Free Republic

July 8, 2002 Stepping Up to the Plate By BOB HERBERT illie Mays told me that when he was a teenager he tried to pattern himself after Joe DiMaggio because the great Yankee center fielder was such a wonderful all-around player. But when it came to hitting, just hitting, which is the most difficult of all athletic skills, there was one man who, in Mays's view, stood alone. "Ted Williams was the best hitter," he said. If you're an amateur in reasonably good physical condition you can make a few shots from the basketball foul line. You can run a...