Ted Williams Dead at 83

kfwb news ^ | 7-5002 | dfu

[doug from upland]

Baseball great Ted Williams has died at 83. More to follow.

[Chu Gary]

"In his last at bat in 1960 he homered. What a way to go out........

At Fenway Park, to this day, the seat in the right field seats where that ball landed is painted red, where all the others are blue."

I think Ted Williams was a great, great ballplayer and I will always miss him walking around on the planet. But, there's certainly room for more than just one.

To even things out a bit, there was another great player who played for a Boston team who hit THREE home runs in his last game. Who is to say which was the better player?

After that, we can talk about pitchers.

[Chu Gary]

It is so great to be on a site where you can read and post about the greatest game ever constructed!

[xzins]

Radio announcers made baseball heroic, epic in every single game. I still love baseball on radio. Baseball announcers are probably responsible for the original "talk radio" monologues. Remember "rain delays" on the radio? Someone should do a radio collage of baseball announcers doing rain delays.

[Reagan Man]

There will never be another like him.

THE greatest pure hitter of all time!

R.I.P. Ted Williams.

[Chu Gary]

"Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox. Williams finished the 1941 season with a .406 batting average to become the first man since Rogers Hornsby in 1925 to hit over .400 for an entire season. No player has hit .400 since."

True, but George Brett gave it a pretty good run two decades ago and IMHO Shoeless Joe and Nap Lajoie, well Ty Cobb also, were Ted's equals. DFU, you must be a Dodgers fan? But, if you live in Upland, you are closer to the Big A....an Angel's fan? Cool stadium tho I haven't been there for 10 years.

[doug from upland]

I bled Dodger Blue but have not been to a game in several years. It is not the same game of my youth or when I was a young man. It is a game of mercenaries. I've been to half a dozen Angel games but they never excited me as did the Dodgers. I actually saw the first playoff game won by the Angels when they scored two in the bottom of the ninth to beat Baltimore.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

...another great player who played for a Boston team who hit THREE home runs in his last game.

I must admit ignorance. Who was it?

[Chu Gary]

"Could this be THE omen that the Red Sox are destined to win the World Series this year?"

Frazee (sp?) sold Ruth to the Yanquis in December 1919 in order to finance "No No Nanette." This is a one century curse. The Red Sox are ineligible to win til 1920. Don't keep holding your breath, you have a while to wait.

[Reagan Man]

Bill Terry batted .401 for the NYGiants in 1930.

[Chu Gary]

"When Williams returned from the Korean War, a conflict where he served as John Glenn's wingman, and was nearly killed in air combat (nearly burned to death in his plane because he decided to chance a crash landing instead of shattering his knees in an iffy ejection, a Ted Williams Day was held at Fenway Park."

In the news blurb I saw, he said that he was in a distressed aircraft and thought he would go down'in fact, he'd been advised to abandon the plane. But, after considering bailing out, he decided that he was too large to extract himself easily and quickly from the cockpit and decided that trying to land the a/c was a better bet.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

Ted was also a great sportsman

Yes, he was an expert fisherman, as well as a hunter. One reason I am also a fan of his is that he owns Dalmatians (my breed) -- an extremely active and incredibly athletic breed of dog (the free safety of the dog world -- to mix sports!).

A great hero, patriot, man and ballplayer.

RIP

Oh, man, couldn't I use him on my fantasy baseball team!

[Chu Gary]

'Baseball is really funny. In the heat of battle, we boo the opponent. Koufax obviously got lots of boos in Cincy. We loved to boo Willie McCovey in L.A. At the end of his career, his last at bat was at Dodger Stadium. In the ninth inning, he hit a sacrifice fly. I had quite a lump in my throat when we gave him a standing O that lasted 15 minutes.'

OK, I haven't read thru the end of the thread, but let me add some meat.

Sandy Koufax was a great pitcher, without question. He was a Brooklyn kid who got a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati to play basketball and tennis. I don't know why he decided to go for the baseball team but it was obviously a good decision.

[Chu Gary]

"I think the most Koufax had was 18 in one game. As I recall, at the time he had tied Bob Feller."

Two pitchers have struck out more batters in a single game than their age at that time. For example, if Don Drysdale, a borderline pitcher IMHO, had been a thrower at age 17 and struck out 18, he would be one of the answers, but he didn't and he isn't.

[xp38]

On the 50th anniversary of the memorable 1941 season President George H. W. Bush flew with Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams on Air Force 1 up here to Toronto for the the 1991 All Star Game. A very memorable day for Baseball here in Toronto. RIP Teddy Ballgame.....the flags at Cooperstown should be flying at half mast in your honour. That wooden statue in the HOF of Ted will be all the more memorable now.

[doug from upland]

I think he decided to go for baseball because he could throw the ball really, really hard.

[doug from upland]

Would one of those be Herb Score?

[Charles Henrickson]

In 1941, when he was 22-23, Ted Williams hit .406 with 37 home runs, a .551 on-base percentage, and a .735 slugging percentage. He led the majjor leagues in all those categories. And he struck out 27 times in 456 at-bats.

In 1957, when he was 38-39, Williams hit .388 with 38 home runs, a .526 on-base percentage, and a .731 slugging percentage. He led the major leagues in all those categories, except home runs. And he struck out 43 times in 420 at-bats.

He did not play at all in 1943, 1944, and 1945, when he was 24-27. He played only a little bit in 1952 and 1953, when he was 33-35. So he missed almost five full seasons in the prime of his career, when his numbers would have been at their highest.

What a hitter.

[Chu Gary]

'...another great player who played for a Boston team who hit THREE home runs in his last game'

Well, it was a guy who started his career in Boston with the Red Sox and finished his career in Beantown, with the Braves....he was the Player/Manager. His name was George Herman Ruth...AKA..the Babe.

Started in Majors in Boston, ended his career in Boston. Just think how many lobsters regretted him being there!!

[Chu Gary]

'I think he decided to go for baseball because he could throw the ball really, really hard.'

I agree, OTOH, don't forget that incredible curve ball.

Grins.

[Chu Gary]

"Would one of those be Herb Score?"

No, but that's a really good guess, did you spend time as a kid in Cleveland or Chicago or are you a scion of the Veeck family?

One of the two pitched beginning in the 30's; the other is active right now!

Do you like the question? I think it's pretty good! Give me some of yours, ok?