Ted Williams on Hbo

No

I'm kidding. I'd like to see it but I can't get HBO right now. What's it about?

His life. Apparently he was fishing in the Keys when is daughter was born. And he just kept fishing

I'm as close to a Williams historian as anyone I imagine. I've read, watched, researched, and collect all Williams items.

The best book out there is the most recent one by Leigh Montville.

I met one of his fishing guides at a National Collectors Convention in St. Louis around '95. He was selling some items that Williams had secretly signed for him in exchange for guiding him.

He told me at that time what was going on before it became public knowledge. He told me John Henry would have a physical therapist come over daily to treat his right arm and hand so that he could continue to sign items.

Williams wasn't much of a father, and paid for it in the end when it came to his children. But to his credit, he knew it, and willingly paid that price.

I have some very rare Williams items, including a bottle of champagne from the opening ceremonies of the Ted Williams' Hitters Hall of Fame, or Cooperstown South, as it became known. It used to be in Citrus Hills, but was moved to Tropicana Field a few years ago.

Almost done with a book called "1941: The Greatest Year in Sports". About a quarter of the book is about Williams because that is the year he hit .408. I was unaware that he did that on a bum right ankle that he injured before the season started. Makes it even more amazing.

It ends at .406, for what it's worth.

Summer of '49 is a great read by Halberstam.

There are so many great Williams stories and interviews that I often am reminded out of the blue about some of them.

If you really want to get a true picture of the man and his accomplishments, the good and the bad, get the biography done by Leigh Montville.

It's called Ted Williams, The Biography of an American Hero, by Leigh Montville. He is an SI contributor and covered the Red Sox for years as a beat writer. He knew Williams from his days as a consultant to the Red Sox at spring training.

The book is very real and pulls no punches. I think it paints a fair portrait. He interviews every known person to have spent any significant time with Williams, and I think his hard work pays off in his writing.

I don’t have HBO anymore, but I’ll probably catch it when it gets to DVD. What I find most interesting about Williams is the way his reputation has done a complete 180 in the past 50 years. Williams was loathed in his day by the average fan. He was Ty Cobb or Albert Belle. The surly slugger that was constantly derided for being a self-important jerk, who cared only for his own stats. Yet late in life, he was hailed as not just the greatest living player, but as a great person.

I don’t know how the shift happened and I don’t know how he rehabbed his image. But it really is fascinating. Players normally do receive a bit of a halo effect as they get older and people forget their flaws, but Williams is by far the most extreme case. I think Ricky Henderson is on the same path.

It was really well done.

True about everybody remembering Ted Williams as "That Frozen Guy" instead of "The Greatest Hitter of All-Time" thanks to his arse-hat of a son.

I agree about Ted Williams being a humorless prick though. He actually reminds me of Will Clark more than Albert Belle.

I'd like to punch Will Clark in the face. He's never done anything to me personally, but that's how much of a prick I think he is.