- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Ted Williams Goat hitter
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:36 pm
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:36 pm
[/url][/img]
How many would have had if he didn’t give up those five years, servicing our country??
How many would have had if he didn’t give up those five years, servicing our country??
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:38 pm to rsbd
I don’t understand why this is even in dispute. Williams is clearly the best hitter of all time assuming we aren’t discussing pure power hitting.
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:39 pm to mattz1122
quote:
Is his head still frozen
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:42 pm to rsbd
The big question back in the day was what if Williams (left handed hitter) played in Yankee Stadium with the short left field porch and DiMaggio (right handed hitter) played in Fenway with the green monster.
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:45 pm to rsbd
Obviously Ted is GOAT but I wonder if Bonds is close when you factor in slugging and/or OBP
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:46 pm to FightinTigersDammit
quote:
He played in only six games in 1952 and 39 games in 1953. From 1952-1960 he never played in more than 136 games or batted more than 420 times. That explains why he finished his career with 2,654 hits because he batted only 7,706 times which ranks him 159th among all major leaguers. Pete Rose batted 14,053 times to lead all major leaguers with Hank Aaron next with 12,364 at bats. Aaron batted 4,658 more times than Williams. Aaron had 3,771 hits while Williams had 2,654 when he retired. Williams missed the equivalent of nine 500 at bat seasons compared to Aaron. If Williams had 150 hits in each of those nine seasons he would have finished with 4004 hits. If he had 160 hits in each of those nine seasons he would have finished with 4,094 hits. The all-time hits leader Rose batted close to 2000 more times than Williams even when figuring in the extra nine seasons for Williams and still would have finished only 162 hits ahead of Williams. The reason Williams could have been that close to Rose is that Williams had the seventh best lifetime batting average of .344 while Rose hit .302 during his career and was ranked 170th. All of this is conjecture to give an idea of what kind of stats Williams would have had if he had batted more often. He also would have hit many more homers using the same number of at bats. If he hit 30 homers a season which is very conservative given the fact that he hit 29 homers in 390 at bats during his last season he would have finished with 791 homers which would still be the record. All of the above numbers would have meant nothing if Williams hadn’t survived a couple of very close calls in 1953 while a pilot with the Marines in Korea. On Feb. 4, 1953, Williams arrived in Korea. Only 13 days later on Feb. 17 he was on a mission to bomb an enemy troop base. He lost sight of the plane in front of him and flew lower so he could see the plane ahead of him better. When he dropped lower he was hit by North Korean soldiers using small arms fire. All the warning lights in the cockpit were lit and he had lost radio contact. He was told by another pilot to bail out of the plane but he didn’t know his plane was on fire so he remained in the cockpit. Williams was unable to lower the landing gear but miraculously made it back to the airport. However there was an explosion that rocked the plane when a wheel door blew off. He made his approach at 225 miles per hour twice the recommended speed. The emergency wheel latch only could lower one wheel leaving him no way to make a normal landing. The plane continued over a mile on the airstrip and almost hit two firetrucks in place in case of an explosion. The plane finally came to a stop on the edge of the airstrip with only the cockpit not in flames. Williams dove headfirst into the tarmac to safety and was very angry to see the plane completely destroyed. He would have another close call on April 28 of 1953 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire due to being forced to fly lower by heavy winds. He was lucky his fuel reserves tank wasn’t ignited and returned to the base safely. In a little over two months, the best hitter in baseball had two brushes with death and escaped unscathed. Williams had an abrasive personality and was never a media favorite but nobody can ever question his bravery during the time he flew 39 missions. What he accomplished in Korea transcends anything he ever did on a baseball field. We came close to seeing his baseball career ended twice in 1953 in Korea and it would have been a tragedy to lose him at the age of 34 defending his country. After learning of his close calls I have a new respect for Ted Williams and know he put his country first when he would rather have been playing baseball.
I know wall of text.
This post was edited on 6/19/21 at 8:48 pm
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:48 pm to rsbd
Were his numbers better than Joe D during the hitting streak? If so, that is amazeballs.
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:48 pm to AUFANATL
Williams would be a statistical outlier all alone in history had he been a lifelong Yankee.
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:49 pm to rsbd
Actually, Ted was pissed about being called up for duty in Korea.
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:51 pm to rsbd
Holy run-on sentence, Batman!
And yes, he is the GOAT hitter.
And yes, he is the GOAT hitter.
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:53 pm to rsbd
Since ur aware of all that, who was Ted’s wingman?
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:54 pm to SteelerBravesDawg
Also OTD in 2014, we lost Tony Gwynn
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:55 pm to wahoocs
John Glenn, in Korea
This post was edited on 6/19/21 at 8:56 pm
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:57 pm to rsbd
Glenn flew Ted's wing, and Ted flew Glenn's. Said Ted was one of the best natural fliers he'd ever seen.
Posted on 6/19/21 at 8:57 pm to rsbd
Yes
He only had a wingman in Korea
Never flew a mission in WW2
Trained only
He only had a wingman in Korea
Never flew a mission in WW2
Trained only
Posted on 6/19/21 at 9:00 pm to rsbd
Never won a World Series though
Did y'all know he was half Mexican? I didn't know that until googling him just now
LINK
good end to the story there
Did y'all know he was half Mexican? I didn't know that until googling him just now
LINK
quote:
Davis said Williams kept his Mexican-American heritage a secret at a time when no black players were allowed in the major leagues and the Red Sox were owned by Tom Yawkey, a controversial figure who was the last owner to integrate a major league baseball team.
Williams was born to Samuel Stuart Williams, a white photographer and pickle salesman, and May Venzor, a Mexican-American Salvation Army devotee who often volunteered in Tijuana, Mexico, leaving Williams and his brother to fend for themselves with their alcoholic father, Bradlee said. His Mexican family ended up in San Diego as tension simmered before the Mexican Revolution began in 1910.
It’s a past Williams concealed until near the end of his life, said Bradlee. “He was ashamed.”
After his sensational 1939 rookie year, Williams returned to San Diego to find around 20 of his Mexican-Americans relatives waiting for him at the train station. Williams took one look at them and fled.
quote:
Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as soon as he became eligible. Williams wanted to use his speech to call for the Hall of Fame to recognize players of the Negro Leagues who had been excluded solely based on their skin color. Friends would say Williams, despite his own ambivalence about his own background, remembered the discrimination Mexican Americans faced in California.
But baseball officials wanted Williams to drop the reference. “You don’t tell Ted Williams what he can and cannot do,” Claudia Williams said in the film.
Williams gave his Hall of Fame speech his way, and soon after, players of the Negro Leagues were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
good end to the story there
Posted on 6/19/21 at 9:07 pm to BowlJackson
I’ve read it all when it comes to Ted
Went to Citrus Hills, where his Cooperstown South was before moving to Tampa
Befriended one of his fishing guides who exchanged trips for signed memorabilia later in life
Have all but 4 of his “playing days” baseball cards made from ‘39-‘60
I think Leigh Montville’s bio was the best if ur interested
Went to Citrus Hills, where his Cooperstown South was before moving to Tampa
Befriended one of his fishing guides who exchanged trips for signed memorabilia later in life
Have all but 4 of his “playing days” baseball cards made from ‘39-‘60
I think Leigh Montville’s bio was the best if ur interested
Posted on 6/19/21 at 9:13 pm to wahoocs
Literally wrote the book on hitting.
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News