Ted's Dead

Williams, not Forrest. Easily greatest hitter off all time. .344 avg, 521 HR's, missed more than four full prime seasons, fuhgeddabout it.


And I hate Boston sports, too. 'cept for Luis Tiant. And Fisk's homer was aight.


I guess Willie Mays can now raise his appearance fees, and start being billed as The Greatest Living Ballplayer.

ted was certainly a fantastic player and it is a big loss. he was a "mans man" if ever there was one. one of the local reporters here in new york described him as the living version of the john wayne character, which is pretty close to the truth from what i know.


but he is not the greatest hitter of all time, ruth is and in my view it is not really even close.


Pat

I heard that Ted missed 5 seasons due to military service. I wonder why in the world he served in the Korean conflict as well as WWII, rather than returning to baseball?

He signed up for WWII even though he had a draft deferment. I think he took a lot of heat for not enlisting at the first moment too. If I recall correctly, he was in the reserves and got called up for Korea. He had a lot of health problems in Korea. I think he easily would have had 125 more home runs, if not at least 150 more if he didn't go. Particularly because he could have feasted off of WWII pitchers (bad) and would have better health in the '50's. Makes his 521 home runs more like something between 650-700.

He had a lot of health problems in Korea.


I think I remember reading that he suffered an ear injury as a Marine F4U pilot. It affected his ballance for the rest of his life. I wonder if they still make 'em like Ted any more.

As a tall, skinny, left hand batting, 13 year old, I once had the privilege of spending 10 minutes talking with Ted Williams at the batting cage in Griffith Stadium prior to a Red Sox/ Senators game. It was one of those times when kids were allowed to come down onto the field during batting practice. He had me show him my batting stance, then, for the next three or four minutes he gave me pointers on how to improve my hitting. Forty seven years later, other than having a drink with Mickey Mantle, that time spent talking to Ted Williams is my most cherished celebrity highlight. To put it in perspective, I also shook hands and spoke with Jack and Bobby Kennedy, shook hands with Nixon and sat next to and shared Bar-B-Que with Ronald Reagan. I won't even get into the time a famous lady singer in Reno asked me up to her room for a romp. (I declined, having only recently wed)


I really don't think of myself as the hero worshipping sort, but that time with Ted Williams is still vivid in my highlight reel. Vaya con Dios Ted! Thanks for the memory.


Big John

"He had me show him my batting stance, then, for the next three or four minutes he gave me pointers on how to improve my hitting."


Wow! I can only imagine what a great memory that must be for you, akin to having gotten painting lessons from Rembrandt or piano lessons from Chopin.