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 Cooperstown to call attention to the great Negro League players who never got to play in the majors but were equally deserving of baseball's highest honor.  Due in no small part to his speech and campaigning, the Baseball Hall of Fame changed it's requirements for eligibility to include those players, of which 18 have since gained entry.

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.