Ted Williams

Williams retired at the end of the 1960 season, at age 42, batting .316 that year and finishing his career with a home run. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, along with famed baseball manager Casey Stengel. Williams showed his refreshing humanity when he read a speech he had written in a motel room the night before. He said being elected to the Hall of Fame was "the greatest thrill of [his] life." He also said, "Ballplayers are not born great…. No one has come upwith a substitute for hard work. I've never met a great player who didn't have to work harder at learning to play ball than anything else he ever did. To me it was the greatest fun I ever had, which probably explains why today I feel both humility and pride, because God let me play the game and learn to be good at it."