The
Perfect American
July 15, 2002
I've been kind of surprised by the amount of eulogy that has followed Ted
Williams' passing. Surprised in that I expected there would be much
more. If there was ever a competitor to Babe Ruth as the greatest
baseball player, both in his on-the-field exploits and larger-than-life
persona, it was Williams. Maybe the circus surrounding his remains
distracted the baseball community from giving him his proper due.
A couple of friends asked me where he belongs in the pantheon of great baseball players. Comparing players across eras is a tricky business, but for me, he ranks just behind Ruth for his impact on the field, and just behind Ruth and Jackie Robinson for his influence/persona off it.
On the field, this is his statistical legacy (courtesy of baseball-reference.com):
Year
Ag Tm Lg G
AB R H 2B
3B HR RBI SB CS BB
SO BA OBP SLG
TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+---+---+-----+----+--+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1939
20 BOS AL 149 565 131 185
44 11 31 145 2 1
107 64 .327 .436 .609 344
3 2 10
1940
21 BOS AL 144 561 134 193
43 14 23 113 4 4
96 54 .344 .442 .594 333
1 3 13
1941
22 BOS AL 143 456 135 185
33 3 37 120 2 4
147 27 .406 .553 .735 335
0 3 10
1942
23 BOS AL 150 522 141 186
34 5 36 137 3 2
145 51 .356 .499 .648 338
0 4 12
1946
27 BOS AL 150 514 142 176
37 8 38 123 0 0
156 44 .342 .497 .667 343
0 2 12
1947
28 BOS AL 156 528 125 181
40 9 32 114 0 1
162 47 .343 .499 .634 335
1 2 10
1948
29 BOS AL 137 509 124 188
44 3 25 127 4 0
126 41 .369 .497 .615 313
0 3 10
1949
30 BOS AL 155 566 150 194
39 3 43 159 1 1
162 48 .343 .490 .650 368
0 2 22
1950
31 BOS AL 89 334 82
106 24 1 28
97 3 0 82 21 .317
.452 .647 216
0 0 12
1951
32 BOS AL 148 531 109 169
28 4 30 126 1 1
144 45 .318 .464 .556 295
0 0 10
1952
33 BOS AL 6 10
2 4 0 1
1 3 0 0
2 2 .400 .500 .900
9 0
0 0
1953
34 BOS AL 37 91
17 37 6 0
13 34 0 1 19
10 .407 .509 .901 82
0 0 1
1954
35 BOS AL 117 386 93
133 23 1 29
89 0 0 136 32 .345 .513
.635 245 0
3 1 10
1955
36 BOS AL 98 320 77
114 21 3 28
83 2 0 91 24 .356
.496 .703 225 0 4
17 2 8
1956
37 BOS AL 136 400 71
138 28 2 24
82 0 0 102 39 .345 .479
.605 242 0 0 11 1
13
1957
38 BOS AL 132 420 96
163 28 1 38
87 0 1 119 43 .388 .526
.731 307 0 2 33 5
11
1958
39 BOS AL 129 411 81
135 23 2 26
85 1 0 98 49 .328
.458 .584 240 0 4
12 4 19
1959
40 BOS AL 103 272 32
69 15 0 10 43
0 0 52 27 .254 .372
.419 114 0 5 6
2 7
1960
41 BOS AL 113 310 56
98 15 0 29 72
1 1 75 41 .316 .451
.645 200 0 2 7
3 7
+----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+---+---+-----+----+--+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
19
Seasons 2292 7706 1798 2654
525 71 521 1839 24 17 2021 709 .344
.482 .634 4884 5 20 86 39 197
Williams missed nearly 5 years of his career due to military service. I
can only guesstimate what he might have hit in those early peak years of
production (ages 24-26) and plateau years (age 33 and 34). I assume he'd
have hit at least as well as he had in the years that surrounding the missing
time, and it's not uncommon for hitters who make their major league debuts as
early as Williams did to show increased production in their age 25 and 26
years. So it's probable that this projection is on the conservateive side:
G AB R
H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
CS BB SO BA
OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
19
Seasons 2292 7706 1798 2654
525 71 521 1839 24 17 2021 709 .344
.482 .634 4884 5 20 86 39 197
Missing
years 724 2384 575 844
167 25 168 543 3 4 684
224 .354 .500 .656 1565 1
2 44* 14 58
+----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+---+---+-----+----+--+---+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
Total
3016 10090 2373 3498 692 96 689 2382
27 21 2705 933 .347 .486 .639 6449
6 22 406 53 255
Note that they did not keep track of intentional walks until 1955, but assuming
that he would have drawn intentional free passes earlier in his career at the
same pace he did in his decline, he would have recorded around 320 before 1955
and finished with around 400 total. By including
the missing years, his career totals would have placed him first all-time in
runs, RBI, on base percentage (which he already is), walks (by nearly 600),
intentional walks and most total times on base. He would have been 3rd in
home runs, 5th in doubles, 6th in hits (but very close to 5th), 5th in batting average and second in total bases, yet still
not in the top 20 in at bats.
But these numbers don't adjust for league average or ballpark. However, thanks to baseball-reference.com, the following numbers do:
Year
Ag Tm Lg PA Outs
RC BA *lgBA
OBP *lgOBP SLG *lgSLG
OPS *lgOPS *OPS+ psOPS SB%
+--------------+----+-----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+-----+----+
1939
20 BOS AL 677 394 149 | .327 .291|
.436 .367| .609 .431|1.045 .798|
160 66%
1940
21 BOS AL 661 386 146 | .344 .284|
.442 .358| .594 .430|1.036 .788|
162 50%
1941
22 BOS AL 606 285 184 | .406 .278|
.553 .355| .735 .410|1.287 .765|
235 33%
1942
23 BOS AL 671 350 167 | .356 .269|
.499 .344| .648 .377|1.147 .721|
217 60%
1946
27 BOS AL 672 350 170 | .342 .271|
.497 .346| .667 .389|1.164 .735|
215 0%
1947
28 BOS AL 693 359 166 | .343 .270|
.499 .352| .634 .389|1.133 .741|
205 0%
1948
29 BOS AL 638 331 154 | .369 .279|
.497 .365| .615 .403|1.112 .768|
189 100%
1949
30 BOS AL 730 395 180 | .343 .279|
.490 .372| .650 .405|1.141 .778|
192 50%
1950
31 BOS AL 416 240 97 | .317 .290|
.452 .379| .647 .435|1.099 .814|
168 100%
1951
32 BOS AL 675 373 136 | .318 .279|
.464 .362| .556 .409|1.019 .771|
164 50%
1952
33 BOS AL 12 6 4 |
.400 .270| .500 .350| .900 .390|1.400 .740|
274 0%
1953
34 BOS AL 110 56 41 | .407
.276| .509 .353| .901 .405|1.410 .758|
267 0%
1954
35 BOS AL 526 266 126 | .345 .278|
.513 .355| .635 .406|1.148 .762|
201 0%
1955
36 BOS AL 417 218 112 | .356 .277|
.496 .358| .703 .412|1.200 .770|
209 100%
1956
37 BOS AL 503 275 115 | .345 .281|
.479 .365| .605 .429|1.084 .794|
172 0%
1957
38 BOS AL 546 271 160 | .388 .270|
.526 .343| .731 .407|1.257 .750|
233 0%
1958
39 BOS AL 517 299 109 | .328 .270| .458
.339| .584 .409|1.042 .749| 178
100%
1959
40 BOS AL 331 215 42 | .254 .266|
.372 .338| .419 .407| .791 .745|
113 0%
1960
41 BOS AL 390 222 89 | .316 .268|
.451 .342| .645 .410|1.096 .752|
189 50%
+--------------+----+-----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+-----+----+
19
Seasons 9791 5291 2347 | .344 .277|
.482 .356| .634 .409|1.116 .764|
190 58%
19
Seasons 9791 5291 2347 | .344 .277|
.482 .356| .634 .409|1.116 .764|
190 58%
Missing
years 3082 1605 776 | .354 .277| .500
.356| .656 .409|1.156 .764| 208
+--------------+----+-----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+-----+----+
Total
12873 6896 3123 | .346 .277| .486 .356| .639
.409|1.125 .764| 194
The runs created total (RC) would be good for first all-time, although it
should be noted that the current #1, Babe Ruth, spent his first 6 years as a
pitcher and would still probably be #1 if he had been a hitter his whole
career. Williams relative OPS (*OPS+) was already the second highest in
history; the missing years just brought him closer to Ruth. He posted a relative OPS of 200 or better 9 times in his career,
second only to Ruth's 11. By comparison, Barry Bonds has just three 200+
years (although this year will most likely be another) and a 171 career *OPS+.
Williams' numbers versus his contemporaries stand on their own despite the missing years. He won six batting titles, finishing second another four times and missed out on two more because he walked so much he didn't have enough at bats to qualify. He won the home run crown four times, finishing 2nd four more times. He led the league in runs six times and RBI four times. He was first in on base twelve times and slugging nine times. He led the league in OPS ten times and by at least 50 points five times. Not even Ruth led the league by that margin as many times and no one other than those two has done it more than once.
Among his other accomplishments, he won the triple crown - highest batting average, most home runs and RBI - twice (in 1942 and 1947) and would have won it a third time had the current sacrifice fly rule been in effect in 1949. As it is, he lost out in batting average to George Kell by .00015. It would not be too far fetched to assume that he would have at least threatened to win another triple crown in one or maybe more of the war years he missed. Rogers Hornsby is the only other player in history to win as many as two.
Williams won two MVP awards and finished 2nd four times. His rocky relationship with the press was responsible for him not winning it more often. For example, in 1947, the year he won his second triple crown, he collected only three first place votes and was left off the ballot entirely by one sportswriter. Had any of the other writers who voted for him picked him just one place higher than they did, he would have won the award a third time. He was portrayed as taciturn, churlish, cold and aloof, but was probably just tired of answering the same silly questions all the time. And given his demeanor with regular people away from the game, the latter seems far more believable.
Myriad are the stories of his graciousness and warmth toward kids and counselors alike at his baseball camp, of him watching out for the kids at card shows and of his generosity with his time for anyone who wanted to talk about hitting a baseball or fishing. He raised millions of dollars for the Jimmy Fund and other charities, even chartered flights in order to visit the terminally ill, but shunned the spotlight for doing so.
He was an accomplished fly fisherman who held several salt water records for a time and is a member of the Fishing Hall of Fame. During World War 2, he spent three years in the Marines training pilots for combat. He was recalled to service during the Korean conflict, where he was John Glenn's wingman. Genuinely modest, he claimed that 99% of the other pilots in his squadron did a better job than he did. It has been said more than once that Williams was the real-life version of the character John Wayne often portrayed.
He used his induction into
John Steinbeck once wrote of Americans that they
were "complicated, paradoxical, bullheaded, shy, boisterous, unspeakably
dear and very beautiful." By that definition, Ted Williams was the
perfect American.