'Splendid Splinter' Williams, last major leaguer to hit .400
• Remembering Ted Williams
• Legendary career filled with what ifs
By Mike Branom
Associated Press
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| Ted Williams, flanked by Hank Aaron, left, and Willie Mays, as he was introduced as a member of Major League Baseball's All-Century Team during the 1999 World Series.
Associated Press |
The Boston Red Sox treasure, who made good on his goal to be known as the greatest hitter of all time, was 83.
The Hall of Famer was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest at 8:49 a.m. (EST) at Citrus Memorial Hospital in Inverness, spokeswoman Rebecca Martin said. He had suffered a series of strokes and congestive heart failure in recent years.
With a powerful left-handed swing, Williams was destined for Cooperstown.
Williams had 145 RBIs as a Red Sox rookie in 1939 and closed out his career — fittingly — by hitting a home run at Fenway Park in his final major league at-bat in 1960.
Williams was a two-time MVP who twice won the Triple Crown. He hit .344 lifetime with 521 home runs — despite twice interrupting his career to serve as a Marine Corps pilot in World War II and the Korean War.
"Ted was like John Wayne," Hall of Famer Joe Morgan said. "He was a man's man."
Williams' greatest achievement came in 1941 when he batted .406, getting six hits in a doubleheader on the final day of the season.
As word of his death spread, baseball paused to remember one of its true heroes.
Groundskeepers at Fenway Park shaved his No. 9 into the left-field spot where he used play. The American flag in center field was lowered to half-staff in Boston and across the major leagues.
At the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., a wreath was placed around his plaque and a flower arrangement was put around his statue.
"With the passing of Ted Williams, America has lost a baseball legend," said President Bush, a former baseball owner. "Whether serving the country in the armed forces or excelling on the baseball diamond, Ted Williams demonstrated unique talent and love of country."
Former senator and astronaut John Glenn had Williams as his wingman on combat missions in Korea.
"There was no one more dedicated to this country and more proud to serve his country than Ted Williams," Glenn said.
Williams contended his eyesight was so keen he could pick up individual stitches on a pitched ball and could see the exact moment his bat connected with it.
He also asserted he could smell the burning wood of his bat when he fouled a ball straight back, just missing solid contact.
"I think he was the best hitter that baseball has had," said Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr, who played with Williams for 10 seasons.
Williams was a perfectionist who worked tirelessly and had no tolerance for those less dedicated. He was single-minded and stubborn, a player who reduced the game to its simplest elements: batter vs. pitcher, one trying to outsmart the other. In those instances, he usually won.
Tall and thin, gaunt almost, Williams hardly possessed the traditional profile of a slugger. Yet he was probably the best hitter of his time — and one with a chip on his shoulder.
Often involved in feuds both public and private during his career, Williams mellowed later in life.
The best example came in his reaction to an emotional ovation from the crowd at the 1999 All-Star game at Fenway Park, Williams' longtime playground.
After a roster of Hall of Famers was introduced, Williams rode a golf cart to the pitcher's mound, where he threw out the first ball. Suddenly, he was surrounded by a panorama of stars, past and present, who reacted like a bunch of youngsters crowding their idol for an autograph.
For a long time, they just hovered around him, many with tears in their eyes.
Then, San Diego's Tony Gwynn gently helped a misty-eyed Williams to his feet and steadied him as Williams threw to Carlton Fisk, another Boston star.
The crowd roared.
"Wasn't it great!" Williams said. "I can only describe it as great. It didn't surprise me all that much because I know how these fans are here in Boston."
It wasn't always that way for Williams. Revered as a slugger, he also was remembered for snubbing Fenway fans, refusing to tip his hat when he hit the ultimate walk-off home run in his final at-bat at age 42.
"Gods do not answer letters," John Updike once wrote in a profile of Williams, who sealed that image in 1941 with an 11th-hour show of courage.
Going into the final day of the season, Williams was batting .3996. Rounded off, that would be .400, and Red Sox manager Joe Cronin suggested he sit out the day's doubleheader to clinch that golden number.
Williams refused. Instead, he played both games, went 6-for-8 and lifted his season average to .406. No one has approached .400 since.
That year, Williams also led the league with 37 homers, 145 bases on balls and a .735 slugging percentage. Despite all those gaudy statistics, the American League MVP award went to Joe DiMaggio, who had a record 56-game hitting streak.
The next year, Williams won the Triple Crown, leading the league with 36 home runs, 137 RBIs and a .356 average. But the MVP award went to Yankees second baseman Joe Gordon (.322, 18, 103).
The same thing happened in 1947, when Williams won his second Triple Crown by hitting .343 with 32 homers and 114 RBIs, but lost the MVP vote again to DiMaggio (.315, 20, 97).
By then, Williams' relationship with the writers, particularly in Boston, had deteriorated badly. One writer left him off the MVP ballot entirely in 1947, costing him the award.
"People tend to remember Ted and I together on the mound at the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park. Holding Ted for that moment while he threw that strike is among the fondest of my professional life. I don't think baseball will ever see admiration for one person like that again." — former San Diego Padres outfielder Tony Gwynn.
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"Ted was like John Wayne. He was a man's man. As a Hall of Famer, every time you went to the Hall of Fame, you wanted Ted to be there, as if put the stamp of approval on your being there." — former Cincinnati Reds second baseman Joe Morgan.
• • •
"With the passing of Ted Williams, America has lost a baseball legend." — President Bush.
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"I think he was the best hitter that baseball has had." — Bobby Doerr, who played with Williams for 10 seasons.
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"I'll always remember that Joe DiMaggio said Williams was the greatest hitter who ever lived. I bet that's something he wore in his cap." — Author George Plimpton.
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"There was no one more dedicated to this country and more proud to serve his country than Ted Williams." — former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, who Williams flew with during the Korean War.
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"My wife Joan and I went to visit them at the camp and Ted asked us to go and have lunch with him. Joan asked Ted about hitting and he got up in the middle of the restaurant, took his menu, wrapped it up and started showing Joan about hitting!" — former New York Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford.
• • •
"He is probably one of the greatest hitters who ever lived. Anybody that played baseball should recognize the name. I met him one time in Winter Haven when I was still playing for the Phillies. It was like meeting the Pope. You look at him and say 'Wow.'" — Philadelphia Phillies manager Larry Bowa.
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"Ted was the greatest hitter of our era." — Hall of Famer Stan Musial, whose St. Louis Cardinals beat Williams' Red Sox in the 1946 World Series.
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"I have his book on hitting and every offseason, I read that book. What stands out is his tone, the way he talked: 'Hey, I know how to hit and this is how to hit.' When you read that book, you feel Ted Williams is talking to you." — Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sean Casey.
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"We lost a legend. Ted was everything that was right about the game of baseball — and, if you really think about it, everything that is right about this country. It certainly is a sad day for us." — Pittsburgh Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon.
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"The saddest part about the whole thing is that we never won the World Series. ... 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 weeping. He wanted to win one for Mr. Yawkey so badly." — former teammate Johnny Pesky, referring to former Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey.
—Associated Press
