Ted Williams...ROBBED!

[A2000]

Boston finishing 17 games behind the Yankees in 1941 probably didn't help his MVP cause.

[nsaddict]

I’m certainly in the camp that Ted was short changed in those 3 years. The numbers stand out for sure. By the voting mindset, a player on a last place team could never get the nod regardless of stats? But the biggest head scratcher is the 1934 voting. Gehrig has a monster year and finished 5th in voting, outrageous!

[tedzan]

Hi Tony

Back in the 1980's, I had several conversations with Ted while meeting him in Cooperstown. He was one of the friendliest BB players I ever met. These
were not short conversations, either. Ted loved to talk BB with you.

I'm a Yankees fan, too. My nearby (2 blocks away) neighbor when I young was Phil Rizzuto. A really great guy, everyone in the neighborhood loved him.

I will never forget Ted's response to me when I told him...."I would root for you to hit a HR into the upper Right Field stands at Yankee Stadium".

He replied…."I don't understand, you say you're a Yankees fan."

I responded with...."I knew your HR's wouldn't really matter, because at the end of the season, I knew the Yankees would win".

Ted cracked up laughing. Then he turned serious, and said...."If Rizzuto played for the Red Sox back then, we would have been the A.L. Champions".


Ted was quite serious when he said that to me. What I understood from that was that Rizzuto was a great Lead-Off batter who would Hit, Bunt, Walk,
etc. to get on base. Then he would eventually score 3 times at of 4.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Nunzio11]

A man has to have goals — for a day, for a lifetime — and that was mine, to have people say, "There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived."

Whatever type of person he was, Ted lived up to his goals. Almost 60 years after retirement and 18 years after his death he’s still towards the very top of the discussion.

[Jim65]

"There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived"

He was only off by one, Babe Ruth is the greatest hitter who ever lived

[GeoPoto]

If all of Ted Williams’ 521 home runs and 525 doubles were outs, he would still have a higher OBP than Henry Aaron.

[maniac_73]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hi Tony

Back in the 1980's, I had several conversations with Ted while meeting him in Cooperstown. He was one of the friendliest BB players I ever met. These
were not short conversations, either. Ted loved to talk BB with you.

I'm a Yankees fan, too. My nearby (2 blocks away) neighbor when I young was Phil Rizzuto. A really great guy, everyone in the neighborhood loved him.

I will never forget Ted's response to me when I told him...."I would root for you to hit a HR into the upper Right Field stands at Yankee Stadium".

He replied…."I don't understand, you say you're a Yankees fan."

I responded with...."I knew your HR's wouldn't really matter, because at the end of the season, I knew the Yankees would win".

Ted cracked up laughing. Then he turned serious, and said...."If Rizzuto played for the Red Sox back then, we would have been the A.L. Champions".


Ted was quite serious when he said that to me. What I understood from that was that Rizzuto was a great Lead-Off batter who would Hit, Bunt, Walk,
etc. to get on base. Then he would eventually score 3 times at of 4.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

What a wonderful story thanks for sharing!

[Case12]

He was not on a winning team. Would have made a huge difference.

[TUM301]

It was said, "Ted Williams led the life John Wayne wished he had". As far as hitters go it`s Ted or Babe, either or, for me.

[samosa4u]

Does anyone here remember exactly what Willie Mays said about Ted? If I can remember correctly, he said how all the travelling wore him down as a player and how Ted didn't have to go through any of that. Mays had to fly to Philadelphia, Houston, back to Cali, and then to New York, etc. He said it nearly killed him.

[mainemule]

Originally Posted by Case12

He was not on a winning team. Would have made a huge difference.

Ted's teams were not as good as Joe D.s or Mickey M.'s Yankees. While Ted had some very good teammates (Doerr, D Dimaggio) they were out matched by the Yanks.

Trout has won MVPs on non-winning teams. Nice guy vs. not-so-nice guy (as viewed by media voters).