Position:
Left Field
Right Field
Teams:
As a player:
Boston Red Sox (1939-1960)
As a manager:
Washington Senators/Texas Rangers (1969-1972)
Career Statistics:
Batting Average: .344
Home Runs: 521
RBI: 1,839
Slugging Percentage: .634
On-Base Percentage: .482
Hits: 2,654
Theodore Samuel Williams was born in San Diego, CA and grew up in the North Park neighborhood. He was taught how to throw a baseball when he was eight by his uncle, a former semi-pro baseball player. He attended and graduated from Herbert Hoover High School where he was a standout player, serving as a hitter-pitcher. While still in high school, he received offers from the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees. However, his mother felt he was still too young to leave home, so he signed with a minor league team named the San Diego Padres (Not the pro team. This team was a member of the Pacific Coast League).
While Ted initially served as a backup in the PCL, one of his teammates soon resigned to become head coach of the University of Georgia's football team. This opened a starting position up for Ted. In 1936, he managed a .271 batting average on 107 at-bats for the Padres. He finally caught the eye of Boston Red Sox general manager Eddie Collins while Collins was scouting teammates of Ted's. The Padres won the PCL title, with Ted batting .291 with 23 homers. In December 1937, a deal was struck that sent Ted to the Boston Red Sox while the Padres received $35,000, two major leaguers, and two other minor leaguers.
Williams made it about a week in major league spring training before being sent down to AA Minneapolis Millers. Former major league standout, Rogers Hornsby was the spring manager for the Millers, and gave Ted useful advice on hitting and the steps he needed to take to make it in the major leagues. This became a pattern for Ted, as he often hit up seasoned veterans for tips on how to improve his game.
Ted easily became the star of the team in Minneapolis. He once posted a twenty-two game hitting streak that last from Memorial Day to mid-June. Though the team as a whole put in a lackluster performance, Ted was a standout, batting .366 with 46 home runs, and 142 RBI, while receiving the American Association Triple Crown and coming in second place in the MVP voting.
The following year, Ted made his major league debut in right field. In his first game on April 20, 1939, Ted went 1-for-4 against the Yankees. In his first home series at Fenway Park, Williams hit a double, a home run, and a triple off Cotton Pippen. At the end of his rookie season, he finished with a .327 batting average, with 31 homers, and 145 RBI, as well as coming in fourth place in MVP voting.
In 1940, Ted's made a move to left field to give another player more time in right field. Though he batted .344, his power had diminished slightly from the previous year, with 23 home runs, and 113 RBI. He also angered many people in Boston by claiming that his salary was "peanuts" and that he hated the city of Boston. He also claimed that the only real fun he'd had in 1940 was getting the opportunity to pitch once during a blowout loss to Detroit.
In 1941, Ted broke his ankle during the second week of spring training, which forced the Red Sox to pinch hit him for the first two weeks of the season. By May 15, he had started a 22-game hitting streak. By the time the All-Star break had arrived, he was hitting .405 with 62 RBI and 16 homers. By late August, he was hitting .402. Though his average declined slightly by late September, Ted managed to rebound, hitting .406 with 37 homers and 120 RBI.
On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. In January 1942, Williams was drafted into the military. Williams lobbied to be granted a Class 3-A deferrment because his parents had divorced in 1939, and Williams was his mother's only source of income. His request was granted, but public perception was very negative, causing some of Williams' sponsors to drop him as a spokesman. The conditions of the reclassification obliged Williams to join the military at the end of the season. During the 1942 season, Ted won the Triple Crown with a .356 average with 36 homers and 137 RBI. He came in second in the MVP voting.
At the end of the year Ted entered the military, while also playing ball in Chapel Hill, North Carolina during preflight training. He served as a flight instructor at Naval Air Station Pensacola. He was then sent to Pearl Harbot awaiting his orders to join the China fleet when the war ended. In January 1946, he was released from active duty, though he did remain in the reserves.
Afterwards, Ted made his one and only postseason appearance in the 1946 World Series. He managed only five singles in 25 at-bats, with only one RBI. The Sox lost to the Cardinals in seven games. Williams was nearly traded to the Yankees in 1947 for Joe DiMaggio, though the deal was later cancelled when the Red Sox learned that the Yanks demanded Yogi Berra be shipped to Boston as well. Many believed that Williams would have shone in Yankee Stadium as it was much more friendly to left-handed batters, such as Williams.
On May 1, 1952, Ted was recalled to active military duty to serve in the Korean War. Williams was unhappy being called back into service, but he felt it was his patriotic duty to serve his country, so he went without complaint. He ended up flying 39 missions before being pulled from flight status in June 1953 because of an inner ear infection which disqualified him from flying.
After returning to the Major Leagues, Ted broke his collarbone in 1954. Despite this, he ended up with the league's highest batting average at .345. In '57, he hit .388, and in '58, at the age of 40, incredibly led the league in average once again with .328. In Ted's final major league at-bat on September 28, 1960, he capped off his incredible career by hitting a home run.
Williams spent his entire career obsessed with the art of hitting a baseball. He often studied wind and air currents before games, studied pitchers and fielders, and spent much of his time in left field practicing his swing by watching his shadow on the ground. He also received criticism due to this obsession because he allowed it to interfere with his defensive abilities. Ted was a rather lackluster fielder, though he did possess a very powerful throwing arm. However, hitting was always at the top of Ted's priority list, which was evident by the incredible numbers he put up. He even released a book in 1970 called "The Science of Hitting."
After retirement, Ted became manager of the expansion Washington Senators, and remained in that capacity after they relocated to Texas and became the Rangers. His managerial record was fairly poor, with his best season being an 86-76 record in 1969. After this, Ted would sometimes visit Red Sox training camp and tutor young players on the art of hitting. Surprisingly, Ted entered into a successful career as a fly fisherman, being named to the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame in 2000. He also began marketing and endorsing sports equipment for Sears.
During Ted's final years, he began to have heart problems. A pacemaker was installed in 2000 and he underwent open-heart surgery in 2001. After suffering several strokes and congestive heart failure, he died of cardiac arrest in Citrus Hills, FL on July 5, 2002 at the age of 83.
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