Ted Williams

Tall and lithe, stubborn and irascible, loud and sometimes affable, and sometimes ornery, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox lived a remarkably accomplished life and became a baseball legend and an American icon. In the batter's box, Williams had few equals in baseball history—probably only Babe Ruth. His left-handed swing was close to perfection, the result of natural gifts (great eyesight, quick wrists, and exceptional hand-eye coordination), hard work, discipline, and an analytical mind and method. His batting statistics remain awe inspiring. Over his lengthy career, which was abbreviated by five seasons because of two tours of military duty, Williams batted .344 (seventh all-time highest), with 521 home runs (third all-time highest when he retired), and an all-time best on-base percentage of .482. Additionally, Williams was Major League Baseball's last .400 hitter. In 1941 he famously batted .406. To put that number in some context, no one since then has hit higher than .394, and that number was reached twenty-five years ago. Unsurprisingly, Williams was a first-ballot baseball Hall of Famer in 1966

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