I Remember Ted Williams: Anecdotes and Memories of Baseball's Splendid Splinter by the Players and People Who Knew Him

This is one of several volumes in the Cumberland House "I Remember" series. Each is an anthology of reminiscences of those who personally knew the subject, in this instance, Ted Williams (August 30, 1918 - July 5, 2002). David Cataneo edited the material and contributed brief but perceptive introductions to each chapter. From childhood, Williams was determined to be recognized as the greatest hitter in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB) but resisted and resented most efforts to know him as a person. However, he did have a circle of especially close friends with whom he maintained direct and frequent contact until just before his death. The highlights of his MLB career include a lifetime average of .344, a total of 521 homeruns, and 1,839 runs batted in, and only 79 strikeouts s in 2,292 games. He made his MLB debut on April 20, 1939, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1966. According to Catanero, "He was a pal with the press, and he was brutally heartless with the press. He was a charming gentleman, and he had a notorious foul mouth. He had a voice like a howitzer, and he was gently sweet with children. He was sarcastic, and he was sensitive. He was an intelligent grownup, and he threw tantrums like a spoiled kid. He was a chatterbox, and he was a loner." Catanero obtained reminiscences and observations from Williams' teammates at Hoover High School in San Diego and when he played in the minors as well as from teammates on the Red Sox and those who served with him during two tours of duty as a Marine fighter pilot. Here is a representative selection of comments from the narrative: Hoover baseball coach, Wos Caldwell, finally allowed young Williams to take some batting practice with the varsity team. "The first ball that Caldwell threw him, Ted hit it up on this lunch arbor. There was no other guy who had [hit] any ball near it. He threw him another pitch, and it went up on the roof. Caldwell says, `What's your name, kid?' He says, "My name's Ted Williams, and I'll be here next Monday.'"(Len Cassie Jr., Hoover classmate) After Williams returned to the Red Sox from service in Korea and began to take his first lengthy batting practice in more than two years, he developed severe blisters on his hands. "At this time, his agent was Freddie Corcoran. He was golf pro." He suggested that Williams use a golf glove. He did "and everybody around the league would see him with a golf glove on. First thing you know, everyone around the league was wearing a golf glove. That's how the batting glove got introduced into baseball." (Mel Parnell, Boston Red Sox teammate) After Williams broke his collarbone and was admitted to the Santa Maria hospital, a very ill patient (Jim Cleary) was forced to give up his room. "When Ted found out, he raised hell. `You can't move out a man who's sick! I want him moved into the room next to me!'" Williams then made sure that Cleary was introduced to all of the ballplayers who came by to visit. Later, "Cleary went t

I got this book and TED WILLIAMS, THE PURSUIT OF PERFECTION at the same time, since they both came out after Ted's death. This book is very good, very nice stories. The other book costs twice as much but has about four times more - over 100 photos, many more stories from many more famous baseball players and a CD with 67 minutes of interviews with Ted Williams. I recommend both books.