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Williams was born in San Diego, California as Teddy Samuel Williams (he later changed his name to Theodore), in honor of Teddy Roosevelt. Early in his career, he stated that he wished to be remembered as the "greatest hitter who ever lived". Many experts believe that he indeed achieved this goal. His two MVP Awards and two Triple Crowns came in different years. Along with Rogers Hornsby, he is one of only two players to win the Triple Crown twice.

In 1941, Williams entered the last day of the season with a batting average of .3996. This would have been rounded up to .400, making Williams the first man to hit .400 since Bill Terry in 1930. His manager left the decision whether to play up to him. Williams opted to play in both games of the day's doubleheader and risk losing his record. He got 6 hits in 8 at bats, raising his season average to .406. No one has hit .400 since.

At the time this achievement was overshadowed by Joe DiMaggioJoseph Paul DiMaggio (born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio November 25, 1914 in Martinez, California March 8, 1999 in Hollywood, Florida) was an American baseball player. A "picture player" at bat and in center field, many rate his 56-game hitting streak (from Ma's 56-game hitting streak. Their rivalry was accentuated by the press. Williams always felt himself the better hitter, but acknowledged that DiMaggio was the better all-around player. Also in 1941, Williams set a major-league record for on-base percentage in a season at .551. That record would last until 2002, when Barry BondsBarry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964 in Riverside, California) is a professional baseball player for the San Francisco Giants; he is most famous for his home run hitting. He holds the record for most homers in a season with 73, and is third on the career upped this mark to .582. One of Williams's other more memorable accomplishments was his unprecedented home run off of Rip Sewell's notorious eephus pitchBaseball pitches An Eephus pitch in baseball is a " junk pitch" which has "nothing on it"—very little velocity and catches the hitter off-guard. Its invention is attributed to Rip Sewell of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1930s. Sewell had been shot in the during the 1946 All-Star Game.

An obsessive student of batting, Williams hit for both power and average. In 1970Events January events January 1 Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65, miles north of Phoenix, Arizona. January 1 Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC. January 12 Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war. January he wrote a book on the subject, The Science of Hitting ; revised ( 19861986 is a common year starting on Wednesday. Events January January 1 Spain and Portugal enter the European Community January 1 Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands and is separated from the Netherlands Antilles. January 9 After losing a pa), which is still read by many baseball players. He lacked foot speed, as attested by his career total of 24 stolen bases, one inside-the-park home run, and one occasion of hitting for the cycle. He felt that with more speed he could have raised his average considerably. Despite his lack of range in the field, he was considered a sure-gloved fielder.

Williams served as a US Marine pilot during both World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough and the Korean WarThe Korean War from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953, was a conflict between communist North Korea and anti-communist South Korea. It was also a proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The principal combatants were North and South Korea., serving in the same unit as John Glenn in the latter. These absences in the prime of his career significantly reduced his career totals.

He retired from the game in 1960 after hitting a home run in his final at-bat, an accomplishment immortalized in The New Yorker essay "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu", by John Updike. Williams, who had been on bad terms with the Boston newspapers for nearly twenty years and had enjoyed frosty relations with the Boston fans, characteristically refused either to tip his cap as he circled the bases or to respond to the prolonged cheers of "We want Ted" from the crowd. As Updike noted, "Gods do not answer letters."

After retirement from active play, Williams served as manager of the Washington Senators and Texas Rangers during the 1960s and early 1970s. An avid and expert fly fisherman and deep-sea fisherman, he spent many summer vacations after baseball fishing the Miramichi River, in Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada.

After suffering a series of strokes and congestive heart failures he died of cardiac arrest in Crystal River, Florida.

A public dispute over the disposition of Williams' body was waged after his death. Announcing there would be no funeral, John Henry Williams, Ted's son by his third wife, secretly had Ted's body flown to the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona, and placed in cryonic suspension. Fearing John Henry was planning to sell their father's DNA for possible cloning, Barbara Joyce Ferrell, Ted's daughter by his first wife, sued, saying his will stated that he wanted to be cremated (it should be noted that any such intention would not require cryonic suspension). John Henry's lawyer then produced an informal family pact signed by Ted, John Henry, and his sister, Ted's daughter, Claudia, in which they agreed "to be put into biostasis after we die." The dispute was resolved on December 20, 2002 when Ferrell withdrew her objections after a judge agreed that a $645,000 trust would be distributed equally among the siblings.

The Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts was named in his honor while he was still alive.

Career Statistics