Ted Williams | Biography, Stats, Swing, & Facts | Britannica

Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos Ted Williams

• Introduction & Top Questions
• Early life and rookie season
• Playing career and military service
• Player turned manager
• Legacy and publications

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics Images & Videos For Students Ted Williams summary Quizzes Great Moments in Sports Quiz Sports Quiz Batter Up I Am the Greatest (Athlete) American Sports Nicknames Contents Sports & Recreation Baseball

Ted Williams American baseball player and manager Ask the Chatbot a Question More Actions Print print Print Please select which sections you would like to print:

• Table Of Contents

Cite verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ted-Williams Feedback External Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

• Society for American Baseball Research - Ted Williams
• Official Site of Ted Williams Foundation
• PBS - American Experience - Ted Williams
• MLB - 5 notable facts about Splendid Splinter's life and career
• Baseball Almanac - Ted Williams Stats
• Digital Commons at UMaine - Ted Williams Interview about 1954 World Series (PDF)
• National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum - Biography of Ted Williams
• Official Site of Ted Williams
• NPR - Ted Williams: A Perfectionist Ballplayer With Many Demons
• ESPN Classic - Pure Hitter: Ted Williams

Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

• Ted Williams - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• Ted Williams - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Ask the Chatbot a Question Also known as: Teddy Ballgame, The Splendid Splinter, Theodore Samuel Williams(Show More) Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors History Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask the Chatbot Top Questions

What was Ted Williams’ lifetime batting average?

Ted Williams compiled a lifetime batting average of .344.

What notable achievement did Ted Williams accomplish in 1941?

Ted Williams hit for a season average of .406 in 1941, making him the last player to hit .400 in Major League Baseball.

How did Ted William’ relationship with the media and fans affect his behavior?

Ted Williams had a career-long feud with the media and a love-hate relationship with Boston fans, leading him to refuse to acknowledge cheering fans and never tip his cap to the crowd.

What military service did Ted Williams complete during his baseball career?

Ted Williams served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and as a pilot during the Korean War, missing five prime years of his baseball career.

Ted Williams (born August 30, 1918, San Diego, California, U.S.—died July 5, 2002, Inverness, Florida) was an American professional baseball player who compiled a lifetime batting average of .344 as an outfielder with the American League Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960. He was the last player to hit .400 in Major League Baseball (.406 in 1941).

Early life and rookie season

Born and raised in San Diego, Williams was an excellent ballplayer as a child and later led his high school team to the state championships. He batted left-handed but threw right-handed, baseball’s most desirable combination. Williams was signed by a minor league team in the Pacific Coast League, and after several seasons in San Diego and Minneapolis he was brought up to the Red Sox major league team in 1939. He had a fine rookie season with a batting average of .327.

Playing career and military service

His sophomore season in 1940 was more difficult. Although he batted .344 for the year, he was in something of a hitting slump in the early months. The criticism and heckling that arose from the sporting press and the fans soured Williams’s attitude; thus began a career-long feud between Williams and the media and a love-hate relationship with Boston fans. Williams began refusing to acknowledge cheering fans—for the rest of his career he would never again tip his cap to the crowd.

Britannica Quiz Great Moments in Sports Quiz

“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.’”

—Ted Williams

In 1941 Williams hit for a season average of .406. His battle with the media continued, however. He had requested a draft deferment in 1942 because he was his mother’s sole support. Many other players played baseball instead of enlisting in 1942 (Joe DiMaggio, for example), but the press called Williams’s choice unpatriotic and derided him for it. He decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy and entered active duty in November 1942. In that same year he won the first of two Triple Crowns (in which a player has the best batting average, most home runs, and most runs batted in [RBIs] during a single season).

Williams missed the baseball seasons of 1943–45 training and serving as a Navy flyer, but he saw no combat. Upon his return to baseball in 1946 he had lost none of his skill, hitting .342 in 1946 and in 1947 winning his second Triple Crown. In 1952 he was once again called up for military service, and for most of the ’52 and ’53 seasons he served as a pilot during the Korean War, this time in combat. (He batted .400 and .407 respectively for these years, but because he played only 43 games the records are not for complete seasons and therefore are not counted.)

Williams hit a career total of 521 home runs, even though he lost five prime years of his career to military service. He won the American League batting title in 1958 (at age 40) with a .328 average, the oldest player ever to do so. Concerning his abilities as a hitter, Williams once said, “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.’” In 1960 he announced that he would retire at the end of the year. During the final home game of the season he hit a home run in his last at bat. The fans cheered and called for him but Williams still refused to come out of the dugout and recognize them (an incident that author John Updike famously described with the line “gods do not answer letters”).

Player turned manager

Williams returned to the major leagues from retirement in 1969 to manage the Washington Senators, and in his first year he was named American League Manager of the Year. He left the franchise in 1972, after it had become the Texas Rangers. After his retirement as a manager, he occasionally worked as a batting coach and became a consultant for a line of fishing equipment (he was an avid fisherman).

Quick Facts In full: Theodore Samuel Williams (Show more) Bynames: the Splendid Splinter and Teddy Ballgame (Show more) Born: August 30, 1918, San Diego, California, U.S. (Show more) Died: July 5, 2002, Inverness, Florida (aged 83) (Show more) Awards And Honors: Baseball Hall of Fame (1966) Most Valuable Player (1949) Triple Crown (1947) Most Valuable Player (1946) Triple Crown (1942) Triple Crown (x2) two-time MVP Baseball Hall of Fame (inducted in 1966) 6x batting champion 19x All-Star (Show more) Height/Weight: 6 ft 3 inches, 205 lb (190 cm, 92 kg) (Show more) Batting Hand: left (Show more) Throwing Hand: right (Show more) Debut Date: April 20, 1939 (Show more) Last Game: September 28, 1960 (Show more) Jersey Number: 9 (1939-1960, Boston Red Sox) (Show more) Position: leftfielder (Show more) At Bats: 7,706 (Show more) Batting Average: 0.344 (Show more) Hits: 2,654 (Show more) Home Runs: 521 (Show more) On-Base Percentage: 0.482 (Show more) On-Base Plus Slugging: 1.116 (Show more) Runs: 1,798 (Show more) Runs Batted In: 1,839 (Show more) Slugging Percentage: 0.634 (Show more) Stolen Bases: 24 (Show more) See all related content Show More Access for the whole family! Bundle Britannica Premium and Kids for the ultimate resource destination. Subscribe

Legacy and publications

Williams was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. His autobiography, My Turn at Bat, written with John Underwood, was published in 1969. The two men also wrote The Science of Hitting (1971)—in which Williams described his famous swing, which was known for its speed and efficiency—and Ted Williams’ Fishing “The Big Three”: Tarpon, Bonefish, and Atlantic Salmon (1988). In 1991, to commemorate his .400 season, the Boston Red Sox hosted a Ted Williams Day. After a brief speech, Williams tipped his cap to the cheering Boston fans.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Mindy Johnston.