{"id":12554,"date":"2024-04-29T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T16:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=12554"},"modified":"2024-04-25T16:06:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T23:06:27","slug":"he-could-do-more-than-just-play-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=12554","title":{"rendered":"He Could Do More Than Just \u201cPlay Ball”"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Bob Sparrow<\/p>\n

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Williams, throws right, bats left<\/p><\/div>\n

I have heard that baseball season is well underway.\u00a0 I must admit my interest in baseball has waned over the years, not unlike most Americans, who haven\u2019t voted baseball as America\u2019s #1 Pastime since 1960!<\/strong>\u00a0 But I do like the history of the game and particularly some of the stories of the great characters of the game.\u00a0 One of those characters is Ted Williams<\/strong>, a southern California boy from San Diego<\/strong>, whose life was quite interesting.<\/p>\n

His real name was Teddy Williams, named after Teddy Roosevelt, but he later legally changed it to \u2018Theodore\u2019 so he could just be called \u2018Ted\u2019.\u00a0 He was 6\u20193\u201d and 205 pounds and nicknamed. \u201cThe Splendid Splinter\u201d<\/strong>.\u00a0 What most people don\u2019t know about him, is that his mother was Hispanic<\/strong>, a fact that he kept from the public as he knew he wouldn\u2019t be offered the same opportunities, if they knew he was part Hispanic.<\/p>\n

He was a great high school baseball player and had offers out of high school from the St. Louis Cardinals<\/strong> and the New York Yankees<\/strong>, but his mother thought he was too young to leave home, so he signed with a local minor league team, the San Diego Padres<\/strong>.\u00a0 After one season with the Padres, he was pick up by the Boston Red Sox<\/strong> at 19<\/strong> years old . . . and the rest is history!<\/p>\n

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Marine Corps Captain Ted Williams<\/p><\/div>\n

In his first four seasons (1939 \u2013 1942) at age 20-23, he made the All-Star team three years<\/strong> and had two second place finished for the MVP of the league and one 4th<\/sup> place finish.\u00a0 On the last day of the 1941 season, he had a batting average of .400<\/strong> and was asked by his manager if he wanted to sit out the last day of baseball, a double header against the Athletics, so he could remain at .400 for the season; he declined to sit out and went 6 for 8 in his final at bats and finished with a .406 average \u2013 which was <\/strong>the last time a major league player hit .400 or over!\u00a0<\/strong> As a point of reference, only 11 players in the 2023 season hit .300<\/u><\/strong> or better!!<\/p>\n

After his fourth season, America was involved in World War II<\/strong>, and although at the time a college degree was required to become a pilot, and Ted had only a high school diploma, during WWII exceptions were made, so Williams was allowed in the Navy\/Marine Corps pilot training program.\u00a0 His tremendous reflexes and hand-eye coordination (he had 20\/10 vision!)<\/strong> made him an outstanding pilot (as well as an outstanding hitter), so they made him an instructor, and by the time he was eventually sent for combat duty, the war was over.<\/p>\n

After the war, he rejoined the Red Sox and became the MVP<\/strong> in the league in his first year back.\u00a0 For the next six years he was on the All-Star Team every year, won two MVP Awards and had a batting average of .339.<\/p>\n

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F-9 Panther<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1950 the U.S. was once again at war, this time in Korea<\/strong>, and Ted was recalled by the Marine Corp<\/strong> and sent to South Korea where he flew the\u00a0F-9 Panther jet<\/strong> in 39 combat missions<\/strong> where he was asked by future astronaut, John Glenn <\/strong>to be his wingman.\u00a0 His plane was hit by enemy fire on three occasions and on one of those he had to make a crash landing.<\/p>\n

He returned to full-time baseball in 1954 and spent the next seven years compiling a career of award:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n