the things my son's told me about the way they operate -- that helped give me the courage to make what some people thought was an unorthodox move.''

Ventura is now a manager of the year candidate for the first place White Sox.