Ted Williams

Theodore Samuel Williams was born August 30, 1918, in San Diego, California, the son of Samuel Steward Williams, who ran a passport photography shop, and May Venzer Williams, a woman of some Mexican heritage who worked for the Salvation Army. Young Ted played baseball after school until dark and even took his bat to school to practice. In junior high, the tall, lanky youth played American Legion baseball and played on the Herbert Hoover High School team. He developed a talent for judging good and bad pitches as a teen and did not hesitate to walk if the balls were not worth striking at. He later said, "Getting on base is how you score runs. Runs win ball games."

Williams played his first professional games with the minor league San Diego Padres, in 1936. The following

Ted Williams

season the Padres sold him to the Boston Red Sox, where he spent the rest of his career. As a young player, he was extremely cocky and had a violent temper, often smashing things when he got angry. He was a perfectionist at hitting, and he practiced constantly, even in hotel rooms, where he smashed a bed and a mirror with his powerful swing. A contemporary of the great Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees, Williams was batting .400 in 1941, at age 23, his third season in the major leagues. When his manager offered him a chance to sit out a doubleheader on the last day of the season and preserve his batting average, Williams declined. He played the games, getting six hits and finishing with a .406 average, leading the Red Sox to a second-place finish behind the Yankees. DiMaggio was voted the American League's Most Valuable Player (MVP) that year, but Williams won the first of six American League batting championships. He also won the first of his four home run titles.

In 1942, Williams won his first American League Triple Crown, when he finished the season with a .356 batting average, thirty-six home runs, and 137 runs batted in (RBIs). However, the peak of his career would soon be interrupted by war.