Ted Williams…again.
It seems as if every year or so, I whip up a post consisting of only Ted Williams content. Well, today would be one of those days due to the fact that I’m currently reading The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, and this has lead to me being on a bigger Williams kick than usual. As far as the book goes, so far it seems to be the most complete and authentic take on the life of Ted Williams. I’ve read more than a few books on Ted Williams and this one stands out among its predecessors due to its thorough and unbiased content from every period of his life; this is in addition to many untold stories which I find incredibly fascinating. It’s a book definitely worth reading and I’m already suggesting it to everyone and I’m only half way through it. In any case, here are some great Ted Williams photos that I hope you enjoy as much as I do.
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Ted Williams served in the Navy in both World War II and the Korean War. While many, if not most players in the military played on service teams during wartime, Williams played very little and took the military quite seriously. I can’t quite explain why, but there’s something I really like about this photo.
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After spending the 1936 and 1937 seasons with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League, Williams was traded to the Red Sox for $35,000 and four players. He spent the 1938 season with the Minneapolis Millers, the AA affiliate for Boston and proceeded to hit .366 with 43 home runs and won the league’s triple crown. It’s safe to say that from early on, it was obvious that Ted was destined for greatness.
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According to every book I’ve read on Ted, he grew up pitching and into high school. He supposedly visualized himself as a pitcher and a good one at that. Once he started playing pro ball in the PCL, he was given opportunities by the Padres to pitch in blowouts and when arms needed to be preserved. Unfortunately, he was never all that effective on the mound during this time. In the big leagues, Boston gave him a chance to pitch in 1940 during a blowout against the Tigers in which he faced 9 batters over 2 innings and gave up three hits, one run and managed to strike out one batter.
By the looks of the photo above of him tossing BP, it seems as if Ted never completely got pitching out of his system.
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The man who’d one day be known as the Splendid Splinter takes a swing for a photographer during his time with the San Diego Padres of the old PCL.
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Ty Cobb and Ted Williams. When most people debate who the greatest hitter of all time is, these two are usually are at the top of the list. I wish I could have listened to these hitting legends talk hitting.
ninety feet of perfection. 
These are great. He had a nice pitching delivery.