A "Splendid" Life

July 11, 2002

by Robert Yoho

Major League baseball definitely lost one of its all-time greats with the passing of Ted Williams. Anybody who is intimately familiar with the game of baseball knows the contributions made to his sport by the "Splendid Splinter."

Until his death, Joe DiMaggio insisted that he must be introduced as "America’s greatest living ballplayer" at all of his personal appearances. I mean no disrespect to DiMaggio. He was certainly one of the greats of the game. But for my money, that title was rightfully earned-but never demanded - by Ted Williams.

I find it strangely ironic that Ted Williams, a proud, obstinate, and controversial man who stubbornly clung to his own personal sense of dignity, in death is embroiled in a controversy over who will control his remains. Ted would have been appalled by the whole unsavory incident. More than that, he would consider it a violation of his privacy and a black mark on his legacy.

What was Ted Williams’ legacy?

Hitting .400 is the Holy Grail of Major League baseball. Only 17 others have ever done it. Ted was the last man to accomplish that fete.

As was his custom, Ted Williams not only batted .400. He did it with style.

The Boston Red Sox were scheduled to play a double header on the final day of the season. Ted’s average was .99955. Manager Joe Cronin offered to keep him out of the lineup the next day, so that he would not risk losing his .400 batting average.

Ted spent a long, tortured, and sleepless night before the game. It wasn’t in the man’s nature to walk away from a challenge. Finally, Ted said to his manager, "The record’s no good unless it’s made in all the games."

Williams did play both games of the double header that day. In his eight trips to the plate, he had an amazing six hits. The season ended, as Williams captured the hitting title with a remarkable .406 batting average. Like DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak that very same year, Williams’ record has stood largely unchallenged for 61 years.

Not only was Ted Williams one of the greats of the game; he was also a great man and a patriot of the first order!

The record books will never reflect, and the fans of baseball can only speculate, about the staggering numbers that Ted Williams might have known, had it not been for war. Williams proudly chose to forfeit five years of his exceptional baseball career in the service of his country. Ted served three years in World War II and two more in Korea.

During the war, Williams made good use of the 20/10 eyesight that served him so well at the plate. As a Marine pilot, Ted chose to shoehorn his tall, lanky frame in a cockpit. He flew 39 missions in Korea. He was a wingman for John Glenn - future astronaut, presidential candidate, and United States senator. Williams also survived an incident where his plane was hit and went down in flames.

Williams ended his amazing career with Splendid numbers. He had a career average of .344, tying him for seventh place. He hit 521 homeruns, placing him 12th best of all time. He won the Triple Crown twice. He won the league’s batting title two times.

In retirement, Ted, a great lover of fishing, agreed to the licensing of his name for a brand of sporting goods for Sears Roebuck & Company. In fact, I am pleased to admit that I still own a Ted Williams model .30-30 rifle. It is without question one of the most prized guns that I own. Now that the game’s greatest hitter is gone, it is certain that I will never part with it.

The dispute over Williams’ remains is certainly appalling, but it does nothing to diminish his accomplishments; on the field and off.

If something should be preserved, it is not the body of Ted Williams. It is his sense of patriotism. It is his incomparable knowledge of hitting. It is his marvelous swing. It is his unparalleled love of the game.

Ted Williams was certainly one of a kind! He never craved the attention of the media in his baseball career or in his numerous charitable efforts to aid the childhood victims of cancer. It was a commitment that he doggedly pursued long after his baseball career had ended.

In a game increasingly stained by drug abuse, steroid use, and never ending work stoppages, it is a shame we cannot freeze the once great and noble game that Ted Williams superbly represented.