Posts tagged Baseball

Ted Williams Nicknamed “The Kid”, “The Splendid Splinter”, “Teddy Ballgame”, “The Thumper”. The greatest hitter to ever play the game started his career with his first plate appearance with a strike out & with  this last appearance he went out with a bang with his 521th home run of his career. He played for 21 years all as a Red Sox and made the art of hitting his personal quest. His achievements were a .344 lifetime batting average, with 521 homers, a slugging average of .634 only second to the Babe Ruth. He was also a 19 time All-Star, a 2 time American League MVP Title (1946) & (1949), also a 2 time Triple Crown winner in (1942) & (1947). This number 9 is retired by the Boston Red Sox. Talk bout first ballot hall of famer. In his rookie season Williams distinguished himself in 1939 with a .328 batting average, 31 homers, and an American League-best and rookie-record 145 RBI. In 1941, Joe DiMaggio Yankee great captured the attention of the nation with a 56-game hitting streak, but Ted Williams out-hit him .412 to .408 over the course of the streak and finished season with 37 homers, 120 RBI, and a .406 batting average making him the last major leaguer to reach the charmed .400 average. However that year sports writers gave the MVP to DiMaggio. Williams was a decent left fielder, but when he said he lived for his next at-bat it was no exaggeration. His goal was always perfection at the plate. He lead the American League in walks 7 times in his first 9 full seasons. His on-base percentage .483 the best in history. Ted Williams lead the American League 9 times, 6 times in batting average, 6 times in runs scored, and 4 times in homers and RBI. He won Player of the Decade in the 1950’s hitting .388 with 38 homers at age 38 in 1957. Despite missing nearly five seasons as a Navy and Marine flyer and parts of two more to injury, he retired as third on the all time homer list and first in many never ending debates over the greatest hitter of all time. Ted