Ted Williams: A Baseball Life

I am not the type of person to pick up a book about a sports figure even if I am a fan. I love history books especially Civil War, Napoleonic history and biographies of great leaders. I surprised myself by taking the time to read this book. If you are interested in Ted Williams or baseball especially during the era in which he played 1939-1960, this book could not be rated higher. The author has an introduction of Teds early life and then the remainder of the book is broken down so that each chapter covers a year of his career. This puts Teds life in context of World events which the author neatly weaves within its pages. During his career Ted Williams displayed and developed his hitting skills with the desire of becoming the "greatest hitter who ever lived". Hitting the ball was his obsession. His great desire to excel however was balanced by a contentious personality which was easily set off by the goading of the Boston media. Looking at his stats and realizing that almost 5 years of his life during his prime was spent in the military, I have no doubt that he would have broken Ruth's home run record. Ted Wiliams was both an artist and a scientist at hitting. He studied pitchers, strike zones, handling the bat like no other player. When Mickey Mantle was asked about converstaions with Ted Williams on hitting he said "He makes me crazy." Mickey Mantle did not understand the science of hitting.Ted Williams probably was the greatest hitter that ever lived, but his personality marred his relationships with the Boston media, sometimes his team mates, and his own family.I do have a few criticisms however. The book is called A Baseball Life, and that is the authors focus. Ted Williams was an intensely private man whether the author out of respect for Ted Williams or lack of investigation gives very little information on his private life. We learn some things about his family such as his mother was an ardent salvation army worker, yet we know nothing of how Ted Williams felt personally about spiritual matters. We also are denied any information on his relationships with his wife Doris or his daughter. The last chapter stops without little mention of his business interests or his managerial stint in the late 60's. Despite these ommissions, Ted Williams A Baseball Life is an exciting, informative look at perhaps the greatest hitter that ever lived yet at the same time considered by others a selfish egotist. When Joe Dimaggio was asked "what do you think of Ted Williams?" His reply was "greatest lefthanded hitter that ever lived?" " "What do you think of Ted Williams as a ballplayer?""greatest lefthanded hitter that ever lived".

this is the best book i have ever read if i had the time i would read this book a hundred times. The reason i bought this book is because ted williams is the best hitter in baseballs long history.