There are many anecdotes about Ted Williams, both baseball and Marine. One of them that struck me was that, at the end of the 1941 season, when his batting average was over .400, he was offered the opportunity to sit down and ensure that he would end the season over .400. He declined. If I recall correctly, his average fell and he was at .399 with one remaining double-header game to end the season. He played that day and went 6 for 8, finishing with a .406 average - the last of the .400 hitters.
Ted served in two wars, and there is no question in my mind that his absence from the game in those two tours diminished his baseball career. Had he played those years when he was serving in the Marines, he would surely have gone down as the greatest hitter of all time.
In my mind, he is the greatest. And to top it all off, he was a decorated Combat Marine!
Semper Fi, Brother! Thanks for your service and Rest in Peace!
Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)
