Ted Williams Dead at 83

kfwb news ^ | 7-5002 | dfu

[doug from upland]

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

[SuziQ]

Oh Man! We were just at Fenway Park last week on the tour, and the guide pointed out a red chair high up in the stands in the sea of blue ones behind center field which shows where Ted Williams hit a ball which knocked a hole in a man's straw hat! It was the longest hit inside Fenway Park, and the record still stands! Red Sox fans will mourn, for sure!

[baseballfanjm]

And was shot down in Korea. Another thing is that he was in his playing prime when he did. He sacrificed 5 entire seasons in his prime. If he hadn't gone he'd have easily gotten 3,000 hits and Hank Aaron might have had to break Ted's home run record, not the Babe's.

[nothingnew]

Is that "Bucket" or Bouquet"?

FMCDH

[JimVT]

Lou Bodreaux, manager of the Cleveland Indians, had created the "Williams Shift," to defend against Ted.

Which 'ol #9 promptly defeated by hitting away from the shift.

Boy...he will be missed.

I've been a Sox fan since the days of Ted and Dom and Pesky and Doerr and "Boo" Ferris up through Jensen, Piersall (what H'wood lame-brain picked Anthony "Swish" Perkins to play him in the movie) Malzone, Conigliaro, Rice, Pudge, Yaz, and on and on and on.

I once 'bunked' high school (played hooky for some) in RI to catch opening day in the 50s.

A couple of years later I'm on Okinawa at an outdoor theater watching "The Ted Williams Story" when the camera zooooms into the right field seats....AND THERE I AM...an extra in the the TW movie.

Pretty hard to get excited about the players today.

The motto used to be: "Play Ball"....now it's: "Show Me The Money."

[truthkeeper]

The Splendid Splinter, along with Dom DiMaggio, were my father's favorite ballplayers. I wish I had a dollar for everytime he raved about them.

May they all rest in peace.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

And was shot down in Korea.

Not so. Hit twice by ground fire. Returned to base on both occasions. Landed his damaged plane wheels up the first time, for which he was awarded an Air Medal.

[boop]

Another reason to like Ted Williams...when he would appear on his (King's) show, he drove Larry King crazy with his "right-wing views."

[lavrenti]

Yep. Boston scribes tend to ride the slow escalator to Hell.

[fnord]

reading his stats, I see he pitched 2 innings in 1940! (4.50 ERA)

[baseballfanjm]

You're right. I forgot those details. Landing a damaged plane is different than being shot down.

[arkfreepdom]

"He didn't just serve in the infantry either"

What's wrong with the infantry? :)

[NYCVirago]

Here's a pretty good obit on the ESPN web site:
http://espn.go.com/classic/obi t/williams_ted_obit.html

[VOA]

Williams apologized, of course, the next day....
I actually think it's disrespectful to basically fabricate a mythical Williams
that didn't exist while he was playing, in regards to his personality.

That's the difference between Williams.
Today's "young Turk" would tell people to "p-ss off and deal with it".

Not saying Williams was a saint...from reading your recollection, now
I have more insight into why Williams had a friendship with Ty Cobb, as recounted in a
number of Williams' interviews with Bob Costas.

Sounds like they had their moments of temper!

[VOA]

He lost some of his best years because of WWII and the Korean War, which makes you
wonder how many more records he may have obtained.

I'll tip my hat to at least one portion of the "mainstream media".

ABC Radio network news is mentioning Williams' giving five years service to
the military that interrupted his baseball.

Hope in another 50 years people are talking about Pat Tillman (the Arizona Cardinals
player who's joined the US Army) in the same way.

[07055]

Trivia alert: Ted Williams was the only man to be elected to both the baseball and fishing halls of fame!

I wish I had him on my fantasy fishing team!

[VOA]

Sorry to bother...

Maybe I'm behind the curve, but wonder if anyone has noted that Williams' last
feat is holding on to see another Fourth of July?

How's that for American mythology...sports and patriotism?
OK, maybe not quite as good as Jefferson and Adams both dying on the same Fourth of July,
fifty years after their momentous acts...

[onedoug]

A life lived in giving so much of it to others. An example for us all. Play Ball!

[fnord]

Great interview with Ted about his place as a hitter:
http://espn.go.com/classic/obi t/s/2002/0705/1402411.html

Scroll down the left a bit ...

[RetiredArmy]

Not unless there are millions in it for them they won't. Ted Williams was a warrior and patriot and U.S. Marine. He said he would be a Marine until the day he died. Semper Fi Ted. God's speed on your journey.

[Gil4]

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

It will take more than that - I think we're waiting for Babe Ruth to come back to life so they can undo the trade.