[doug from upland]

As I recall reading in my youth, Ted had 20-15 vision -- that is perfect for watching a baseball come toward you.

He was baseball's last .400 hitter and did it with class. He was batting over .400 and could have sat out the last day of the season. He wouldn't do that. During the game, he actually dipped below .400 but came back later in the game to top the mark. I'll see if I can pull that anecdote.

[VOA]

He was baseball's last .400 hitter and did it with class.

Amen to that.
I'm not a real baseball fan...can only get pumped up over a good or great World Series.

But Williams was a class act; loved his interviews with Bob Costas. They were wonderful
"sentimental journeys", give by a man who also had experienced the grit of being
a combat pilot in the U.S. Military (IIRC).
I'm pretty sure he served in The Korean War...and maybe in WWII.

"Where do we get such men as these?"
a good question whether we're talking about patriots willing to risk their lives in war,
to stand on guard, on just be good, stand-up role models as sports "heroes"
or just doing their jobs. Ted Williams is a good example.

[housethatruthbuilt]

good story about ted: left to fly missions in the war. comes back to the sox, takes batting practice, for the first time in a year or two, on a regulation diamond. after a couple of pitches he stops and says the mound was in inch off in height. no one believes him but he insists. they measure and sure enough it is off by an inch.
also i think it was actually 20-10 vision.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I remember when George Brett made a run at the record trying to hit better than .400 for a season. He came close but couldn't best what Ted Williams had done!

[quark]

As I recall reading in my youth, Ted had 20-15 vision -- that is perfect for watching a baseball come toward you.

The inheritor of William's legacy, Tony Gwynn, also had 20-15 vision and said that he too could see the seams on a pitched ball.

The Splendid Splinter was a San Diego native. Often I drive home from work via State Route 56 -- Ted Williams Parkway.

R.I.P.

[Gil4]

As I recall reading in my youth, Ted had 20-15 vision -- that is perfect for watching a baseball come toward you

From The New (2001) Historical Baseball Abstract by Bill James (probably the best baseball history book ever):

Hundreds of sources, in discussing Williams' greatness as a hitter, will talk about what amazing eyesight he had, how he could see the seams on the ball..., etc. Williams explicitly stated in his autobiography, "My Turn at Bat," that this was completely false, that his eyesight was good but normal, and that his eyes had little or nothing to do with his hitting ability. And, since he is the only one who would know, I might suggest we should perhaps take his word for it.

[BohDaThone]

I had just sent this privately to DFU, but he suggested that I post it:

actually, he was at .39955, which would have rounded to exactly .400, under the rules. He got 4 hits in the first game of the closing doubleheader, 2 in the second, to close at .406. So, he couldn't have fallen very far below .400, if at all, even if his first at-bat was an out. Also, today's NYT says that the sacrifice fly rule (SF = no at bat) wasn't in place then, so that by today's rules he would have hit about .415!!