Ted Williams Tribute

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Williams was a 19-time All-Star, a two-time recipient of the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award, a six-time AL batting champion and a two-time Triple Crown winner. He finished his playing career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and a 1.116 on-base plus slugging percentage, the second highest of all time. His career batting average is the highest of any MLB player whose career was played primarily after World War II, and it ranks 11th all-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 American League baseball player to bat over .400 in a season. Williams's career .482 on-base percentage is the highest of all-time. Williams 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, he was the AL batting champion for the fifth and sixth time. In the process, he became the oldest player to win a batting crown at 39 and 40 years old, respectively. Williams retired from playing in 1960. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, in his first year of eligibility. Williams managed the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers franchise from 1969 to 1972. An avid sport fisherman, he hosted a television program about fishing, and was inducted into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame. Williams's involvement in the Jimmy Fund helped raise millions in dollars for cancer care and research. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush presented Williams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States government. He was selected for the Major League Baseball All-Time Team in 1997 and the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.

In Their Own Story

In the winter of 1938, a 19-year-old Williams arrived late to spring training in Sarasota due to floods blocking railroads. He borrowed $200 from a bank to make the trip. There, equipment manager Johnny Orlando dubbed him "the Kid," a name that stuck for life. While with the Minneapolis Millers earlier that year, he had met coaching legend Rogers Hornsby, who advised him on how to "get a good pitch to hit." Williams later argued with Ty Cobb about hitting up on the ball versus down. His 1941 season remains legendary; no National League or AL player has batted over .400 since. He retired in 1960 after his sixth and final batting title at age 39, a record for an oldest winner alongside his win at 40.

Reader's Guide

Williams played back-up behind Vince DiMaggio and Ivey Shiver on the (then) Pacific Coast League's San Diego Padres. While in the Pacific Coast League in 1936, Williams met future teammates and friends Dom DiMaggio and Bobby Doerr, who were on the Pacific Coast League's San Francisco Seals. When Shiver announced that he was quitting to become a high-school football coach in Savannah, Georgia, the job, by default, was open for Williams. Williams posted a .271 batting average and 11 runs batted in (RBI) on 107 at bats in 42 games for the Padres in 1936. Unknown to Williams, he had caught the eye of the Boston Red Sox's general manager, Eddie Collins, while Collins was scouting Doerr and the shortstop George Myatt in August 1936. 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 the 1937 season, after graduating from Hoover High in the winter, Williams finally broke into the lineup on June 22, when he hit an inside-the-park home run to help the Padres win 3–2. The Padres ended up winning the PCL title, while Williams ended up hitting .291 with 23 home runs and 98 RBI in 138 games. Meanwhile, Collins kept in touch with Padres owner Bill "Hardrock" Lane, calling him two times throughout the season. In December 1937, during the winter meetings, the deal was made between Lane and Collins, sending Williams to the Boston Red Sox and giving Lane $35,000 and two major leaguers, Dom D'Allessandro and Al Niemiec, and two other minor leaguers. In 1938, the 19-year-old Williams was 10 days late to spring training camp in Sarasota, Florida, because of a flood in California that blocked the railroads. Williams had to borrow $200 from a bank to make the trip from San Diego to Sarasota. Also during spring training, Williams was nicknamed "the Kid" by Red Sox equipment manager Johnny Orlando, who, after Williams arrived to Sarasota for the first time, said, "'The Kid' has arrived". Orlando still called Williams "the Kid" 20 years later, and the nickname stuck with Williams for the rest of his life. Williams remained in major league spring training for about a week. Williams was then sent to the Double-A-league Minneapolis Millers. While in the Millers training camp for the springtime, Williams met Rogers Hornsby, who had hit over .400 three times, including a .424 average in 1924. Hornsby, who was a coach

Did You Know?

• Williams is the last MLB player to bat over .400 in a season, hitting .406 in 1941.
• His career .482 on-base percentage is the highest of all time.
• He won two Triple Crowns, in 1942 and 1947.
• Williams served in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps during World War II and the Korean War.
• He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966 in his first year of eligibility.