Posted on 07/05/2002 9:47:56 AM PDT by doug from upland
Baseball great Ted Williams has died at 83. More to follow.
How ironic in that had he not missed 5 seasons for military service, it might have been his record Hank Aaron broke in 1974 instead of Babe Ruth's. Figure 35 HR/season x 5, and he would have been close enough for one/two more seasons to break it.
RIP.... And Thank You.
Williams never saw combat in WWII, he was in San Francisco awaiting transport to Hawaii on VJ Day and was in Honolulu when he got his orders sending him home. He flew 39 missions in Korea and was sent home due to health problems and he wasn't an ace in Korea either. Williams had a commendable record of distinguished service but there's no reason to embellish it. In fact Williams wrote this about his four months in Korea: “I was no hero. There were maybe seventy-five pilots in our two squadrons and 99 percent of them did a better job than I did.”
Umm, he showed his middle finger to the fans at Fenway...not once, but three times, to each section of the field. Could you imagine the flamefest if a player did that today? We'd be subjected to infinite FR posts about how baseball players used to be respectful, blah blah blah, players aren't the same anymore, I'm never going to a game again, etc. etc. etc.
Look. I'm actually not bashing Ted Williams. He was a great man (and the military service was actually more important than baseball). And quite rightly, people shouldn't wallow in the negative aspects of a good person who dies. But I find it pretty apalling when people basically turn someone into a completely different person, and compare Williams unfavorably to today's players, when he was guilty of much of the same stuff that guys like Barry Bonds get trashed for. The press hated Williams and so did a lot of fans, (stupidly, in both cases, IMHO) during his career.
Williams apologized, of course, the next day. And like many people who were basically jerks when young, he mellowed and became far more likeable in retirement. 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.
And it's actually unclear whether Williams really wrote the apology next day; may have been forced to by the Red Sox or they may have written and released it without his knowledge.
I was there Monday visiting my Mother-in-Law. I'm getting chills.
Yours and mine as well. My dad was a College All-American footballer drafted by the Giants in 1955 but had to go to the USAF instead. In any event, Ted was his main man even though Dad was never big on the game itself except at World Series time.
Rest in Peace, Ted.
A well-known Globe scribe asked "Why are we having a day for thisguy?"
I hope the Red Sox never wins the title.
That's a pretty fair comparison -- Bill Madden had a column last year comparing Bonds with Williams, and they were pretty similar both personally and professionally.
In fact, it was just a month ago that I took my son to the famous "Ted Williams" seat in the Fenway Park bleachers. For those who don't know, there is a single seat in the Fenway bleachers that is painted red. This was where the longest home run in the history of Fenway Park was hit - by Ted Williams.
Ted Williams was more than just a baseball player. He interrupted his baseball career not once, but twice, to serve his country during wartime. Ted served in both WW2 and Korea. One can only imagine what his statistics would have been had his career been interrupted. But Ted Williams put his country ahead of baseball and there are very few people in the major leagues today who would consider doing that.
Williams' study of the art of hitting will never be topped. Plus he put the reporters in their place. May he rest in peace. A personal hero of mine as a youngster.
Yeah, and wasn't it a Boston sportswriter who completely left Williams off his ballot and cost him the 1947 MVP?
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. He served his country twice when the call came.
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