04/19/24
July 05, 2002
Ted Williams was baseball's greatest hitter: Ted Williams, the last major league player to hit .400 for an entire season, who was also Joe DiMaggio's arch rival, John Glenn's wing man, and Boston's preeminent athlete of the 20th century, died Friday in Crystal River, Fla. He was 83.
posted by srboisvert to baseball at 12:19 PM - 10 comments
It looks like the Globe is pulling out some of their archives for this: Here is Dan Shaughnessy's column from the day after 1999 All-Star Game.
posted by jpbutler at 01:21 PM on July 05, 2002
Maybe the Sox can win the World Series this year in his honor. I don't think Ted would have ever gone on strike.
posted by insomnyuk at 02:11 PM on July 05, 2002
Well, Ted was born in 1918. Is this a sign that 2002 will be the year?
posted by jpbutler at 02:25 PM on July 05, 2002
This is an incredibly sad day for baseball. Unfortunately, I never witnessed the Kid in a uniform, but I remember the many interviews (his conversation with Tony Gwynn for ESPN was a classic) and the many, many stories of him from my family (you would think only Ted, Stan the Man, Joe DiMaggio played the game in their day). C'mon Red Sox, use the blessing of the Splendid Splinter to overcome that curse of the Bambino.
posted by trox at 02:26 PM on July 05, 2002
Tributes to Ted from President Bush, Bobby Doerr and others.
posted by jpbutler at 02:47 PM on July 05, 2002
A baseball legend, an American war hero, a symbol of the grander days of baseball... Teddy Ballgame. Rest in peace.
posted by jerseygirl at 03:39 PM on July 05, 2002
Ted Williams was, to use a cliche, the last of a dying breed. An athlete who saw saw baseball as a calling, not a way to be a celebrity. Even as a Mets fan and thus a Sox-hater, I will miss the Splendid Splinter. Godspeed.
posted by jonmc at 05:27 PM on July 05, 2002
i'm ted motherfucking williams. jesus h. christ couldn't strike me out. attributed to the man himself in ball four - author jim bouton godspeed, ted.
posted by lescour at 09:57 PM on July 05, 2002
there goes the greatest hitter who ever lived.
posted by jerseygirl at 10:56 PM on July 05, 2002
This is very sad. I'm listening to WEEI (the sports radio station here in Boston) and they are taking calls from all the old New Englanders who remember seeing Ted play in person. Dick Radatz is practically in tears on the air. I'm about 20 years too young to have seen Ted in action - Carlton Fisk was *my* hero growing up - but the stories I've heard and read about him as a baseball player, a war hero and a man are enough to create this feeling of genuine loss. My all-time best baseball moment was watching the 1999 all-star game at Fenway where Ted was honored. I was in Seattle with a couple of other Boston transplants and we are all sniffling into our beers. Ted will be missed. The tributes will be all out soon - here is Sports Illustrated's cover gallery.