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| | Saturday, 6 July, 2002, 01:14 GMT 02:14 UK 'Splendid Splinter' a true hero Williams had a distinguished career
Stand aside, Babe Ruth. Sorry, Ty Cobb. Ted Williams was the greatest hitter who ever lived. Williams, who died on Friday aged 83 after battling health problems for the past several years, was an obsessive competitor who came as close as anyone ever has to perfecting the art of hitting a baseball. The Boston Red Sox slugger's career batting average was a remarkable .344, his .634 slugging percentage is second only to Ruth's, and his career .481 on-base percentage, the best in baseball history, is nothing short of mind-boggling. Williams also ranks in the top 15 all-time in walks, extra base hits, grand slams, home run percentage, runs batted in, and runs scored. In this current era, when many of baseball's all-time batting records are surpassed on a regular basis, Williams' most famous achievement still stands unmatched. He batted .406 for the 1941 season, and no player has reached the .400 mark since. However, that season's MVP award went to Joe DiMaggio, with a hitting streak for the Yankees that stretched to 56 games. Williams' ability to hit for both power and average was unequalled as well. He hit 521 career home runs, and the total could have been much higher.
While most of Williams' contemporaries called into military service avoided combat by playing for touring Armed Forces baseball teams, Williams was squarely in the thick of the action. One of his fellow pilots in Korea was future astronaut and US Senator John Glenn.
"Ted flew as my wingman on about half the missions he flew in Korea," Glenn said. "Much as I appreciate baseball, Ted to me will always be a Marine fighter pilot. He did a great job as a pilot." His status as a war hero added to Williams' legendary mystique. He was a larger-than-life figure, but his intimidating, swaggering nature led to a lifelong feud with the press and supporters in Boston. Williams' disdain for the media has not detracted from his legacy, but it did rob him of a few commendations during his playing days, most famously in 1947.
That was the second season Williams won the triple crown in the American League - finishing first in batting average, home runs, and RBI. But he lost the vote for Most Valuable Player by one point to the Yankees' Joe DiMaggio when one writer inexplicably left Williams off his ten-player ballot altogether. Though Williams' stubbornness may have caused problems off the field, it only added to his greatness on it. On the final day of the 1941 season, with Williams' average sitting squarely at .400, Boston Manager Joe Cronin suggested Williams sit out the Red Sox' doubleheader against Philadelphia so as not to risk falling below the magic number. Williams flatly refused to sit and went 6-for-8 in the doubleheader to raise his average to .406 and secure his place in baseball history. Silent God His flair for the dramatic lasted all the way through the final moment of his career, when Williams hit a long home run to right field in Fenway Park in his final Major League plate appearance. With the crowd going berserk for minutes, Williams, as he had done since his rookie season some 21 years earlier, refused to acknowledge the supporters' cheers. John Updike wrote one of the greatest pieces of sports journalism ever about Williams' last game, an essay in the New Yorker magazine entitled "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu." Updike offered this explanation for Williams' silence toward his fans - "Gods do not answer letters." | |
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