Ted Williams

Ted Williams once said that he wanted to walk down the street and have people say, "There goes the greatest hitter that ever lived".

Theodore Samuel Williams, alias The Splendid Splinter, Teddy Ball Game, The Kid, was born in San Diego, California on August 30, 1918.

He was a pitcher for his Herbert Hoover high school team and was also the star hitter. In 1936, Ted signed with the then minor league San Diego Padres. He joined the Boston Red Sox in 1939.

In Williams' rookie season with the Red Sox, he batted .327. He led the American League with 145 Runs Batted In and also 344 total bases. He had 185 hits and 31 Home Runs. There was now Rookie Of The Year Award back then, but Ted finished fourth in the Most Valuable Player voting behind winner Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx and Bob Feller. Not bad company for a rookie. His rookie salary was $4,500.

During the 1940 season, Ted batted .344 and led the American League with 134 Runs and a .442 On Base Percentage. Then came 1941.

Bill Terry of the New York Giants had been the last batter to hit .400 in 1930. He hit .401. In spring traing that year, Williams broke a bone in his right ankle which limited him to pinch hitting for the first two weeks of the season. Ted later claimed that the injury actually helped his hitting because he couldn't put as much pressure on his landing foot during his stride which enabled him to keep his weight back.

By the All Star break, Ted was hitting .406 with 62 Runs Batted In and 16 Home Runs. During that All Star game, Ted hit the game winning home run which he always said was the biggest thrill of his baseball life.

By the middle of September, Williams was batting .413, but lost ground from then on. On the final day of the season, he was batting .39955, which officially would have been .400.

His manager, Joe Cronin gave Ted the choice to sit out the final two games of a double header that day against the Philadelphia Athletics. Ted Williams said "No way!". He went six for eight in the two games and finished with a .406 batting average.

The last man to hit .400. Actually, back in 1941, sacrifice flies were counted as a time at bat. By today's rules, they are not and Ted's average, if he was playing by today's rules, according to Baseball Reference, would have been .419. Williams also led the league with 37 home runs and drove in 120 runs, which was five behind Joe DiMaggio.

Some baseball people say that Ted's 1941 season was the best ever by a hitter. Unfortunately 1941 was the season that Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 consecutive games and was awarded the American League's Most Valuable Player Award. Ted Finished second even though he led the American League in Hitting(.406), On Base Percentage(.553), Slugging Percentage(.735), Home Runs(37), Runs Scored(135) and Walks(147). This wouldn't be the last time the Baseball Writers would shun Ted Williams.

In 1942, Ted Williams won the American League's Triple Crown, but again finished second in the MVP voting behind the Yankees Joe Gordan. Let's look at the stats for these two players in 1942.

Ted Williams batted .356 to lead the league. Joe Gordon batted .322. Williams drove in 137 Runs, to lead the league. Gordon drove in 103. Ted hit 36 Home Runs to lead the league. Gordan hit 18 homers. Williams led the league with 141 Runs Scored. Gordon scored 88. Ted led the league with a .499 On Base Percentage, Gordon's OBP was .409. Williams led the league with a .648 Slugging Percentage. Joe Gordon slugged .491. Williams led the league with 145 Walks. Gordon walked 79 times. Ted led the league with 338 Total Bases. Gordon had 264. The only thing Joe Gordon led the league in was grounding into the most double plays, 22. The voting was ridiculous, but again, this wouldn't be the last time.