Ted Williams died Friday.
That phrase just doesn’t sound right–even though we knew it was coming. I suspected it would be soon when I heard that his son, John Henry Williams, who had been taking care of Ted, got a job with a Red Sox minor league club. Just a feeling.
Baseball-Reference.com has all his stats in minute detail. Beyond his interviews, hitting instructional videos, and TV ads for Nissen bread (with Bud Leavitt, for you old Mainers), that is the way we get our picture of The Splendid Splinter.
His accomplishments are amazing: .406 in 1941, two Triple Crowns, two MVP’s (and robbed of at least three more), six AL batting titles, 521 homers (12th all-time), lifetime average of .344 and that does not even count his record as a pilot (he was John Glenn’s wingman in Korea) or his work for The Jimmy Fund.
He hit freakin’ .388 in 1957–when he was 39! For that matter, he led the league with a .328 average in his last season. He’s number 2, behind Babe Ruth, in career Slugging Pct and OPS. Number 1, with .482, in career On-Base Pct. And he missed five of his best years during WWII and Korea!
Goodbye, Teddy Ballgame. In Memoriam