Ted Williams

From SoSH

Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams (born August 30, 1918), was one of baseball's greatest hitters. Combining keen vision with quick wrists and a scientific approach to hitting, he set numerous batting records despite missing nearly five full seasons due to military service and two major injuries. His accomplishments include a .406 season in 1941, two Triple Crowns, two MVPs, six American League batting championships, 521 home runs, a lifetime average of .344, 17 All-Star game selections, and universal reverence.

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Awards 3 Achievements 4 Career Red Sox Records 5 Major League Records 6 Moment in the Sun 7 Career Stats 8 Trivia 9 Nicknames 10 Books 11 Quotes 11.1 By Williams 11.2 About Williams 12 External Links

Overall Career

Ted Williams was born in San Diego, California, and played high school baseball at Herbert Hoover High School. He played for the Pacific Coast League's San Diego Padres after graduation, and in December of 1937, he signed with the Boston Red Sox. He reported to spring training in 1938, and immediately irked many of the teams' veterans with his brash behavior. At least in part because of his attitude, Williams did not make the Red Sox roster that year, and was sent to the Minnesota Millers for the season. Before leaving the major league camp, he informed the Sox' three starting outfielders that he would be back, and would, "make more money than all three of them combined." Though he would not break camp with the team, Rogers Hornsby (who hit .400 three times in his major league career) was a coach with the Millers during spring training that year. The two would talk about hitting constantly, and Hornsby was an important early influence on Williams.

After one year with the Millers, Williams made the Red Sox out of spring training in 1939 at age 20. He would bat .327, with 31 home runs and 145 RBI, becoming the first rookie to lead the league in RBI. He decided at an early age it was his ambition to be, "the greatest hitter who ever lived," and worked tirelessly to that end. Williams would practice his swing constantly, in the clubhouse, in front of a mirror in his hotel room, even while balancing on train tracks. This work would manifest itself in 1941, when he submitted a historic season. Flirting with the .400 mark all season, Williams had an average of .3996 going into a doubleheader on the last day of the season. Though this would have been rounded up a recorded officially as .400, Williams opted to play both games, going 6 for 8 to raise his average to .406. No one has hit .400 since.

1942 brought Williams' first Triple Crown (.356, 36, 137), but no MVP award. This was perhaps a product of his contentious relationship with the media. Though he had never gotten along with the press, his request for a military deferment in 1942 was met with disapproval by the media. It also brought unwanted attention to an unhappy family situation, one Williams wished to keep private. The rift between he and the media never really improved for the balance of Williams' career.

Williams would miss the next three seasons serving as a flight instructor for the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He returned for the 1946 season, and won his first AL MVP, batting .342 with 38 home runs and 123 RBI. The season ended on a sour note, however, in Williams' lone World Series appearance. The Sox would lose in seven games, and Williams would manage only five hits, all singles, and one RBI in 25 at-bats. He was stymied by the Cards' use of the "Boudreau Shift" (named for Cleveland Indians manager Loe Boudreau , who first employed the alignment), which moved extra fielders to the right side of the field to neutralize Williams tendency to pull the ball. He was also perhaps hindered by an elbow he had injured in a pre-Series exhibition game. He would collect his second Triple Crown in 1947, but once again come in second in the MVP voting, to DiMaggio. He managed another AL MVP in 1949 hitting .343 with 43 home runs and a career-high 159 RBI.

In 1950, Williams fractured his elbow in the All-Star Game. He remained in the game, but would miss 67 games for the Red Sox. In 89 games that season, he would hit 28 home runs and drive in 97 runs. Six games into the 1952 season, Williams would return to active duty with the Marines during the Korean War. He homered in his last at bat that season, on "Ted Williams Day" at Fenway Park. He flew combat missions during the war, and once crash landed his plane after it was hit by enemy fire. He flew thirty-nine missions in all.

After a year and a half flying in the war, Williams returned to the Sox in August of 1953. He hit .407 of over the last 37 games of the season, swatting 13 home runs and slugging at a .901 clip, after almost two years away from the game. His body would begin to break down over the next few seasons, missing numerous games with a variety of injuries, including a broken collarbone suffered duing spring training in 1954. He would miss out on two batting titles, in 1954 and 1955. At-bats, and not plate appearances, were used to determine eligibility for the batting crown at the time, and the 227 walks Williams drew those two seasons precluded him from accumulating the at-bats neccessary to qualify for the batting crown.

In 1957, at age 39, Williams would hit .388 with 38 home runs. He would finish just eight hits short of reaching the .400 mark a second time. Williams considered this his greatest baseball achievement. After a sub-par season in 1959 (.254 BA, his only sub-.300 season), Williams decided to play one more year. He proposed, and took a pay cut from $125,000 to $90,000 because of his off season. Williams would hit .316 and hit 29 home runs; the 29th came in his final at-bat.

Williams spent much of his retirement pursuing another passion, fishing, He would arguably become as proficient with a fly as he was with a bat. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, 1966. He returned to baseball in 1969, as manager of the Washington Senators. The team record improved by 21 games, and Williams was voted Manager of the Year. He resigned just three years later, after the team moved to Texas and their record plummeted to 54-100.

Awards

• Elected to Hall of Fame by Baseball Writers in 1966 (93.38%)

• 2-Time American League MVP (1946 & 1949)
• 2-Time American League Triple Crown Winner (1942 & 1947)
• 5-Time Major League Player of the Year (1941, 1942, 1947, 1949, 1957)
• 17-Time American League All-Star (1940-42, 1946-51 & 1953-60)

Achievements

• Member of the 500 Home Run Club (521 HR)

• 6-Time American League Leader in Batting Average (1941, 1942, 1947, 1948, 1957, 1958)
• 12-Time American League Leader in On Base Percentage (1940-42, 1946-49, 1951, 1954, 1956-58)
• 9-Time American League Leader in Slugging Percentage (1941, 1942, 1946-49, 1951, 1954, 1957)
• 10-Time American League Leader in OPS (1941, 1942, 1946-49, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1958)
• 6-Time American League Leader in Runs (1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1949)
• 6-Time American League Leader in Total Bases (1939, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1951)
• 2-Time American League Leader in Doubles (1948 & 1949)
• 4-Time American League Leader in Home Runs (1941, 1942, 1947, 1949)
• 4-Time American League Leader in Runs Batted In (1939, 1942, 1947, 1949)
• 8-Time American League Leader in Walks (1941, 1942, 1946-49, 1951, 1954)
• 3-Time American League Leader in Intentional Walks (1955 - 1957)

Career Red Sox Records

• Batting Average, highest (minimum 1500 AB): 0.344
• On Base Percentage, highest (minimum 1500 AB): 0.482
• Slugging Percentage, highest (minimum 1500 AB): 0.634
• Home Runs, most: 521
• Grand Slams, most: 17
• Bases on Balls, most: 2,019

Major League Records

• On base percentage, career, .482
• On base percentage, left handed batter, career, .482
• Times reached base, consecutive at bats, 16, 1957
• Times reached base, consecutive games, 84, 1949

Moment in the Sun

• April 23, 1939: Against the A's Bud Thomas, Ted Williams connects for his first ML home run while going 4-for-5.
• July 8, 1941: At the All-Star Game at Briggs Stadium, Ted Williams, hitting .405 at the break, homers off Chicago Cubs P Claude Passeau with two out and two on in the ninth inning to give the AL a dramatic 7-5 victory.
• September 28, 1941: Ted Williams collects 4 hits in 5 at bats in the 12-11 first-game victory in Philadelphia to bring his average to .404. He goes 2-for-3 in game 2. Williams will finish the season with a .406 batting average.
• November 15, 1946: Ted Williams is picked as the AL MVP.
• June 17, 1960: Williams hits career home run #500.
• September 28, 1960: In his final career at-bat, Williams hits home run #521.

Career Stats

Team	League	Years	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
Boston Red Sox	AL	1939-60	2292	7706	1798	2654	525	71	521	1839	2021	709	24	17	.482	.634	.344

Note: Did not play in 1943-45; Played Six games in 1952 and Thirty-seven games in 1953 (Service in the Military). Williams played in 19 seasons total.

Trivia

• Ted Williams won the Triple Crown in 1942 and 1947, yet was not voted MVP in either of those standout years.

• The sac fly rule, reinstituted last year, is eliminated for the 1941 season. Though he would bat .400 without the rule change, Ted Williams will have six flies that score runners from 3B in 1941.

• Is reputed to be the only human to have been "The Best in the World" at three different things: flying a plane, casting a fishing rod, and hitting a baseball.

• Williams returned to Fenway Park on July 28, 1953, after a 15 month tour of duty with the Marines. While taking batting practice the next day, he complained to team General Manager Joe Cronin that home plate was crooked. A surveyor was brought in, and home plate was indeed crooked - it was off by an inch.

• On June 9, 1946, Williams hit a 502-foot home run, the longest in Fenway history. The seat the ball was hit to - Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21, is painted red to commemorate the blast.

• Williams' wingman during (roughly) half of his 49 Korean War combat missions was astronaut John Glenn.

Nicknames

• The Kid
• The Thumper
• The Splendid Splinter
• Teddy Ballgame

Books

• The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams
• Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero by Leigh Montville

Quotes

By Williams

"All managers are losers, they are the most expendable pieces of furniture on the face of the Earth."

"A man has to have goals - for a day, for a lifetime - and that was mine, to have people say, 'There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.'"

"Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game.

"Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer."

"If I was being paid thirty-thousand dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."

"If there was ever a man born to be a hitter it was me."

"I hope somebody hits .400 soon. Then people can start pestering that guy with questions about the last guy to hit .400."

"I know - I know all about you (Carl Yastrzemski). Look, kid, don't ever - ya' understand me? - don't ever let anyone monkey with your swing."

"I've found that you don't need to wear a necktie if you can hit."

"There has always been a saying in baseball that you can't make a hitter, but I think you can improve a hitter. More than you can improve a fielder. More mistakes are made hitting than in any other part of the game."

"There's only one way to become a hitter. Go up to the plate and get mad. Get mad at yourself and mad at the pitcher."

"They invented the All-Star game for Willie Mays."

About Williams

Bobby Shantz

"Did they tell me how to pitch to (Ted) Williams? Sure they did. It was great advice, very encouraging. They said he had no weakness, won't swing at a bad ball, has the best eyes in the business, and can kill you with one swing. He won't hit anything bad, but don't give him anything good."

Jerry Coleman

"He could hit better with a broken arm than we could with two good arms."

Eddie Collins

"If he'd just tip he cap once, he could be elected Mayor of Boston in five minutes."

Rocky Bridges

"I got a big charge out of seeing Ted Williams hit. Once in a while they let me try to field some of them, which sort of dimmed my enthusiasm."

Vin Scully

"It was typical of him to become a Marine Air Corps pilot and see action and almost get shot down. He was a remarkable American as well as a remarkable ballplayer. His passing so close to a national holiday seems part of a divine plan, so we can always remember him not only as a great player but also as a great patriot."

Bob Feller

"One of my best friends on earth and the greatest hitter I ever faced. And I faced a lot of guys, including Lou Gehrig. He was also a great friend to my wife Anne and me. He was a great American."

Dale Petroskey (President of the Baseball Hall of Fame)

"Ted's (Williams) passing signals a sad day, not only for baseball fans, but for every American. He was a cultural icon, a larger-than-life personality. He was great enough to become a Hall of Fame player. He was caring enough to be the first Hall of Famer to call for the inclusion of Negro Leagues stars in Cooperstown. He was brave enough to serve our country as a Marine in not one but two global conflicts. Ted Williams is a hero for all generations."

External Links

• TheBaseballCube.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Ted Williams: Hall of Fame Page
• 1966 Hall of Fame Class