So Long, Marine!

[82Rigger]

TED WILLIAMS

1918 - 2002

One of the Finest.

Boston Red Sox

United States Marine

Semper Fi, Ted!

[SEATJERKER]

...could have stayed out with .3996, but went 6-8 the next day, and went .406 for the season....last 400 hitter, two tours in the military, lost 5 years, even though he was with the "red sox" over "alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll" those seasons without a world series win...(sorry Andy), my Grandmother loved them..................

...Every team has it's Hero's, Ted was respected by every team...

[Keith_Hixson]

He promoted outdoors sports after his baseball days.

A good man.

Keith

[Andy]

Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. He also hit .400 in 1953 but because of his involvement in the Korean war he had 14 fewer at bats than necessary to get the title. In 1941 he became the second youngest player to win a batting title, only Ty Cobb was younger. In 1957 at the age of 39 he became the oldest player to win the batting title, hitting .388. Ted had a life time average of .344 and a life time slugging percentage of .634, only Ruth was higher. His on-base percentage was .483 nobody does it better.

He was a Navy pilot in WWII loosing 3 years from his baseball career and didn't complain. He lost 2 more years from ball during the Korean War were he flew jet fighters. He was wing man for a pilot named John Glenn.

In the 1950s Ted was one of the founding father's of the JIMMY FUND, an organization established to fight cancer, Leukemia in children.

Williams never liked the press and regularly told them to go to hell. In 1946 several sports writters from Boston (who could vote)did not put him on their list as one of the top ten candidates for MVP. Ted's reply: he just kept hitting the ball, giving money to those not as lucky as he and then went fishing.

Ted Williams was, what John Wayne portrayed.
I got to see him play at Fenway Park several times. Thru a child's eye, he was one of the very few men in the world who was bigger than my Dad. Around these parts, we lost a friend yesterday.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[phuloi]

A wonderful man,a huge patriot,and the greatest hitter in the history of baseball.As a child,I saw him play at Fenway too, Andy.There was once a rookie pitcher on the mound and up to the plate stepped Teddy,and low and behold,the kid fanned him.He brought the ball to Ted after the game and asked for an autograph.The next time Ted faced the rookie he deposited the ball in the center field bleachers,and rounding 2nd base Ted hollers "You want me to sign that fuckin ball,too?"

[David]

We have a highway named after him here. I only learned who he was a couple years ago and am very sad to hear of his passing.