Theodore Samuel Williams was born on August 30, 1918 in San Diego, California. He was named after our 25th president, Theodore Roosevelt. His mom was a Salvation Army employee and his father was a sheriff. Ted Williams lived a great 20th century American life. When he was just a boy, he wanted to become the greatest hitter who ever lived. In his life, he became just that, and so much more. (baseballsuite101.com)
Ted Williams learned to play baseball in the city’s playgrounds and continued to play throughout his teen years at Herbert Hoover High School. When he was 17, he signed a contract with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. When Eddie Collins, general manager of the Red Sox saw Williams play, he bought out his contract. Williams was assigned to the Red Sox’s Minneapolis farm team in 1938. While there, he hit 43 homeruns and had a hitting average of .366 to lead the league. In 1939, Williams opened the season as a right fielder. Later on, he switched to right field. Ted Williams was not a good defensive player. Sometimes he would fail to back up infielders on ground balls, or not move fast enough on fly balls. About a month after Williams started playing for the Red Sox, he let a ground ball slip through his legs. When he turned to run after the ball, some of the fans thought he wasn’t moving fast enough. So they yelled insults at him so Ted would yell insults back at them.
Read more at Suite101: Ted Williams: a Real American Hero: Baseball Legend, Wartime Combat Pilot and the True Life John Wayne http://baseball.suite101.com/article.cfm/ted_williams_a_real_american_hero#ixzz0l82gy6pl
In 1939, the Boston Red Sox would sign Ted Williams to a contract, marking the beginning of a fruitful relationship. Ted ’The Splendid Splinter’ Williams was one of the greatest hitters to play the game. He devotion to hitting is such that it would be the main topic of any of his discussion. With his picture-perfect swing, he became the last man in the Major Leagues to bat over a .400 average in 1941. He would lead the Red Sox to one World Series in 1946 against the St. Louis Cardinals, but the Cards shifted their defense whenever Williams batted, which worked extremely effective. The Cards would win the World Series in 7 games.
There have been relatively few men who have performed at a consistently above level average year after year. Every time period has had hitters who have had one or two great years, but have not been known for their great overall prowess. Five hundred lifetime homeruns stand as a benchmark for great slugging,and only one Red Sox player has ever reached that during his entire career in Boston. That one name is recognized as the all-time great hitter in Boston history: Ted Williams. Williams hit .344, with five hundred twenty one homers as a Boston Red Sox player.He did ths despite missing almost five years during World War II and the Korean conflict. No one in Bosox history has even come close to putting up the numbers he did. Ted Williams was not a "team player", but that is insignifigant at this time. His lifetime average stands out even more when compared to the homerunsa that he hit during his career.
In 1941 Williams hit .406, and in 1942 he won his first of two Triple Crowns, while also leading the league in slugging percentage, runs, and walks. After three years of military service in World War II, Williams returned in 1946 to power Boston to its first pennant since 1918. The Red Sox, however, were bested by the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, 4 games to 3. In 1947 Dave Ferriss led the pitching staff with 25 wins and Williams won his second Triple Crown, but the Red Sox finished in third place.
Boston did not win another pennant until 1967.
It’s no wonder the Boston Red Sox wear red and white. While red symbolizes passion and excitement and white symbolizes the "good guy" who wins in the end as well as angels, it’s the Red Sox
