Ted Williams, the Greatest of All-Time
A man of baseball, military duty, and the will to live — 15 years later the legend of the greatest hitter in baseball lives on.
15 years ago, on July 5th 2002, Ted Williams died.
In Boston, and throughout the baseball world, humanity mourned the loss of “the kid” and recognized the legacy he left behind.
President George H.W. Bush eulogized the memory of this American hero and the great loss that would be felt following his death.
“Baseball has lost one of its very best today with the passing of Ted Williams, someone I considered a great hero and a close friend. The entire Bush family, as so many baseball fans, loved Ted. On and off the field he believed in service to country and indeed served with honor and distinction. The “Splendid Splinter’ was simply the best hitter baseball has known.”
Former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine recalled his legend:
“I just feel lucky that I ever had a chance to be with him, to know him, to be spellbound by his voice and his articulation of the game of baseball. He’ll definitely be missed. He is obviously one of the greatest.”
New York Yankees great Yogi Berra remembered him fondly:
“Nobody was more loyal, generous, courageous, more respected than Ted. He sacrificed his life and career for his country. But he became what he always wanted to be — the greatest hitter ever.”
Respect and idolization flowed from every corner of the baseball world. A president, an all time great manager, and a hall of fame rival catcher, all recognizing the greatness that was witnessed before them in the ball player from Boston.
The affinity for Mr. Williams as a man, and as a player who changed the game, was felt and acknowledged in awe by many who loved baseball. Yet in the flowing eulogy from world leaders and baseballs greatest, a theme can be seen developing by those quoted above;
“The best hitter baseball has known.”
“Obviously one of the greatest.”
“The greatest hitter ever.”
The pattern is unmistakable.
Many men who lived in generations before us were able to grasp, witness, and comprehend, the greatness that is Ted Williams. The sacrifices made for our nation, the decision to take a three year absence in the prime of his career to serve our country in wartime was selflessness personified. Not only understanding his responsibility as a citizen, but also his responsibility to the game he forever changed as a player, a coach, and an ambassador for Americas pastime. These exemplary traits which lent to his resolve in the fight for his life against the ravages of time and cancer is unprecedented. His impact is still felt to this day, and to a certain extent it remains unrealized.
19 All Star Game appearances, 6 batting titles and 2 MVPs.
Ted Williams was and is the greatest baseball player of all time.
Baseball has always lived and died by statistics. Newspapers everywhere replayed games with wins, losses and home runs. Simplicity of analysis, its roots in stats.
In the last forty or so years, organizations in every sport have learned how to quantify players to the next level. Figuring out the most efficient ways to purchase wins. Any business takes steps to better itself. Baseball has taken that step in kind.
Lost in the box scores in newspapers, baseball encyclopedias, Baseball Reference, and FanGraphs, are the stories and circumstances that made turned the story of a hitter on the Red Sox into the personification of a generation of ballplayers.
For example, the Boston Red Sox were always beneath their rivals, the New York Yankees, and could not seemingly find their way to the American League Pennant. Living in the “Curse of the Bambino,” not having the resources, assets, or plain money to keep up with the juggernaut dynasty in New York, the Red Sox lived perpetually in the shadow of the pinstripes.
After losing in the World Series in 1946. to the St. Louis Cardinals led by Stan “The Man” Musial, Williams became emotionally compromised. After a poor series showing, he felt somewhat responsible for his team’s short coming.
“The saddest part about the whole thing is that we never won the World Series,” said former teammate Johnny Pesky, a Red Sox legend. “I remember that last game in St. Louis — he was on the other end of the clubhouse — I look over there and he’s bent over backward weeping. He wanted to win one for Mr. Yawkey so badly.”
This also meant Ted Williams, one of the only men to have hit .400 in a season, remained overshadowed by the likes of Joe DiMaggio, the other legendary hitter of Williams’ generation. Since playoff success was out the window, Williams lost in many MVP races (his .400 season in particular) and especially lost in popularity and notoriety outside New England because he was not a member of the World Series New York Yankees franchise.
Nevertheless, Ted Williams was arguably the hardest working man of his era.
Williams would rise at 6 AM, and with his teammate Charlie Wagner, would drive 20 minutes west of Boston to Sunset Lake where they would fish quietly for a few hours. With the games starting at 3 in the afternoon, Williams arrived before noon to start swinging a bat or a broomstick in the clubhouse. Waving an object to mimic his baseball swing, even if it was a hair brush in front of a mirror, took up hours of Williams’s time on gamedays. He made a science of hitting, discussing its finer points with players and umpires. He practiced his famous swing for hours every day.
‘’I don’t care what it was, when he went after it he excelled at it,” said Williams’ friend, fishing buddy and former Red Sox broadcaster Curt Gowdy. “Why? Because he practiced, studied it, worked at it, and I never saw a guy work as hard at his craft as he did. … He was one of a kind.”
Former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox has a Williams story as well.
He (Williams) told me, ‘You don’t even have a clue what makes a ball break, do you?’ I said, ‘The spin?’ ‘No, you idiot.’ He’d bring out the equations from his aviation terminology. He’d be screaming at you.”
Lost in his obsession with hitting, Williams was also an above average outfielder in his days. After switching from right field to left following his rookie season, Williams was top 5 in fielding percentage in left field for 11 out of his 17 full seasons. He would also lead Major League Baseball in outfield assists three times — The man was no slouch on defense.
The origin of the shift on lefty pull hitters began to combat a single hitter, and as we know today, was designed specifically for when Ted Williams came to bat.
Chicago Cubs fan favorite Mark Grace, once said “Have you seen the back of his baseball card? It’s ridiculous. He hit 521 home runs and he missed five years, for two different wars, in his prime. He was the original hitter that they put a shift on. He was a straight pull hitter. The fact that he could hit .400 or .344 when you’ve got seven fielders on one side of the field, and still find the grass, that’s amazing.”
Those are some stats for a man who begged teams to change they way the played defense, unheard of this time, because Williams was such a great hitter. His bat control allowed him to hit over .350 and win 6 batting titles as a left pull hitter facing a switch.
Expanding on what Grace said, those five years he missed for war in his prime has an effect on Williams. It wore him down earlier in his career, and he “only” was able to average 25 home runs, 80 RBI, with a .325 average his last few years in the Majors.
He spent those years in war as an American Hero, an unheralded pilot, a sacrifice that is worthy of our praise as Americans.
But out of that sacrifice for honor and country, the complete picture of who Ted Williams could have been in his now incomplete career has been lost forever. The legendary hitter of Fenway, and more importantly what could have been, has slipped into the annals of time — relegated to Boston pubs and baseball analysts to be argued and frustrated over for all time.
*Disclaimer: before I present to you some statistical evidence, realize that to some this is as hypothetical and substantial as a game of tiddlywinks. The point is not to credit Williams with what he didn’t do, but to show how great he was for the time we had him.*
Ted Williams missed five years, particularly three years in his athletic prime to fight for America and the allies in World War 2 and then in Vietnam. Ages 24, 25 and 26, normally the greatest seasons of peak production in a baseball player’s career, are lost.
But what if we can statistically recreate them?
Taking Williams’ age 22 and 23 seasons and averaging them out, the output are MVP-like numbers. After all, he lost narrowly to Joe DiMaggio in 1941. A .380 batting average, 31 home runs, and 129 runs batted in. In the chart below, additional stats are presented.
By plainly multiplying his average production over the three and/or five years he missed due to war service, the production that was missed due to war time is replicated. It’s not a perfect formula. I’m no sabermatrician. But it gives a solid idea of the production missed.
It’s also worth mentioning, that without his participation in the war effort Williams would have possibly a healthier and fresher body leading to better production. So, in a way, this MVP like season by season statistical output outweighs the lack of production in his later years.
By compiling these totals into William’s career totals, one can compare the amount of production into his career if he had those years back.
His career stats alone are spectacular. For 17 years of full seasons played, Williams is 19th all time in runs, 20th in Home runs, 15th in RBI, 4th in walks, and 14th in Wins Above Replacement.
But with those added years, Williams becomes something of folk lore. If he had those three years added on, Williams would’ve been Top 6 all time in runs, home runs, runs batted in, walks, and wins above replacement. The only other player who has done this in his career is Babe Ruth himself. With a .380 batting average, Williams would be ahead of Stan Musial’s .357 average, the highest mark in baseball for those three years, giving him 3 more batting titles and a few more MVPs.
But with five years production, Williams’ stats are incomparable. He would be the leader in all time runs scored and runs batted in, and second all time in walks, seven away from Barry Bonds all time mark.
It would make him second all time in Wins Above Replacement, slightly edging Cy Young but behind Babe Ruth, who has the blessing of having pitched for numerous years for the Boston Red Sox. He would be in the 700 home run club. The same is to be said about the batting titles and MVPs — add a few more to his resume of production.
If Williams had 5 more full years he could have had.
- 24 All Star Game Appearances
- 5 Triple Crowns
- 5 MVPs
- 10 Batting Titles
- 700 Home Run Club
- 3500 Hits
- All Time Leader in Runs and RBI
- World Series Ring(s) ?
The possibilities are staggering.
This is not to forget what Williams did for our country in war.
Williams had 39 ground-attack combat missions flown during the Korean War as a U.S. Marine Corps pilot in his F9F Grumman Panther.
Thirty-nine times he took off from his base. Thirty-nine times he and his squadron mates risked lives to the Chinese and North Koreans. Thirty-nine times he returned safely, although not always fully intact.
Williams flew his first combat mission on Feb 16, 1953, deep into North Korean territory.
Williams dropped his plane’s bombs as planned, but his plane was hit by small arms fire, had a fuel leak and was without a working radio. Williams was so disoriented after the attack, others in his squadron had to lead him back to his base. He refused to eject, fearing that his back would be broken and/or knees would be shattered due to his 6-foot-4 frame. Instead, without its landing gear deployed, Williams crash-landed his plane, suffering only a sprained ankle. And perhaps, without his pride fully in tact.
In a letter to then-girlfriend Evelyn Turner Williams wrote: “I had holes all over the plane and was riding on all the prayers people say for me ‘cause I was awfully lucky. My plane was burning like hell when I crash landed. Everyone around here is now calling me lucky.”
Maybe it wasn’t just luck.
‘’Baseball excellence may be what Ted will be remembered for by most people, but his dedication to another kind of excellence as a Marine jet fighter pilot will be my best memory of him,” said former Senator John Glenn, a pilot who flew on the same plane as Williams on many Korean War missions. “He never held back.’’
This is a man who served his country with merit and distinction.
Williams also dedicated his post-baseball life to fighting cancer. Not his own, but others He donated his time, energy, and finances to the cause.
‘’If it wasn’t for Ted Williams, I’m convinced that the Jimmy Fund would not be what it is today,” said Mike Andrews, head of The Jimmy Fund for cancer research which Williams vigorously supported. “He had made an impact, maybe more impact on fighting a disease than any other professional athlete in the history of this country.’’
His fight against cancer mattered just as much to him or even more as that of fighting for his country and for his batting average. Williams cared.
Ted Williams the baseball player, pilot, and man is all together a legend. How he impacted the game of baseball, his country, and his fellow citizens in need can not be quantified.
All the stats in the world cannot describe how great of a man Ted was.
Ted once said this. “A man has to have goals — for a day, for a lifetime — and that was mine, to have people say, ‘There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.’”
His plaque at Fenway Park is laden with the following;
“The greatest hitter who ever lived, an American patriot, and a pioneer in the development of the Jimmy Fund, Ted Williams will forever be one of the great heroes in the history of baseball in baseball, Boston and America. He amassed 521 home runs despite sacrificing five years in his prime to serve his country during World War Two and the Korean War. He was a relentless champion of children, such as this child to whom he is offering his cap in their battle against cancer, and helped make the Jimmy Fund at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute the world renowned center of research that it is today. The memory of Ted Williams will forever be a point of pride for the Boston Red Sox, the people of Boston, and the United State of America.”
Ted “The Kid” Williams died 15 years ago today as a hero, a legendary hitter, and a man who personified all that is good in the game of baseball. In death his memory would finally be fulfilled into that to which he faithfully dedicated every moment of every day for his entire life to become…
The greatest of all time.
Austin Hutchinson is the Editor-In-Chief and co-founder of Wrigley Rapport. Writing and editing for Def Pen Hoops, Austin covers the NBA and dabbles with the Chicago Cubs during the dog days. You can find him on Twitter @AE_Hutchinson.
*Thanks to Baseball Reference, the New York Times and SABR.org for quotes, anecdotes, and statistics collected.*
