Any baseball fan who hears the name Ted Williams immediately knows of a great baseball hitter who played a total of 21 years in the sport. Williams was born in 1918 and passed away in 2002. His entire career was spent with the Boston Red Sox as a left fielder.
Williams was born in San Diego, California and attended the Hoover High School. His forefathers were Welsh, Irish and Mexican with the Mexican side also containing Basque, Russian and Indian. He played baseball in high school and before graduation joined a minor league baseball team, the San Diego Padres. He also played with another minor league team, the Minneapolis Millers as his mother felt he was too young for the major leagues.
In 1939 he joined the Red Sox's and impressed everyone by immediately leading in the number of runs batted in. He was left handed and became well known because of his excellent eyesight. It is said this had a great deal to do with his ability to hit the ball so well.
In a historic game played in 1941 Williams played both games of a doubleheader, starting with a batting average of .3995. At the end of the day, he ended up with a final average of .406, making Ted Williams the last player to it .400.
In 1941 he set a major-league record for on-base percentage of . 551. That record held until 2002 when Barry Bonds overcame it. 1949 found him reaching base 84 times in consecutive games.
In World War II Williams joined the V-5 program and became a Naval aviator, working with both the U. S. Navy and the U. S. Marine Corp. He served as a pilot and instructor both during World War II and the Korean War. It has been noted that he mastered all the requirements to become a pilot very quickly even though he only had a high school education. He achieved the rank of Captain.
During his career he achieved much recognition for his achievements. These included such things as American League Most Valuable Player and the Triple Crown (which he won twice, in 1942 and 1947). In 1966 Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ted Williams retired from baseball in 1960 and went out in a blaze of glory with a home run at his final turn at bat. His fame did not stop there. Williams had a short career as manager of the Washington Senators and then went on to enjoy fly and deep-sea fishing. He became so famous in this field that he was named to the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame in 2000. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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