Hitter: Life & Turmoils Pa

If you want to know everything you possibly can about Ted and his effect on the game you need to read this book.

This is an absolutely FABULOUS book. It details not only the career, but also the life of the greatest hitter who ever lived. I am generally not a big book reader, but I could not put this one down, reading it in a little over a day. I guarantee that if you are a baseball fan, you will love this book!

Biographies often waste time describing things like the "childhood home". While this book gives an overview of Williams' early life, it focuses on his historical impact on baseball and his attitudes toward the game. Linn does an excellent job of measuring Williams statistically and creating the perspective of his career that, as a 34 year old, I did not get to experience first hand. An understanding of each season, his teammates and adversaries, creates for me an appreciation that did not exist before. Some great segments on Ted's mentality toward the game and hitting specifically, was great not only for me but also my 10 year old. Note: this is a biography NOT an instructional manual - see The Science of Hitting for the "other half of the story.

Ed Linn's HITTER is a excellent biography on Ted Williams life and baseball career. It's a solid 400 pages about Williams, his youth, his personality quirks and flaws, his talent at hitting a baseball, and his glorious seasons at Fenway Park. What Ed Linn does best is to write about The Kid's best seasons and comparing them to other baseball greats using statistical analysis. Also the many stories about Williams' war with the Boston Press. Linn was very careful to write both the good and bad of Williams, and is not afraid to criticize his behavior. The only reasons why this book isnt a home run is because I feel that there could have been more details in certain situations,or maybe Linn suffers from the same problem as Ted Williams had in front of the Fenway Crowd, they both did such a good job that you just wanted a little more from them.