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Ted Williams (Second Edition): A Baseball Life
Ted Williams (1918–2002) was a paradox. His cool, controlled, and patient attitude while at the plate was incongruous with his explosive, unpredictable temper out of the batter’s box. With a swing that was both admired and feared, Williams has been called the greatest hitter of the last half of the twentieth century and was perhaps the greatest left-handed hitter of all time. In this biography Michael Seidel explores the complexities of the mercurial personality and amazing career of the near-mythic “Splendid Splinter.”
With the death of Williams in the summer of 2002, baseball lost one of its true greats. Yet controversy continued to surround Williams in death as news of a bizarre family dispute over the fate of Williams’s body captivated the country. In a new foreword to this edition, the author discusses the odd events surrounding the ballplayer’s death and their significance to the legend of Ted Williams.
With the death of Williams in the summer of 2002, baseball lost one of its true greats. Yet controversy continued to surround Williams in death as news of a bizarre family dispute over the fate of Williams’s body captivated the country. In a new foreword to this edition, the author discusses the odd events surrounding the ballplayer’s death and their significance to the legend of Ted Williams.
404 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 14, 2019
Ted Williams was quoted that his life's ambition was to have folks point to him and say there goes
the greatest hitter that ever lived. Baseball fans and statistics mavens have got a lot of evidence
for that assertion. They'd have more if military service did not interrupt his career. For two wars.
Baseball was his way out of a ne'er do well existence in San Diego, California. He was one of two
brothers born to shiftless Samuel Williams and May Verzor Williams a Salvation Army Worker. His
brother Dan became a criminal and was in prison during Ted's glory years with the Red Sox.
While still a minor Williams signed with the San Diego Pacific Coast League team. They entertained
a few offers for him but they did have a working relationship with the Boston Red Sox. It was they
that got him along with another Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr in 1939 at the age of 21.
Two years later he won the American League Batting title with the average .406 the last man to hit
.400 in the major leagues. Beat out rival Joe DiMaggio of the pennant winning Yankees who did his
56 consecutive game hitting streak also in 1941. The following Williams repeated as batting champion and also was home run leader and RBI leader. The triple crown for 1942, but the Yankees repeated as pennant winners. Williams spent the next three seasons doing naval aviation
training for Uncle Sam.
Come 1946 and the Red Sox won a pennant for the first time in 28 years and Williams had a good
season. But he injured his elbow and an injured Williams batted only .200 with five singles as the
Red Sox lost to the Cardinals in 7 games. It was his only World Series
Two more batting titles came in 1947 and 1948 and a second triple crown in 1947. For me that is
Williams greatest achievement. He and Rogers Hornsby are the only two who ever did that.
Williams played well for the next three seasons and he missed 1952 an 1953 for military service.
This time it was the Marines and while in WW2 he was a trainer, in Korea he flew combat missions.
Back in 1954 Williams played until 1960 for the most part maintaining a high level of excellence.
In 1957 and 1958 he won two more batting titles, in 1957 with a .388 average the highest since he
hit .406. When he retired Ted was 3rd on the all time homer list with 521. His batting average for
his career was .344 the highest for players who began their career post the 1920s.
His personal life was not much, married and divorced a couple times. He was no war hero because
he did not want to be one. Williams complained loud and long about going into a second war who
could blame him. And he had terrible relations with baseball writers, thought them fools. His
coverage was horrible.
He was still alive when this book came out mostly enjoying another passion he developed, deep sea
fishing. He did do a stint as manager of the expansion Washington Senators who moved to the
Dallas-Fort Worth area and became the Texas Rangers. Williams died in 2002.
Was he the greatest hitter that ever lived? Read the book you might think so.
the greatest hitter that ever lived. Baseball fans and statistics mavens have got a lot of evidence
for that assertion. They'd have more if military service did not interrupt his career. For two wars.
Baseball was his way out of a ne'er do well existence in San Diego, California. He was one of two
brothers born to shiftless Samuel Williams and May Verzor Williams a Salvation Army Worker. His
brother Dan became a criminal and was in prison during Ted's glory years with the Red Sox.
While still a minor Williams signed with the San Diego Pacific Coast League team. They entertained
a few offers for him but they did have a working relationship with the Boston Red Sox. It was they
that got him along with another Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr in 1939 at the age of 21.
Two years later he won the American League Batting title with the average .406 the last man to hit
.400 in the major leagues. Beat out rival Joe DiMaggio of the pennant winning Yankees who did his
56 consecutive game hitting streak also in 1941. The following Williams repeated as batting champion and also was home run leader and RBI leader. The triple crown for 1942, but the Yankees repeated as pennant winners. Williams spent the next three seasons doing naval aviation
training for Uncle Sam.
Come 1946 and the Red Sox won a pennant for the first time in 28 years and Williams had a good
season. But he injured his elbow and an injured Williams batted only .200 with five singles as the
Red Sox lost to the Cardinals in 7 games. It was his only World Series
Two more batting titles came in 1947 and 1948 and a second triple crown in 1947. For me that is
Williams greatest achievement. He and Rogers Hornsby are the only two who ever did that.
Williams played well for the next three seasons and he missed 1952 an 1953 for military service.
This time it was the Marines and while in WW2 he was a trainer, in Korea he flew combat missions.
Back in 1954 Williams played until 1960 for the most part maintaining a high level of excellence.
In 1957 and 1958 he won two more batting titles, in 1957 with a .388 average the highest since he
hit .406. When he retired Ted was 3rd on the all time homer list with 521. His batting average for
his career was .344 the highest for players who began their career post the 1920s.
His personal life was not much, married and divorced a couple times. He was no war hero because
he did not want to be one. Williams complained loud and long about going into a second war who
could blame him. And he had terrible relations with baseball writers, thought them fools. His
coverage was horrible.
He was still alive when this book came out mostly enjoying another passion he developed, deep sea
fishing. He did do a stint as manager of the expansion Washington Senators who moved to the
Dallas-Fort Worth area and became the Texas Rangers. Williams died in 2002.
Was he the greatest hitter that ever lived? Read the book you might think so.
February 13, 2023
This book goes year-by-year through Ted William's career and his trouble with the press and fans of Boston. A must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about the greatest hitter in baseball history.
March 4, 2014
Fitting I suppose that I would randomly select this book as the Sox began their 2013 season and after an event that brought out more Boston pride than I ever though possible...extra fitting that the Sox won it all.
That said though... this book moves SLLLLLOOOOOWWWW (which is why it took me so long to read). Mostly as a lot of it is very statistical based. I mean, I know that baseball is very much a stats oriented sport, but sometimes you'd actually like to know a smidge more about the people actually playing it. And this book does delve into some of Ted Williams the man... but mostly to showcase what we all already knew that have some inkling of him: he was an asshole. I mean to be fair, to play in a city like Boston you kind of HAVE to be an asshole. It's why I survive so well here. I'm in my natural element.
One thing for certain through this book and simply looking at his playing career is that the man was absolutely an artist when it came to hitting. Anyone who tells you differently is bats*&t crazy. That swing is something hitters dream of perfecting but only so many can ever even come close to it.
So tip of the cap sir for being an artist in the sport... and not to worry, the Boston media STILL drive athletes crazy. Somethings never change...
That said though... this book moves SLLLLLOOOOOWWWW (which is why it took me so long to read). Mostly as a lot of it is very statistical based. I mean, I know that baseball is very much a stats oriented sport, but sometimes you'd actually like to know a smidge more about the people actually playing it. And this book does delve into some of Ted Williams the man... but mostly to showcase what we all already knew that have some inkling of him: he was an asshole. I mean to be fair, to play in a city like Boston you kind of HAVE to be an asshole. It's why I survive so well here. I'm in my natural element.
One thing for certain through this book and simply looking at his playing career is that the man was absolutely an artist when it came to hitting. Anyone who tells you differently is bats*&t crazy. That swing is something hitters dream of perfecting but only so many can ever even come close to it.
So tip of the cap sir for being an artist in the sport... and not to worry, the Boston media STILL drive athletes crazy. Somethings never change...
September 28, 2013
Ted Williams is a fascinating sports figure. The greatest hitter to ever play the game of baseball, and yet one of the most criticized of players. He had a hate-hate relationship with the media that dogged him his whole baseball life. Seidel's book provides a good account of Williams' rise to baseball greatness and his struggles with the media and the fans. He does a good job balancing between the media's take and Williams' take on the causes of the strife. He doesn't get too much into his personal life except as affected his baseball life. A nice feature of the narrative is that Seidel references contemporaneous events to provide historical context to the events of baseball.
Personally, I don't get a lot out of detailed accounts of baseball games from a half a century ago. Some of it is interesting, but Seidel does a season by season exposition and throws a lot of stats out there. It tended to blur together, and I often lost the thread. The most interesting parts where the accounts and testimony from Williams and his contemporaries. Overall, I am glad I read it, but I'd only recommend it to hard core baseball readers or Williams' fans.
Personally, I don't get a lot out of detailed accounts of baseball games from a half a century ago. Some of it is interesting, but Seidel does a season by season exposition and throws a lot of stats out there. It tended to blur together, and I often lost the thread. The most interesting parts where the accounts and testimony from Williams and his contemporaries. Overall, I am glad I read it, but I'd only recommend it to hard core baseball readers or Williams' fans.
January 25, 2011
I have read lots of Ted Williams biographies but this was one of the better ones. The author ties the events of Williams career to other events in the league and in history, which was great for someone like me that wasn't fortunate enough to see the Kid play. This biography shows the difference between the press then versus now (they didn't comment on a players personal life, even someone as hostile to them as Williams) and also how the league was integrated during the course of Williams career, which seems appropriate given Williams Hall of Fame induction speech
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October 10, 2011I chose this book because Ted Williams is my favorite baseball player and I hope to learn some helpful baseball tips frim this book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews