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Cubs-Orioles, Scottsdale, AZ, March 10, 1956
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Ted Williams Injured on the First Day of Spring Training, 1954
“If there was ever a man born to be a hitter it was me…A man has to have goals – for a day, for a lifetime – and that was mine, to have people say, ‘There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived’ ” –Ted Williams
Today is the anniversary of an important date in the career of Ted Williams, but one that I’m sure, if he were alive, he’d rather not talk about. I recently learned that on March 1, 1954, seventy-two years ago today, Ted broke his collarbone on the first day of spring training when he stumbled in the outfield shagging a line drive during batting practice. This unfortunate injury, coming after surviving two plane crashes and after flying thirty-nine combat missions during the Korean War, kept Ted out of action for the first four weeks of the 1954 season.
This occasion gives me a chance to say a few words about the career of one of baseball’s all-time greats, and especially to highlight his historic 1941 season.
Ted Williams’ Staggering Career Numbers
The quotes above may sound cocky, but as Dizzy Dean once said, ”It ain’t braggin’ if you can do it”, and, as we all know, there was never any doubt that Ted Williams could “do it”!
There’s also little debate that Ted Williams was the greatest pure hitter the game has ever seen. He played his entire 19-year major league career with the Red Sox (1939–1942 and 1946–1960). He was a seventeen-time All-Star, a two-time American League Most Valuable Player, a six-time American League batting champion, a four-time American League home run leader, a four-time American League RBI leader, and a two-time Triple Crown winner.
Over his career, in which he lost three full seasons and parts of a fourth to military service, he hit .344 (seventh all-time), with 2,454 hits, 521 home runs (19th all-time), 1837 RBIs (14th all-time), and a .482 on-base percentage (first all-time). His .634 slugging average is second all-time, behind only Babe Ruth’s .689. His 191 career OPS+ is also second, behind only Ruth’s 206 (100 being the major league average).
The “Splendid Splinter’s” Historic 1941 Year
Ted Williams’ 1941 season is often considered to be the best offensive season ever, even though the MVP award that year went to Joe DiMaggio. He led the league in all the following categories: runs (135), home runs (37), walks (147), batting average (.406), on-base percentage (.553), OPS (1.287), and OPS+ (235). His .406 batting average is still the highest single-season average in Red Sox history, the highest batting average in the major leagues since 1924, and the last time any major league player has hit over .400.
His .553 OBP and .735 slugging average are both also the highest single-season averages in Red Sox history. The .553 OBP stood as a major league record for 61 years, and his .735 slugging percentage was the highest in the major leagues between 1932 and 1994. Williams also had 185 hits and was second in RBIs with 120. He accomplished all this while striking out only 27 times in 606 plate appearances.
Would He Sit Out the Last Two Games?
On September 28, before the final two games of the 1941 regular season, a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, he was batting .39955, which would have been officially rounded up to .400. Red Sox manager Joe Cronin offered him the chance to sit out the final day, but Ted Williams famously declined, saying: “If I’m going to be a .400 hitter I want more than my toenails on the line.” He proceeded to go 6-for-8 and finished the season at .406.
Ted Williams was a first-ballot selection to the Hall of Fame in 1966, and his #9 has been retired by the Red Sox. He was named to the Major League All-Century team and the Major League Baseball All-Time team.
What would Ted Williams’ numbers be if he had not lost all that time serving his country? We can only speculate…
Gary Livacari
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Information: Excerpts edited from Ted Williams Wikipedia page; Stats from Baseball Reference.com
