I think it's ironic that Williams benched Williams for being lazy, because benching a guy to punish him is a very lazy way to manage, in my opinion.
Williams should have done what GAC recommended and had a long talk with Harper, in front of his teammates, then made Harper help the clubhouse guy pack up all the equipment after the game, or had Harper come in early and run sprints the next day. Taking a player out of a game as punishment punishes the rest of the team more than it does the individual player. It's a lazy way to manage.
It does remind me of one of my favorite classic Mickey Mantle stories. During Mantle's rookie year, Billy Martin convinced Mantle to go out drinking after the game, and they had such a great time that they missed the team bus to the Boston for a double header the next day. They spent hours trying to find a way to get to Boston, but ended up having to take a cab, driving in the middle of the night. They arrived at Fenway right as batting practice was about to start. Seeing that they were hungover, Yankee manager Casey Stengel went up to the two and informed them that to reward them for their hustle to get to the park on their own, he was starting both of them in both games of the double header and they were playing every inning.
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