Ted Williams

Baseball Player

• Born: August 30, 1918
• Birthplace: San Diego, California
• Died: July 5, 2002
• Place of death: Inverness, Florida

Sport: Baseball

Early Life

Ted Williams was born on August 30, 1918, in San Diego, California. Ted was the firstborn of Samuel Steward and May Williams. Samuel was a veteran of the Spanish-American War and had a tough time providing for his family. Ted’s mother became the major influence of the household, though she spent much time away working for the Salvation Army. Ted learned how to fend for himself. At times, he had the responsibility of buying and cooking his own meals.

Ted began spending much of his time at the local playground. Baseball became his one passionate interest. He played whenever he could and for as long as there was daylight. A San Diego playground director by the name of Rod Luscomb was impressed by Ted’s love for the game and talked him into starting a strength program to build up some muscle in his skinny arms. By high school, Ted had developed into an all-around tough competitor who could pitch as well as hit. He threw right-handed, but he batted from the left side.

The Road to Excellence

At Herbert Hoover High School in San Diego, Ted excelled on the baseball field, but he was not a strong student. He played varsity baseball at Herbert Hoover for three years, earning an overall batting average of .430. The San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League wanted to sign Ted to a contract. Because he was only seventeen years old, his parents had to give their consent. They finally agreed, and Ted signed in 1936.

Ted’s first season with the Padres was respectable, but it was recognized that he could be more than merely respectable. In his second season, he raised his batting average to .291, and he added more power to his game, which was reflected in the 23 home runs and 98 RBI he collected for the season.

After Ted’s two seasons with San Diego, major-league teams began to take notice of him. The first major-league team to express a desire to sign Ted was the New York Yankees. His parents did not think that the bonus offered by the Yankees was large enough, so they made a counter offer that the Yankees felt was too steep. With the Yankees out of the picture, the Boston Red Sox came forward and agreed to Ted’s parents’ terms. The Red Sox signed Ted to a two-year contract in which Ted would make $3,000 the first year and $4,500 dollars the second. The bonus he received totaled $1,000.

The Emerging Champion

In the spring of 1938, Ted reported to the Red Sox training camp. Still only nineteen years old, he carried himself with a certain amount of arrogance. Ted knew that he was good and that he only needed a chance to prove it. The Boston organization recognized his potential but did not believe he was quite ready to play on the Red Sox. Ted was sent to Boston’s AA team in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 1938 season with Minneapolis was better than even Ted could have imagined. He led the league in batting average, at .366; home runs, with 42; and RBI, with 142.

The only problem Ted had during the season was with his lack of maturity. He was prone to lose his temper when something bothered him, and he had a bad habit of joking around on the field. The manager of the Minneapolis team Donie Bush was not sure if Ted was ready for the Red Sox, but he could not argue with what Ted had done offensively for the year.

Ted was promoted to the Boston team for the 1939 season. He soon proved to everyone that he was going to be a force to reckon with in the major leagues. During his first season, Ted batted .327, hit 31 home runs, and drove in a league-leading 145 runs. Ted was a tough competitor and always a perfectionist, rarely satisfied with his performance. After batting .344 the following season, Ted was determined to be even more successful in 1941. He became the first player to bat more than .400 for a season since 1930. On the final day of the season, Ted collected 6 hits in 8 at bats during a doubleheader and finished with a .406 batting average. This was an amazing accomplishment which no batter has been able to match in the subsequent years.

Continuing the Story

Because of World War II, Ted left baseball from 1943 to 1945 and became a Marine pilot. He therefore lost some of his prime baseball years to service in the U.S. military. Ted did not come back to baseball until 1946. In that year, he won the American League (AL) most valuable player award and helped the Red Sox make it to the World Series, where the team lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. In the following years, Ted continued to prove that he was one of the great hitters of all time. He won his second triple crown in 1947, after previously winning it in 1942. He was awarded his second most valuable player award in 1949.

Ted suffered his most serious injury in 1950, when he cracked his elbow as he made a catch against the left-field wall. The injury required surgery. In Ted’s mind, he was never the same hitter again. He was never satisfied with less than perfection in himself. When the Korean War broke out, his Marine reserve unit was called up, and so once again, he had to leave baseball to serve his country. Ted came back in 1954 and played until he retired in 1960. He won batting titles in 1957 and 1958, when he was thirty-eight and thirty-nine years old.

Throughout his career, Ted was always an intelligent hitter, and he had exceptional eyesight and quick wrists. For his career, he had a slugging average of .634 and a batting average of .344. Even though he lost some years that could have been his most productive, he still ranks high in most of his career statistics.

After retiring as a player, Ted stayed out of baseball for a number of years but eventually tried his hand at managing. For a perfectionist like Ted, managing was a frustrating experience, so he only spent four years at this endeavor. He also gained acclaim as a master fisherman and was a hitting instructor for the Boston Red Sox. Ted was married and divorced three times and had two children. In 1999, he was named to Major League Baseball’s All-Century Team. He died in 2002.

Summary

Ted Williams was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. He was always a determined competitor and a perfectionist who rubbed a number of fans and sportswriters the wrong way. Nevertheless, Ted ranks as one of baseball’s greatest hitters. Over his nineteen-year career, he won the AL batting title six times and led the league in home runs and RBI four times each. His one accomplishment that will not be easily equaled or surpassed is his .406 batting average in 1941. Many experts feel that Ted was the greatest hitter in baseball history.

Bibliography

Baldassaro, Lawrence. Ted Williams: Reflections on a Splendid Life. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2003.

Cataneo, David. I Remember Ted Williams: Anecdotes and Memories of Baseball’s Splendid Splinter by the Players and People Who Knew Him. Nashville, Tenn.: Cumberland House, 2002.

Cramer, Richard Ben. What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now? A Remembrance. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.

Markusen, Bruce. Ted Williams, a Biography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004.

Montville, Leigh. Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero. New York: Doubleday, 2004.

Nowlin, Bill. The Kid: Ted Williams in San Diego. Cambridge, Mass.: Rounder Books, 2005.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Ted Williams at War. Burlington, Mass.: Rounder Books, 2007.

Seidel, Michael. Ted Williams: A Baseball Life. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000.

Williams, Ted. My Turn at Bat: The Story of My Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988.

Williams, Ted, and David Pietrusza. Teddy Ballgame: My Life in Pictures. Toronto: Sport Classic Books, 2002.

Wonham, Linc. Ted Williams: A Splendid Life. Chicago: Triumph Books, 2002.