Ted Williams
Ted Williams | |
---|---|
San Diego, California, U.S. | |
Died: July 5, 2002 Inverness, Florida, U.S. | (aged 83)|
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
MLB debut | |
April 20, 1939, for the Boston Red Sox | |
Last MLB appearance | |
September 28, 1960, for the Boston Red Sox | |
MLB statistics | |
Batting average | .344 |
Hits | 2,654 |
Home runs | 521 |
Runs batted in | 1,839 |
On-base percentage | .482 |
Managerial record | 273–364 |
Winning % | .429 |
Teams | |
As player
As manager | |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Member of the National | |
Baseball Hall of Fame | |
Induction | 1966 |
Vote | 93.4% (first ballot) |
Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960; his career was interrupted by military service during World War II and the Korean War. Nicknamed "Teddy Ballgame", "the Kid", "the Splendid Splinter", and "the Thumper", Williams is regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history and to date is the last player to hit over .400 in a season. His .482 on-base percentage is the highest of all time.
Williams was a nineteen-time
Born and raised in San Diego, Williams played baseball throughout his youth. After joining the Red Sox in 1939, he immediately emerged as one of the sport's best hitters. In 1941, Williams posted a .406 batting average; he is the last MLB player to bat over .400 in a season. He followed this up by winning his first Triple Crown in 1942. Williams was required to interrupt his baseball career in 1943 to serve three years in the United States Navy and Marine Corps during World War II. Upon returning to MLB in 1946, Williams won his first AL MVP Award and played in his only World Series. In 1947, he won his second Triple Crown. Williams was returned to active military duty for portions of the 1952 and 1953 seasons to serve as a Marine combat aviator in the Korean War. In 1957 and 1958 at the ages of 39 and 40, respectively, he was the AL batting champion for the fifth and sixth time.
Williams retired from playing in 1960. He was inducted into the
Early life
Williams was born in
His father was a soldier, sheriff, and photographer from
Williams's paternal ancestors were a mix of
Williams lived in San Diego's
Though he had offers from the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees while he was still in high school,[17] his mother thought he was too young to leave home, so he signed up with the local minor league club, the San Diego Padres.[18]
Professional career
Minor leagues (1936–1938)
Williams played back-up behind
Collins later explained, "It wasn't hard to find Ted Williams. He stood out like a brown cow in a field of white cows."
In 1938, the 19-year-old Williams was 10 days late to
While in Minnesota, Williams quickly became the team's star.
Major leagues (1939–1942, 1946–1960)
1939–1940
Williams came to spring training three days late in 1939, thanks to Williams driving from California to Florida, as well as respiratory problems, the latter of which would plague Williams for the rest of his career.
This was the only game which featured both Williams and Lou Gehrig playing against one another.[33] In his first series at Fenway Park, Williams hit a double, a home run, and a triple, the first two against Cotton Pippen, who gave Williams his first strikeout as a professional while Williams had been in San Diego.[34] By July, Williams was hitting just .280, but leading the league in RBIs.[34] Johnny Orlando, now Williams's friend, then gave Williams a quick pep talk, telling Williams that he should hit .335 with 35 home runs and he would drive in 150 runs. Williams said he would buy Orlando a Cadillac if this all came true.[35] Williams ended up hitting .327 with 31 home runs and 145 RBIs,[32] leading the league in the latter category, the first rookie to lead the league in RBIsand finishing fourth in MVP voting.[36] He also led the AL in walks, with 107, a rookie record. Even though there was not a Rookie of the Year award yet in 1939, Babe Ruth declared Williams to be the Rookie of the Year, which Williams later said was "good enough for me".[37]
Williams's pay doubled in 1940, going from $5,000 to $10,000.
1941
In the second week of spring training in 1941, Williams broke a bone in his right ankle, limiting him to pinch hitting for the first two weeks of the season.[45] Bobby Doerr later claimed that the injury would be the foundation of Williams's season, as it forced him to put less pressure on his right foot for the rest of the season.[46] Against the Chicago White Sox on May 7, in extra innings, Williams told the Red Sox pitcher, Charlie Wagner, to hold the White Sox, since he was going to hit a home run. In the 11th inning, Williams's prediction came true, as he hit a big blast to help the Red Sox win.
The home run is still considered to be the longest home run ever hit in the old Comiskey Park, some saying that it went 600 feet (180 m).[47] Williams's average slowly climbed in the first half of May, and on May 15, he started a 22-game hitting streak. From May 17 to June 1, Williams batted .536, with his season average going above .400 on May 25 and then continuing up to .430.[48] By the All-Star break, Williams was hitting .406 with 62 RBIs and 16 home runs.[49]
In the
In late August, Williams was hitting .402.[53] Williams said that "just about everybody was rooting for me" to hit .400 in the season, including Yankee fans, who gave pitcher Lefty Gomez a "hell of a boo" after walking Williams with the bases loaded after Williams had gotten three straight hits one game in September.[54] In mid-September, Williams was hitting .413, but dropped a point a game from then on.[53] Before the final two games on September 28, a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, he was batting .39955, which would have been officially rounded up to .400.[53] Red Sox manager Joe Cronin offered him the chance to sit out the final day, but he declined. "If I'm going to be a .400 hitter", he said at the time, "I want more than my toenails on the line." Williams went 6-for-8 on the day, finishing the season at .406.[55] (Sacrifice flies were counted as at-bats in 1941; under today's rules, Williams would have hit between .411 and .419, based on contemporaneous game accounts.[55]) Philadelphia fans ran out on the field to surround Williams after the game, forcing him to protect his hat from being stolen; he was helped into the clubhouse by his teammates.[56] Along with his .406 average, Williams also hit 37 home runs and batted in 120 runs, missing the triple crown by five RBI.[32]
Williams's 1941 season is often considered to be the best offensive season of all time, though the MVP award would go to DiMaggio. The .406 batting average—his first of six batting championships—is still the highest single-season average in
1942–1945
In January 1942,
Williams joined the
Service baseball
On September 2, 1945, when the war ended, Lt. Williams was in
1946–1949
Williams was discharged by the Marine Corps on January 28, 1946, in time to begin preparations for the upcoming pro baseball season.[69][70] He joined the Red Sox again in 1946, signing a $37,500 contract.[71] On July 14, after Williams hit three home runs and eight RBIs in the first game of a doubleheader, Lou Boudreau, inspired by Williams's consistent pull hitting to right field, created what would later be known as the Boudreau shift (also Williams shift) against Williams, having only one player on the left side of second base (the left fielder). Ignoring the shift, Williams walked twice, doubled, and grounded out to the shortstop, who was positioned in between first and second base.[72][73] Also during 1946, the All-Star Game was held in Fenway Park. In the game, Williams homered in the fourth inning against Kirby Higbe, singled in a run in the fifth inning, singled in the seventh inning, and hit a three-run home run against Rip Sewell's "eephus pitch" in the eighth inning to help the American League win 12–0.[74]
For the 1946 season, Williams hit .342 with 38 home runs and 123 RBIs,[32] helping the Red Sox win the pennant on September 13, in a 1–0 win over Cleveland; Williams hit the only inside-the-park home run in his Major League career for the only run of the game.[75] On June 9, he hit what is considered to be the longest home run in Fenway Park history, at 502 feet (153 m) and subsequently marked with a lone red seat in the Fenway bleachers.[76] Williams ran away as the winner in the MVP voting.[77] During an exhibition game in Fenway Park against an All-Star team during early October, Williams was hit on the elbow by a curveball by the Washington Senators' pitcher Mickey Haefner. Williams was immediately taken out of the game, and X-rays of his arm showed no damage, but his arm was "swelled up like a boiled egg", according to Williams.[78] Williams could not swing a bat again until four days later, one day before the World Series, when he reported the arm as "sore".[78] During the series, Williams batted .200, going 5-for-25 with no home runs and just one RBI. The Red Sox lost in seven games.[79] Fifty years later when asked what one thing he would have done different in his life, Williams replied, "I'd have done better in the '46 World Series. God, I would".[78] The 1946 World Series was the only World Series Williams ever appeared in.[80]
Williams signed a $70,000 contract in 1947.[81] Williams was also almost traded for Joe DiMaggio in 1947. In late April, Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees owner Dan Topping agreed to swap the players, but a day later canceled the deal when Yawkey requested that Yogi Berra come with DiMaggio.[82] In May, Williams was hitting .337.[83] Williams won the Triple Crown in 1947, but lost the MVP award to Joe DiMaggio, 202 points to 201 points. One writer left Williams off his ballot. Williams thought it was Mel Webb, whom Williams called a "grouchy old guy",[84] although it now appears it was not Webb.[85] Williams was the third major league player to have had at least four 30-home run and 100-RBI seasons in their first five years, joining Chuck Klein and Joe DiMaggio, and followed by Ralph Kiner, Mark Teixeira, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Braun through 2011.[86]
In 1948, under their new manager, the ex-New York Yankee great skipper
In 1949, Williams received a new salary of $100,000 ($1,281,000 in current dollar terms).[90] He hit .343 (losing the AL batting title by just .0002 to the Tigers' George Kell, thus missing the Triple Crown that year), hitting 43 home runs, his career high, and driving in 159 runs, tied for highest in the league, and at one point, he got on base in 84 straight games, an MLB record that still stands today, helping him win the MVP trophy.[32][91] On April 28, Williams hit his 223rd career home run, breaking the record for most home runs in a Red Sox uniform, passing Jimmie Foxx.[92] Williams is still the Red Sox career home run leader. However, despite being ahead of the Yankees by one game just before a 2-game series against them (last regular-season games for both teams),[87] the Red Sox lost both of those games and the Yankees won the pennant.[93] They went on to win the first of what would be five straight World Series titles, beginning with 1949. For the rest of Williams's career, the Yankees won nine pennants and six World Series titles, while the Red Sox never finished better than third place.[94][95]
1950–1955
In 1950, Williams was playing in his eighth All-Star Game. In the first inning, Williams caught a line drive by Ralph Kiner, slamming into the Comiskey Park scoreboard and breaking his left arm.[96] Williams played the rest of the game, and he even singled in a run to give the American League the lead in the fifth inning,[41] but by that time Williams's arm was a "balloon" and he was in great pain, so he left the game.[97] Both of the doctors who X-rayed Williams held little hope for a full recovery. The doctors operated on Williams for two hours.[98] When Williams took his cast off, he could only extend the arm to within four inches of his right arm.[99] Williams only played 89 games in 1950.[32] After the baseball season, Williams's elbow hurt so much he considered retirement, since he thought he would never be able to hit again. Tom Yawkey, the Red Sox owner, then sent Jack Fadden to Williams's Florida home to talk to Williams. Williams later thanked Fadden for saving his career.[100]
In 1951, Williams "struggled" to hit .318, with his elbow still hurting.
U.S. Marine Corps, Korea (1952–1953)
Williams's name was called from a list of inactive reserves to serve on active duty in the Korean War on January 9, 1952. Williams, who was livid at his recalling, had a physical scheduled for April 2.[103] Williams passed his physical and in May, after only playing in six major league games, began refresher flight training and qualification prior to service in Korea. Right before he left for Korea, the Red Sox had a "Ted Williams Day" in Fenway Park. Friends of Williams gave him a Cadillac, and the Red Sox gave Williams a memory book that was signed by 400,000 fans. The governor of Massachusetts and mayor of Boston were there, along with a Korean War veteran named Frederick Wolf who used a wheelchair for mobility. At the end of the ceremony, everyone in the park held hands and sang "Auld Lang Syne" to Williams, a moment which he later said "moved me quite a bit."[104] Private Wolf (an injured Korean veteran from Brooklyn) presented gifts from wounded veterans to Ted Williams. Ted choked and was only able to say,"... ok kid ...". The Red Sox went on to win the game 5–3, thanks to a two-run home run by Williams in the seventh inning.[104]
In August 1953, Williams practiced with the Red Sox for ten days before playing in his first game, garnering a large ovation from the crowd and hitting a home run in the eighth inning.[105] In the season, Williams ended up hitting .407 with 13 home runs and 34 RBIs in 37 games and 110 at bats (not nearly enough plate appearances to qualify for that season's batting title).[32] On September 6, Williams hit his 332nd career home run, passing Hank Greenberg for seventh all-time.[106]
On the first day of spring training in 1954, Williams broke his collarbone running after a line drive.
During the off-season of 1954, Williams was offered the chance to be manager of the Red Sox. Williams declined, and he suggested that Pinky Higgins, who had previously played on the 1946 Red Sox team as the third baseman, become the manager of the team. Higgins later was hired as the Red Sox manager in 1955.[111] Williams sat out the first month of the 1955 season due to a divorce settlement with his wife, Doris. When Williams returned, he signed a $98,000 contract on May 13. Williams batted .356 in 320 at bats on the season, hitting 28 home runs and driving in 83 runs.[32] For his performance, he was named the "Comeback Player of the Year."[112]
1956–1960
On July 17, 1956, Williams became the fifth player to hit 400 home runs, following Mel Ott in 1941, Jimmie Foxx in 1938, Lou Gehrig in 1936, and Babe Ruth in 1927.[32][113] Three weeks later at home against the Yankees on August 7, after Williams was booed for dropping a fly ball from Mickey Mantle, he spat at one of the fans who was taunting him on the top of the dugout;[114] Williams was fined $5,000 for the incident.[115][116] The following night against Baltimore, Williams was greeted by a large ovation, and received an even larger one when he hit a home run in the sixth inning to break a 2–2 tie. In the Boston Globe, the publishers ran a "What Globe Readers Say About Ted" section made out of letters about Williams, which were either the sportswriters or the "loud mouths" in the stands. Williams explained years later, "From '56 on, I realized that people were for me. The writers had written that the fans should show me they didn't want me, and I got the biggest ovation yet".[117] Williams lost the batting title to Mickey Mantle in 1956, batting .345 to Mantle's .353, with Mantle on his way to winning the Triple Crown.[118]
In 1957, Williams batted .388 to lead the majors, then signed a contract in February 1958 for a record high $125,000 (or $135,000).[119][120] At age forty that season, he again led the American League with a .328 batting average.[32]
When Pumpsie Green became the first black player on the Red Sox—the last major league team to integrate—in 1959, Williams openly welcomed Green.[121]
Williams ended his career with a home run in his last at-bat on September 28, 1960. He refused to salute the fans as he returned to the dugout after he crossed home plate or after he was replaced in left field by Carroll Hardy. An essay written by John Updike the following month for The New Yorker, "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu", chronicles this event.[122]
Career overall
At the time of his retirement, Williams ranked third all-time in home runs (behind Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx), seventh in RBIs (after Ruth, Cap Anson, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Foxx, and Mel Ott), and seventh in batting average (behind Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Lefty O'Doul, Ed Delahanty and Tris Speaker). His career batting average of .3444 is the highest of any player who played his entire career in the live-ball era following 1920.
Most modern statistical analyses place Williams, along with Ruth and Barry Bonds, among the three most potent hitters to have played the game. Williams's baseball season of 1941 is often considered favorably with the greatest seasons of Ruth and Bonds in terms of various offensive statistical measures such as slugging, on-base and "offensive winning percentage." As a further indication, of the ten best seasons for OPS, short for On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage, a popular modern measure of offensive productivity, four each were achieved by Ruth and Bonds, and two by Williams.
Williams is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date to have appeared in Major League games in four decades.[123]
G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI |
TB | XBH |
BB |
AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
FLD% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2,292 | 7,706 | 1,798 | 2,654 | 525 | 71 | 521 | 1,839 | 4,884 | 1,117 | 2,021 | .344 | .482 | .634 | 1.116 | .974 |
Player profile
Playing style
"All I want out of life is that when I walk down the street, folks will say, 'There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived'."
— Ted Williams.[124]
Williams was an obsessive student of hitting. He famously used a lighter bat than most sluggers, because it generated a faster swing.[125] In 1970, he wrote a book on the subject, The Science of Hitting (revised 1986), which is still read by many baseball players.[125] The book describes his theory of swinging only at pitches that came into ideal areas of his strike zone, a strategy Williams credited with his success as a hitter; as a result, Williams' bases-on-balls-to-plate-appearances ratio (.2065) is the highest of any player in the Hall of Fame.
Williams nearly always took the first pitch.[126]
He helped pass his expertise of playing left-field in front of the Green Monster to his successor on the Red Sox, Carl Yastrzemski.[127]
Relationship with Boston media and fans
Williams was on uncomfortable terms with the
During his career, some sportswriters also criticized aspects of Williams's baseball performance, including what they viewed as his lackadaisical fielding and lack of clutch hitting. Williams pushed back, saying: "They're always saying that I don't hit in the clutches. Well, there are a lot [of games] when I do."[128] He also asserted that it made no sense crashing into an outfield wall to try to make a difficult catch because of the risk of injury or being out of position to make the play after missing the ball.[129]
Williams treated most of the press accordingly, as he described in his 1969 memoir My Turn at Bat. Williams also had an uneasy relationship with the Boston fans, though he could be very cordial one-to-one. He felt at times a good deal of gratitude for their passion and their knowledge of the game. On the other hand, Williams was temperamental, high-strung, and at times tactless. In his biography, Ronald Reis relates how Williams committed two fielding miscues in a doubleheader in 1950 and was roundly booed by Boston fans. He bowed three times to various sections of Fenway Park and made an obscene gesture. When he came to bat he spat in the direction of fans near the dugout. The incident caused an avalanche of negative media reaction, and inspired sportswriter Austen Lake's famous comment that when Williams's name was announced the sound was like "autumn wind moaning through an apple orchard."[130]
Another incident occurred in 1958 in a game against the Washington Senators. Williams struck out, and as he stepped from the batter's box swung his bat violently in anger. The bat slipped from his hands, was launched into the stands and struck a 60-year-old woman who turned out to be the housekeeper of the Red Sox general manager Joe Cronin. While the incident was an accident and Williams apologized to the woman personally, to all appearances it seemed at the time that Williams had hurled the bat in a fit of temper.[131]
Williams gave generously to those in need. He was especially linked with the Jimmy Fund of the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, which provides support for children's cancer research and treatment. Williams used his celebrity to virtually launch the fund, which raised more than $750 million between 1948 and 2010. Throughout his career, Williams made countless bedside visits to children being treated for cancer, which Williams insisted go unreported. Often parents of sick children would learn at check-out time that "Mr. Williams has taken care of your bill".The Fund recently stated that "Williams would travel everywhere and anywhere, no strings or paychecks attached, to support the cause... His name is synonymous with our battle against all forms of cancer."[132]
Williams demanded loyalty from those around him. He could not forgive the fickle nature of the fans—booing a player for booting a ground ball, and then turning around and roaring approval of the same player for hitting a home run. Despite the cheers and adulation of most of his fans, the occasional boos directed at him in Fenway Park led Williams to stop tipping his cap in acknowledgment after a home run.[133]
Williams maintained this policy up to and including his swan song in 1960. After hitting a home run at Fenway Park, which would be his last career at-bat, Williams characteristically refused either to tip his cap as he circled the bases or to respond to prolonged cheers of "We want Ted!" from the crowd by making an appearance from the dugout. The Boston manager Pinky Higgins sent Williams to his fielding position in left field to start the ninth inning, but then immediately recalled him for his back-up Carroll Hardy, thus allowing Williams to receive one last ovation as he jogged onto then off the field, and he did so without reacting to the crowd. Williams's aloof attitude led the writer John Updike to observe wryly that "Gods do not answer letters."[122]
Williams's final home run did not take place during the final game of the 1960 season, but rather in the Red Sox's last home game that year. The Red Sox played three more games, but they were on the road in New York City and Williams did not appear in any of them, as it became clear that Williams's final home at-bat would be the last one of his career.[134]
In 1991, on Ted Williams Day at Fenway Park, Williams pulled a Red Sox cap from out of his jacket and tipped it to the crowd. This was the first time that he had done so since his earliest days as a player.[135]
Williams once had a friendship with Ty Cobb, with whom he often had discussions about baseball. He often touted Rogers Hornsby as being the greatest right-handed hitter of all time. In Al Stump's now discredited biography about Cobb, he claimed that this assertion actually led to a split in the relationship between Ty Cobb and Ted Williams. Once during one of their yearly debate sessions on the greatest hitters of all time, Williams asserted that Hornsby was one of the greatest of all time. Cobb apparently had strong feelings about Hornsby and he threw a fit, expelling Williams from his hotel room. However, this story was later refuted by Ted Williams himself.[136]
Military service
Ted Williams | |
---|---|
ROK Presidential Unit Citation |
World War II
Williams served as a
Williams did not opt for an easy assignment playing baseball for the Navy, but rather joined the V-5 program to become a Naval aviator. Williams was first sent to the Navy's Preliminary Ground School at Amherst College for six months of academic instruction in various subjects including math and navigation, where he achieved a 3.85 grade point average.
Williams was talented as a pilot, and so enjoyed it that he had to be ordered by the Navy to leave training to personally accept his American League 1942
Williams completed pre-flight training in
Williams served as a
Korean War
On May 1, 1952, 14 months after his promotion to captain in the Marine Corps Reserve, Williams was recalled to active duty for service in the Korean War.[139] He had not flown any aircraft for eight years but he turned down all offers to sit out the war in comfort as a member of a service baseball team. Nevertheless, Williams was resentful of being called up, which he admitted years later, particularly regarding the Navy's policy of calling up Inactive Reservists rather than members of the Active Reserve.
Williams reported for duty on May 2, 1952. After eight weeks of refresher flight training and qualification in the
On February 16, 1953, Williams, flying as the wingman for
Williams flew 39 combat missions in Korea, earning the Air Medal with two Gold Stars representing second and third awards, before being withdrawn from flight status in June 1953 after a hospitalization for pneumonia. This resulted in the discovery of an inner ear infection that disqualified him from flight status.[141] John Glenn described Williams as one of the best pilots he knew.[142] In the last half of his missions, Williams was flying as Glenn's wingman.[143]
Williams likely would have exceeded 600 career home runs if he had not served in the military, and might even have approached Babe Ruth's then record of 714. He might have set the record for career RBIs as well, exceeding Hank Aaron's total.[137] While the absences in the Marine Corps took almost five years out of his baseball career, he never publicly complained about the time devoted to service in the Marine Corps. His biographer, Leigh Montville, argued that Williams was not happy about being pressed into service in South Korea, but he did what he thought was his patriotic duty.
Following his return to the United States in August 1953, he resigned his Reserve commission to resume his baseball career.[139]
Post-retirement
After retirement from play, Williams helped Boston's new left fielder, Carl Yastrzemski, in hitting, and was a regular visitor to the Red Sox' spring training camps from 1961 to 1966, where he worked as a special batting instructor. He served as executive assistant to Tom Yawkey (1961–65), then was named a team vice president (1965–68) upon his election to the Hall of Fame. He resumed his spring training instruction role with the club in 1978.
Beginning in 1961, he would spend summers at the Ted Williams Baseball Camp in Lakeville, Massachusetts, which he had established in 1958 with his friend Al Cassidy and two other business partners. For eight summers and parts of others after that, he would give hitting clinics and talk baseball at the camp.[4] It was not uncommon to find Williams fishing in the pond at the camp. The area now is owned by the town and a few of the buildings still stand. In the main lodge one can still see memorabilia from Williams's playing days.
Williams served as manager of the
On the subject of pitchers, in Ted's autobiography written with John Underwood, Ted opines regarding Bob Lemon (a sinker-ball specialist) pitching for the Cleveland Indians around 1951: "I have to rate Lemon as one of the very best pitchers I ever faced. His ball was always moving, hard, sinking, fast-breaking. You could never really uhmmmph with Lemon."
Williams was much more successful in fishing. An avid and expert fly fisherman and deep-sea fisherman, he spent many summers after baseball fishing the Miramichi River, in Miramichi, New Brunswick. Williams was named to the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame in 2000. Williams, Jim Brown, Cumberland Posey, and Cal Hubbard are the only athletes to be inducted into the Halls of Fame of more than one professional sport. Williams was also known as an accomplished hunter; he was fond of pigeon-shooting for sport in Fenway Park during his career, on one occasion drawing the ire of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.[145]
Williams reached an extensive deal with
In his later years Williams became a fixture at autograph shows and card shows after his son (by his third wife), John Henry Williams, took control of his career, becoming his de facto manager. The younger Williams provided structure to his father's business affairs, exposed forgeries that were flooding the memorabilia market, and rationed his father's public appearances and memorabilia signings to maximize their earnings.
One of Ted Williams's final, and most memorable, public appearances was at the 1999 All-Star Game in Boston. Able to walk only a short distance, Williams was brought to the pitcher's mound in a golf cart. He proudly waved his cap to the crowd—a gesture he had never done as a player. Fans responded with a standing ovation that lasted several minutes. At the pitcher's mound he was surrounded by players from both teams, including fellow Red Sox player Nomar Garciaparra, and was assisted by Tony Gwynn in throwing out the first pitch of that year's All-Star Game. Later in the year, he was among the members of the Major League Baseball All-Century Team introduced to the crowd at Turner Field in Atlanta prior to Game Two of the World Series.
Personal life
On May 4, 1944, Williams married Doris Soule, the daughter of his hunting guide. Their daughter, Barbara Joyce ("Bobby-Jo"), was born on January 28, 1948, while Williams was fishing in Florida. They divorced in 1954.[146] Williams married the socialite model Lee Howard on September 10, 1961, and they were divorced in 1967.[147]
Williams married Dolores Wettach, a former Miss Vermont and Vogue model, in 1968. Their son John-Henry was born on August 27, 1968, followed by daughter Claudia, on October 8, 1971. They were divorced in 1972.[148]
Williams lived with Louise Kaufman for twenty years until her death in 1993. In his book, Cramer called her the love of Williams's life.
Williams had a strong respect for General Douglas MacArthur, referring to him as his "idol".[151] For Williams's 40th birthday, MacArthur sent him an oil painting of himself with the inscription "To Ted Williams—not only America's greatest baseball player, but a great American who served his country. Your friend, Douglas MacArthur. General U.S. Army."[152]
Politically, Williams was a
Williams campaigned for
According to friends, Williams was an
Williams's brother Danny and his son John-Henry both died of leukemia.[159]
Death
In his last years, Williams suffered from
Though his will stated his desire to be cremated and his ashes scattered in the Florida Keys, Williams' son John-Henry and younger daughter Claudia chose to have his remains frozen cryonically.[161]
Ted's elder daughter, Bobby-Jo Ferrell, brought a suit to have her father's wishes recognized. John-Henry's lawyer then produced an informal "family pact" signed by Ted, Claudia, and John-Henry, in which they agreed "to be put into biostasis after we die" to "be able to be together in the future, even if it is only a chance."[161] Bobby-Jo and her attorney, Spike Fitzpatrick (former attorney of Ted Williams), contended that the family pact, which was scribbled on an ink-stained napkin, was forged by John-Henry and/or Claudia.[162] Fitzpatrick and Ferrell believed that the signature was not obtained legally. Laboratory analysis proved that the signature was genuine.[163] John-Henry said that his father was a believer in science and was willing to try cryonics if it held the possibility of reuniting the family.[164]
Though the family pact upset some friends, family and fans, a public plea for financial support of the lawsuit by Ferrell produced little result.[164] Citing financial difficulties, Ferrell dropped her lawsuit on the condition that a $645,000 trust fund left by Williams would immediately pay the sum out equally to the three children.[164]
In Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero, author Leigh Montville claims that the family cryonics pact was a practice Ted Williams autograph on a plain piece of paper, around which the agreement had later been handwritten. The pact document was signed "Ted Williams", the same as his autographs, whereas he would always sign his legal documents "Theodore Williams", according to Montville. However, his daughter Claudia who was part of the pact with John Henry, testified to the authenticity of the document in an affidavit.[165]
Williams' body was subsequently decapitated for the neuropreservation option from Alcor.[166] Following John-Henry's unexpected illness and death from acute myeloid leukemia on March 6, 2004, John-Henry's body was also transported to Alcor, in fulfillment of the family agreement.[167]
Awards and recognition
In 1954, Williams was inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.[168]
In 1999, Williams was ranked as number 8 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, where he was the highest-ranking left fielder.[169] That same year, he was one of 30 players elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.[170] In 2020, The Athletic ranked Williams at number 6 on its "Baseball 100" list, complied by sportswriter Joe Posnanski.[171] In 2022, as part of their SN Rushmore project, The Sporting News named Williams on their "Boston Mount Rushmore of Sports", along Boston Celtics basketball player Bill Russell, Boston Bruins hockey player Bobby Orr, and New England Patriots football player Tom Brady.[172]
Williams was inducted into the
On November 18, 1991, President George H. W. Bush presented Williams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.[174]
The Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts, carrying 1.6 miles (2.6 km) of the final 2.3 miles (3.7 km) of Interstate 90 under Boston Harbor, opened in December 1995, and Ted Williams Parkway (California State Route 56) in San Diego County, California, opened in 1992, were named in his honor while he was still alive. In 2016, the major league San Diego Padres inducted Williams into their hall of fame for his contributions to baseball in San Diego.[175]
The
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Williams as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.[177]
Military and civilian decorations and awards
Williams received the following decorations and awards:[178]
Naval Aviator insignia
| |||||
1st row | Air Medal with two 5⁄16" Gold Stars | Navy Unit Commendation | Presidential Medal of Freedom | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2nd row | American Campaign Medal | Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one 3⁄16" bronze star
|
World War II Victory Medal
| ||
3rd row | Navy Occupation Service Medal | National Defense Service Medal | Korean Service Medal with two 3⁄16" bronze stars | ||
4th row | Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
|
United Nations Service Medal
|
Republic of Korea War Service Medal
|
See also
- DHL Hometown Heroes
- Hispanics in the United States Marine Corps
- List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career on-base percentage leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career OPS leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career times on base leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
- List of Major League Baseball home run records
- List of Major League Baseball individual streaks
- List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
- List of Major League Baseball players who played in four decades
- List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise
- Major League Baseball titles leaders
References
- ^ "Ted Williams at the Baseball Hall of Fame". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
- ^ "IGFA Hall of Fame Inductees". International Game Fish Association.
- ^ Seidel, p. 1.
- ^ a b c Montville, pp. 245–251.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 30.
- ^ Bradlee, pp. 32–33.
- OCLC 909028586.
- ^ Seidel, p. 4.
- ^ Montville, p. 21.
- ^ Nowlin, p. 324.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 28.
- ^ Montville, p. 20.
- ^ Montville, p. 22.
- ISBN 0823937836.
- ^ Montville, p. 26.
- ^ "Ted Williams: American Legion Baseball Alumni". American Legion Baseball. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017.
- ^ Nowlin, p. 118.
- ^ Meserole, Mike (July 8, 2002). "There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived". ESPN Classic.
- ^ Montville, p. 32.
- ^ a b c d e Montville, pp. 33–34.
- ^ Nowlin, p. 98.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 43; Nowlin, p. 100.
- ^ a b c Williams & Underwood, p. 45.
- ^ Reis, p. 14.
- ^ a b Montville, p. 46.
- ^ a b Montville, p. 45.
- ^ Montville, p. 47.
- ^ a b c d Montville, pp. 48–49.
- ^ Montville, p. 53.
- ^ a b Montville, pp. 56–57.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 57; Montville, p. 57.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Ted Williams Career Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 61.
- ^ a b Williams & Underwood, p. 62.
- ^ Montville, p. 61.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 63; Montville, p. 62.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 65.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 73.
- ^ a b Montville, p. 63.
- ^ Montville, p. 64.
- ^ a b c "Ted Williams All-Star Stats". Baseball Almanac.
- ^ Montville, pp. 66–67.
- ^ "Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox Box Score: August 24, 1940". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 82.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 84.
- ^ Montville, p. 80.
- ^ Reis, p. 26.
- ^ Montville, pp. 82–83.
- ^ Montville, p. 84.
- ^ a b Montville, p. 85.
- ^ a b Williams & Underwood, p. 88.
- ^ Lancaster, Marc. "July 8, 1941: Ted Williams hits 'most thrilling' home run to win All-Star Game in Detroit". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR Games Project).
- ^ a b c Williams & Underwood, p. 87.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 86.
- ^ a b c Pennington, Bill (September 11, 2011). "Ted Williams's .406 Is More Than a Number". The New York Times.
- ^ Montville, p. 94.
- ^ "Ted Williams 1941 Batting Game Log". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Linn, p. 168.
- ^ a b c Williams & Underwood, p. 96.
- ^ a b Williams & Underwood, p. 97; Reis, p. 36.
- ^ a b c Williams & Underwood, p. 98.
- ^ Montville, p. 101.
- ISBN 978-1616087401.
- ^ "Ted Williams 1942 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Montville, p. 108.
- ^ a b Montville p. 110.
- ^ Montville, p. 111.
- ^ Montville, pp. 117–118.
- ^ Montville, p. 119.
- ^ a b c Mersky, p. 189.
- ^ Montville, p. 122.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 107.
- ^ Paine, Neil (October 13, 2016). "Why Baseball Revived a 60-Year-Old Strategy Designed to Stop Ted Williams". FiveThirtyEight.
- ^ Nowlin, Bill. "July 9, 1946: Ted Williams, American League dominant in first All-Star Game after World War II". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR Games Project).
- ^ Nowlin, Bill. "September 13, 1946: Ted Williams's inside-the-park home run clinches AL pennant for Red Sox". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR Games Project).
- ^ Huber, Mike. "June 9, 1946: Ted Williams hits 502-foot 'red seat' home run at Fenway Park". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR Games Project).
- ^ Montville, p. 125.
- ^ a b c Montville, p. 126.
- ISBN 0-688-07995-4.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 105.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 122.
- ^ Merron, Jeff. "Baseball's biggest rumors". ESPN.
- ^ Seidel, p. 177.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 124.
- ^ a b Stout, Glenn (December 20, 1993). "The Case of the 1947 MVP Ballot". The Sporting News.
- ^ Schlueter, Roger (September 17, 2011). "Fascinating facts from Friday's games". MLB.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012.
- ^ a b c Montville, p. 133.
- ^ "Ted Williams 1948 Batting Game Log". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "Cleveland Indians vs Boston Red Sox Box Score: October 4, 1948". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Montville, p. 134.
- ^ Montville, p. 135.
- ^ "Ted Williams 1949 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "1949 American League Standings". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "MLB Team History – New York Yankees Season Results". ESPN.
- ^ "MLB Team History - Boston Red Sox Season Results". ESPN.
- ^ Rogers, C. Paul. "July 11, 1950: Red Schoendienst's 14th-inning homer gives NL a dramatic All-Star win". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR Games Project).
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 167.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 168.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 169.
- ^ Linn, p. 241.
- ^ a b Williams & Underwood, p. 172.
- ^ "Ted Williams 1951 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Montville, p. 152.
- ^ a b Williams & Underwood, p. 174.
- ^ a b Williams & Underwood, p. 186.
- ^ "Ted Williams 1953 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 187.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 188.
- ^ "Ted Williams 1954 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Montville, p. 189.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 191.
- ^ Montville, p. 91.
- ^ "Ted Williams 1956 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Montville, pp. 197–198.
- ^ Montville, p. 198.
- ^ "Williams spits at fans, fined $5,000". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. August 8, 1956. p. 14.
- ^ Montville, p. 199.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 197.
- ^ "Ted Williams inks contract for record high $125,000". Deseret News. United Press. February 6, 1958. p. 24.
- ^ "Amiable Ted Williams signs for $135,000". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. February 7, 1958. p. 18.
- ^ Goldstein, Richard (July 17, 2019). "Pumpsie Green, First Black Player for Boston Red Sox, Dies at 85". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Updike, John (October 22, 1960). "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu". The New Yorker.
- ^ Simon, Andrew; Adler, David (March 11, 2019). "Like Vinsanity, these MLB careers spanned 4 decades". MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2019.
- ^ Williams & Underwood, p. 7.
- ^ a b Witz, Billy (October 31, 2016). "Kris Bryant Takes Lessons from Ted Williams's Batting Bible". The New York Times.
- ^ van Wie, Dan (June 8, 2012). "The Best First-Pitch Attackers in Baseball". Bleacher Report.
- ^ Ruzzo, Bob (December 12, 2014). "Hot Stove League: Ted Williams and His Post-Playing Career". BostonBaseballHistory.com.
- ^ SI Staff (August 20, 1956). "Ted Williams Defies His Critics". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Bradlee, p. 13.
- ^ "Sport: Sorry, Fellows!". Time. May 22, 1950.
- Boston Globe.
- ^ "Ted Williams advanced cancer research". jimmyfund.org. The Jimmy Fund.
- ^ Whitley, David. "Pure Hitter: Ted Williams". ESPN.
- ^ Krell, David. "September 28, 1960: Ted Williams bids adieu to Boston fans with 521st home run". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR Games Project).
- ^ "Williams Honored in Boston and Finally Tips His Cap to Fans". Deseret News. May 13, 1991.
- ^ King, Gilbert (August 20, 2011). "The Knife in Ty Cobb's Back". Smithsonian.
- ^ ISBN 0803213379.
- ^ Linn, pp. 246–247.
- ^ Marine Corps Historical Center. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
- .
- ^ Mersky, p. 190.
- ^ "Glenn: 'No one more dedicated to this country'". ESPN. Associated Press. July 5, 2002.
- ^ Scott, Nate (December 9, 2016). "Ted Williams flew as John Glenn's wingman during the Korean War". USA Today.
- ISBN 0525232648.
- ^ "Ted Williams Accused of Killing Pigeons". Rome News-Tribune. International News Service. May 25, 1957. p. 5.
- Boston Magazine. Archived from the originalon March 13, 2012.
- ^ "Milestones". Time. October 21, 1966.
Divorced: Ted Williams, 48, terrible-tempered baseball great; by Lee Howard Williams, 41, ash-blonde ex-fashion model, his second wife; on grounds that "he made life unbearable with constant obscene criticism" (like cursing at her and kicking the tackle box while they were fishing); after five years of marriage, no children; in Miami.
- ^ Linn, pp. 355-357.
- ^ Linn, p. 86.
- ^ Johnson, Carrie (December 15, 2002). "Williams children seek insurance money". Tampa Bay Times.
- ^ Montville, p. 12.
- ^ Montville, pp. 13–14.
- ^ a b c Frommer, Frederic J. (March 28, 2019). "The Year Nixon and Baseball Were Both Winners in Washington". Politico.
- ^ Guthrie, Marisa (July 21, 2018). "Red Sox Great Ted Williams Given Warts-and-All Portrait for 'American Masters'". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Lippman, Theo Jr. (July 13, 2002). "Williams went to bat for first Bush's win". The Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "Ted Williams Endorses Bush". Associated Press. January 19, 2000. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023.
- ^ Hijiya, Jim (August 2, 2002). "No ones talks about Ted Williams' atheism". The Standard-Times.
- ^ Lee, Gayle (May 19, 2014). "Ted Williams' daughter: Why we froze dad". Boston Herald.
- ^ Sukiennik, Greg (March 7, 2004). "John Henry Williams, Ted Williams's Son, Dies". The Washington Post. Associated Press.
- ^ "Ted Williams, Baseball's Last .400 Hitter, Is Dead at 83". The New York Times. July 5, 2002.
- ^ a b "Ted Williams Frozen In Two Pieces". CBS News. Associated Press. August 12, 2003. Archived from the original on August 24, 2007.
- ^ Johnson, Carrie. "Williams' shift from will must be proved". Tampa Bay Times.
- ^ "Prosecutors won't file criminal charges". ESPN. Associated Press. August 19, 2003.
- ^ a b c Sandomir, Richard (December 21, 2002). "Williams Children Agree to Keep Their Father Frozen". The New York Times.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (July 26, 2002). "Note Dated 2000 Says Williams Wanted His Remains Frozen". The New York Times.
- ^ Bradlee, Ben Jr. (December 2, 2013). "What It Took to Get Ted Williams's Head off His Body". Deadspin.
- ^ "John Henry Williams dies of leukemia at 35". ESPN. Associated Press. March 13, 2004.
- ^ "Ted Williams, Class of 1954". San Diego Hall of Champions. Archived from the original on October 2, 2009.
- ^ "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players: No. 8, Ted Williams". The Sporting News. April 26, 1999. Archived from the original on February 22, 2005.
- ^ "The All-Century Team". MLB.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
- ^ Posnanski, Joe (April 1, 2020). "The Baseball 100: No. 6, Ted Williams". The Athletic.
- ^ Trocchi, Bill (July 25, 2022). "Boston's Mount Rushmore of Sports: Tom Brady, Bill Russell, Ted Williams, Bobby Orr voted best of the best". The Sporting News.
- ^ Burkett, Samantha. "Ted Williams Elected to the Hall of Fame". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
- ^ Keene, Anne (October 27, 2018). "Ted Williams met George H.W. Bush in combat pilot training, and their friendship endured". The Dallas Morning News.
- San Diego Union-Tribune.
- ^ "Ted Williams Museum & Hitters Hall of Fame". tedwilliamsmuseum.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017.
- ^ "WWII HOF Players – Act of Valor Award". Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- ^ "Ted's Bio". The Official Site of Ted Williams.
Book sources
- Bradlee, Ben Jr. (2013). The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0316614351.
- ISBN 0156000911.
- Mersky, Peter B. (1983). U.S. Marine Corps Aviation: 1912 to the Present. Nautical and Aviation Publishing Company of America. ISBN 0933852398.
- ISBN 0385507488.
- Nowlin, Bill (2005). The Kid: Ted Williams in San Diego. Rounder Books. ISBN 978-1579400941.
- Reis, Ronald (2008). Ted Williams. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0791095454.
- Seidel, Michael (2000). Ted Williams: A Baseball Life. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0803293083.
- Williams, Ted; Underwood, John (1969). My Turn at Bat: The Story of My Life. Fireside Classics. ISBN 978-0671634230.
Further reading
Articles
- Cramer, Richard Ben (June 1986). "What do you think of Ted Williams now?". Esquire.
- CNN Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on September 30, 2002 – via Wayback Machine.
- Boston Globe. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- "Ted Williams: 'The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived' – About the Film". PBS. June 7, 2018.
Premiere date: July 23, 2018
Books
By Williams
- Williams, Ted; Underwood, John (1971). The Science of Hitting. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0671621032.
- Williams, Ted; Underwood, John (1982). Ted Williams' Fishing the Big Three: Tarpon, Bonefish, Atlantic Salmon. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0671244002.
- Williams, Ted; Prime, Jim (1996). Ted Williams' Hit List: The Best of the Best Ranks the Best of the Rest. Masters Press. ISBN 978-1570281808.
Others
- Holway, John (1991). The Last .400 Hitter: The Anatomy of a .400 Season. Brown & Benchmark Pub. ISBN 978-0697141293.
- Halberstam, David (2003). The Teammates: A Portrait of Friendship. Hyperion. ISBN 978-0786888672.
- Halberstam, David (2006). Summer of '49. HarperPerennial. ISBN 978-0060884260.
- Leavengood, Ted (2009). Ted Williams and the 1969 Washington Senators: The Last Winning Season. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786441365.
- Nowlin, Bill (2013). 521: The Story of Ted Williams' Home Runs. Rounder Books. ISBN 978-1579402402.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Ted Williams at the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Official Website
- Ted Williams at the SABR Baseball Biography Project
- Ted Williams at IMDb