Biography for
Ted Williams (II) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

30 August 1918, San Diego, California, USA

Date of Death

5 July 2002, Inverness, Florida, USA (congestive heart failure)

Birth Name

Theodore Samuel Williams

Nickname

The Splendid Splinter
The Thumper
Teddy Ballgame
The Kid

Height

6' 4" (1.93 m)

Mini Biography

Theodore Samuel Williams was born in San Diego, California, on August 30, 1918. He signed a contract at the age of 18 in 1936 with the Boston Red Sox baseball team. He was assigned to their farm team in San Diego. In 1939 he made his Major League Baseball debut, where he set the record for most runs batted in by a rookie with 145. Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941, placing him with baseball's all-time elite. In 1942 Ted won the American League Triple Crown and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he would serve through 1945. In 1946, on his return to baseball, lead the Red Sox to the American League Pennant. The next year he won his 2nd Triple Crown. In 1957 he became the oldest player in history to win a batting crown. Ted retired as a player in 1960, amd hit a homerun in his last at bat. 6 years later he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He became the manager of the Washington Senators in 1969, and resigned three years later in 1972. He is considered by many to be the best hitter in baseball history.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Matt Dicker

Spouse

Dolores Wettach	(1967 - 26 November 1974) (divorced) 2 children
Lee Howard	(10 September 1961 - 1966) (divorced)
Doris Soule	(4 May 1944 - 9 May 1955) (divorced) 1 child

Trivia

Hit a home run in his final Major League at-bat. Elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. Won six American League batting championships, four home run championships, four RBI titles, led in runs six times, and slugging nine times. Last Major League baseball player to hit .400 (.406 in 1941). American League Most Valuable Player in 1946 & 1949. Later managed the Washington Senators and Texas Rangers.

Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush in 1991.

Has a tunnel in Boston named after him.

Has a freeway in San Diego named after him.

Inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame, 1995 (charter member).

Inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, 2001 (charter member).

Saw combat as a Marine during the Korean War, flying 39 missions over the Korean mainland, many alongside his operations officer, future astronaut John Glenn. For half of those missions, he was Glenn's wingman.

Father of John Henry Williams with ex-wife Dolores.

At the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, played four days after Williams' death, it was announced that the annual game's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award would be renamed in his honor. Ironically, no MVP trophy was awarded for the 2002 All-Star Game.

Because of his hitting prowess, the Williams Shift was created to thwart him. The fielders would shift over to the right (where Williams' hits usually landed).

Eighteen-time All-Star.

He dubbed the Boston beat writers "The Knights of the Keyboard" sarcastically.

He was fined $5,000 during the fifties for spitting at the press box (he never paid the fine).

His body is cryogenically preserved, despite attempts by one ofWilliams' daughters to stop this in court. The issue has become increasingly bitter amid reports of possible forgery of his name to a soiled piece of paper consenting to the process and reports of gross misuse of his body by the company presently in possession of his body.

Inducted into the International Game Fishing Association Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum in 1999.

Named Player of the Decade (1951-1960).

Sporting News Player of the Year five times.

Boston Red Sox Career Homerun Leader(521).

Boston Red Sox Career Walks Leader(2,019).

Boston Red Sox Career On-Base Percentage Leader(.481).

Boston Red Sox Career Slugging Percentage Leader(.634).

Boston Red Sox Career Batting Leader(.344).

Reportedly had 20/10 eyesight and was said to be able to tell what kind of pitch was being thrown by the spin of the ball.

There is a red seat at Fenway Park, among all the green seats, to commemorate a famous home run of Williams' - the longest homer ever hit at the park. The home run, which traveled 502 feet, punctured off the straw hat of Joe Boucher, knocking him unconscious. Hit a homerun in Fenway Park. The ball bounced away from Boucher, who later said, "...after it hit my head, I was no longer interested [in getting the ball]." The seat is located in section 42, row 37, seat 21 of the park. Reportedly, Williams later met Boucher and apologized for hitting him, but Boucher told Williams that, since Williams didn't intentionally try to hit him, no apology was necessary. Boucher also interpreted the incident as a sign to become a Red Sox fan, as he'd been a Yankees fan before; the Boston Globe headline the next day said "Bullseye!: Williams Knocks Sense Into Yankees Fan."

Was an outspoken Republican and personal friend of former president George Bush.

Despite his service as a pilot in the Korean War, he often downplayed the attempts to label him a hero. During the war, he once landed a jet while it was encased in flames.

When he retired following the 1960 season, his 521 home runs placed him third on the all-time list behind Babe Ruth (714) and Jimmie Foxx (534). At the start of the 2004 season, he was tied with Willie McCovey (also 521) for 14th place.

The bullpens at Fenway were installed in his first year, and were nicknamed "Williamsburg" by the press who claimed Tom Yawkey put them in to shorten the outfield and make it easier for him to hit a home run.

His mother was of Mexican descent

Though appearing on many famous left-handers lists because of his left-handed hitting. Williams was actually a natural right-hander: he threw and wrote right-handed. He once speculated he might have been an even better hitter if he had been born a natural left-hander.

Good friend and fishing partner of Curt Gowdy.

Personal Quotes

"Baseball's future? Bigger and bigger, better and better! No question about it, it's the greatest game there is!"

"A kid copies what is good. I remember the first time I saw Lefty O'Doul, and he was as far away as those palms. And I saw the guy come to bat in batting practice. I was looking through a knothole, and I said, 'Geez, does that guy look good!'"

"There's only one way to become a hitter. Go up to the plate and get mad. Get mad at yourself and mad at the pitcher."

"At Fenway, I remember him hitting this long, long homer over the Wall into the teeth of a gale, and I remember looking at all those muscles as he trotted around the base and shaking that huge hand of his as he crossed the plate - and feeling almost weak. I was a skinny guy anyway, and I felt weak in comparison to Jimmie Foxx."

"There has always been a saying in baseball that you can't make a hitter, but I think you can improve a hitter. More than you can improve a fielder. More mistakes are made hitting than in any other part of the game."

"I've found that you don't need to wear a necktie if you can hit."

"I hope somebody hits .400 soon. Then people can start pestering that guy with questions about the last guy to hit .400."

"If I was being paid $30,000 a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."

"Hitting is fifty percent above the shoulders."

"DiMaggio was the greatest all-around player I ever saw. His career cannot be summed up in numbers and awards. It might sound corny, but he had a profound and lasting impact on the country."

"By the time you know what to do, you're too old to do it."

"A man has to have goals - for a day, for a lifetime - and that was mine, to have people say, 'There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.'"

"Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer."

"If there was ever a man born to be a hitter, it was me."

"Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel. Not just to be as good as someone else but to be better. That is the nature of man and the name of the game."

"People always told me that my natural ability and good eyesight were the reasons for my success. They never talk about the practice, practice, practice."

"I used to hit tennis balls, old baseballs, balls made of rags - anything. I didn't think I'd be a particularly good hitter. I just liked to do it." - on practicing hitting while growing up

"When somebody says nice things about me, it goes in one ear and out the other. But I remember the criticism the longest. I hate criticism."

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