[tedzan]

1984 was an interesting time for me. I had a great 1 hour conversation with Ted Williams and I spent 4 hours
talking with Phil Rizzuto on 1st class Flight from from Newark Airport.

Here are the highlights from my conversation with Ted.

I started by telling him that I was an avid Yankees fan in the 1950's. But, that I always rooted for him to hit a HR
at Yankee Stadium when the Red Sox were in town. Sure enough, many times he did, well into the RF upper deck.

TED....So, he asked me why I rooted for him ?
ME.....I told him because his name was Ted, and I liked his style. Besides, at the end of the season the Yankees
would always win, anyways.

TED....he smiled at my comment, and then asked me why I was a Yankees fan ?
ME.....because Phil Rizzuto was my neighbor (2 blocks away) in Hillside, NJ

TED....if the Scooter was our Shortstop all those years, we would've been the Champions, instead of the Yankees.

Then I turned the conversation to his BB cards. He was like a little kid....I still remember how enthusiastic he was
" talkin' BB cards ".

ME.....are you aware of how rare your 1954 Bowman card is ?
TED....no, but I signed a contract with Sy Berger of Topps in 1954 and no other Gum Co. could portray me.

Then, without me asking him....Ted went on this long dissertation telling me how Sy Berger was annoyed with him
in 1959 when Fleer approached his agent to do a series of cards depicting Ted's life. Fleer offered Ted $500 to do
this series of 80 cards. Sy Berger offered Ted $1000 to stay with Topps. Ted started laughing, as he told me that a
bidding war between Fleer and Topps ensued. When Fleer upped the ante to $5000, Topps relented. And that guys,
is the real story behind the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set....straight from Ted, himself.

TED....heck, that was a lot of money back then just for having your pictures on a set of gum cards.
ME.....Ted, you ain't kidding, that was my Dad's annual salary.


We continued talking, or I should say Ted continued talking, about all things BaseBall. I intently listened. That was
a tremendous experience I had with Ted that day; and, a conversation that I will never, ever forget.


I've also had some great conversations with Richie Ashburn abd Don Larsen.


TED Z