NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME MEMBER

#9 Ted Williams - OF

Ted Williams Career MLB Stats 1939-1960
G
AB
H
AVG
HR
RBI
R
SB
2B
3B
BB
SO
OBP
SLG%
OPS
2,292
7,706
2,654
.344
521
1,839
1,798
24
525
71
2,021
709
.482
.634
1.116
 

 

Theodore Samuel Williams was born on August 30, 1918 in San Diego, CA. He was the son of May Venzor and Samuel Stuart Williams. From an early age, baseball was all Ted played. The love he had for the sport led him to become one who studied the art of hitting even before he played professionally. His parents worked long hours and that gave Ted all the time to play baseball, even late into the evenings. One of the traits that he learned early on that would be successful throughout his Hall of Fame career was patience at the plate.   He didn’t chase bad pitches and walks became part of his arsenal. The patience led to getting on base either by taking four balls or waiting for a good pitch to hit. 

 

 

Williams attended Herbert Hoover High School. Although Ted would become one of the best hitters the game has ever seen, it was his pitching during high school that first garnered attention. His performances on the mound caught the eye of his hometown team the San Diego Padres. When Williams’ hitting came along, he was considered one of the best baseball players in his city. At the age of 17, Williams signed his first professional baseball contract to play for the Pacific Coast League Padres. His first professional start came in 1936, several months before he graduated high school in January 1937. Williams played a couple of seasons with the Padres before being traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1938. 

 

 

Awards and Achievements
MVP
Gold Glove

All-Star Selections
1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 1960
Batting Titles
1941, 1942, 1947, 1948, 1957, 1958
Achievements

AL Home Run Leader

1941, 1942, 1947, 1949

AL RBI Leader

1939, 1942, 1947, 1949

Triple Crown

1942, 1947

Member of MLB All- Century Team

Member of MLB All-Time Team

 

 

Ted Williams MLB Career Stats and Notes

Williams made his major league debut on April 20, 1939. He would spend 19 years in the pros, all with the Boston Red Sox. He would miss three seasons from 1943-45 due to military service. Williams retired after the 1960 season and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. When Ted was done, he had put together one of the greatest offensive careers in MLB history.

 

Ted Williams Hits for .406

Williams won multiple batting titles, two triple crowns and led the AL in HRs and RBIs four times each, displaying power and patience at the plate unlike many that have played the game. In 1941, Williams finished the season with a .406 batting average, the last player to have crossed the .400 threshold. What made his feat the stuff of legend is how he approached the last two games of the season. With the games being a doubleheader and his average sitting at .3995, Ted didn’t have to play the last day to achieve the mark since it would've been rounded up to .400. However, Williams wasn’t about to shy away from a challenge. He wanted to play those two games, knowing the consequences of a bad stretch would leave him shy of his goal. Williams would go 6-8 in the doubleheader, increasing his batting average to .406. With that type of confidence and skill, there’s no debate that Williams was one of the best hitters the game has ever seen.

 

 

List of Baseball Hall of Fame Members