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If anyone doubts that Ted Williams was the greatest hitter of all time, please name me another player who hit a home run in his last at bat all three times that he thought he was having his last at bat.
In 1952 before he went to fly combat missions in Korea, he was certain he would not play again. Ted was already in his mid 30s and had a vision that he would not return from Korea. But in his last at bat in the game that was a tribute to him, he homered to win it for the Red Sox.
In 1954, he intended to retire at the end of the season. Williams even wrote an article in The Saturdat Evening Post explaining why he was retiring at the end of this season. He went 1 for 4 with a homer in his final at bat in the 1954 season. A combination of a costly divorce in the off season and a persistent fan who wrote him about how close he was to exceptional career milestones convinced him to return part way through the 1955 season but at the time he hit the homer, The Kid was convinced this was his final at bat.
Everybody knows about his homer into the bullpen in his actual final at bat at Fenway Park in 1960 at the age of 42.
I agree with Bob Costa that Williams became exactly what he set out to become, the greatest hitter who ever lived.
As Costa said, he'd take him over Cobb because of his combination of power and average. And he'd take him over Ruth because with Ruth we can only speculate what The Babe would have done in the modern era with night baseball, the splitter, the relief specialists, bi-coastal flying from city to city and, the integration of baseball to include the great black players of the game. But Williams hit .388 in 1957 at the age of 39 and with any leg speed at all would have become the only hitter to hit .400 in the modern era other than himself (.406 in 1941).
I had the thrill and the honour to spend an evening with other young officers in Ted's company in 1967 at a Canadian air force base near his fishing lodge in New Brunswick. He was the most charismatic and intelligent person I ever met and that includes two presidents and four prime ministers and a few other highly successful people.
So in the words of Bob Costa, if someone disagrees that The Splendid Splinter was not the greatest hitter who ever lived, "then you can just walk away because they don't know what they're talking about".
In 1952 before he went to fly combat missions in Korea, he was certain he would not play again. Ted was already in his mid 30s and had a vision that he would not return from Korea. But in his last at bat in the game that was a tribute to him, he homered to win it for the Red Sox.
In 1954, he intended to retire at the end of the season. Williams even wrote an article in The Saturdat Evening Post explaining why he was retiring at the end of this season. He went 1 for 4 with a homer in his final at bat in the 1954 season. A combination of a costly divorce in the off season and a persistent fan who wrote him about how close he was to exceptional career milestones convinced him to return part way through the 1955 season but at the time he hit the homer, The Kid was convinced this was his final at bat.
Everybody knows about his homer into the bullpen in his actual final at bat at Fenway Park in 1960 at the age of 42.
I agree with Bob Costa that Williams became exactly what he set out to become, the greatest hitter who ever lived.
As Costa said, he'd take him over Cobb because of his combination of power and average. And he'd take him over Ruth because with Ruth we can only speculate what The Babe would have done in the modern era with night baseball, the splitter, the relief specialists, bi-coastal flying from city to city and, the integration of baseball to include the great black players of the game. But Williams hit .388 in 1957 at the age of 39 and with any leg speed at all would have become the only hitter to hit .400 in the modern era other than himself (.406 in 1941).
I had the thrill and the honour to spend an evening with other young officers in Ted's company in 1967 at a Canadian air force base near his fishing lodge in New Brunswick. He was the most charismatic and intelligent person I ever met and that includes two presidents and four prime ministers and a few other highly successful people.
So in the words of Bob Costa, if someone disagrees that The Splendid Splinter was not the greatest hitter who ever lived, "then you can just walk away because they don't know what they're talking about".
