Ted Williams Marquee Hall of Fame 1966

b. August 30, 1918 · Boston Red Sox 1939–1942, 1946–1960

Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941 and no one has reached .400 in the eighty-odd years since. He finished with 2,654 hits, 521 home runs and 1,839 runs batted in across 19 seasons, all of them with the Boston Red Sox, and he walked more often than he struck out by a wide margin in almost every one.

The 19 seasons should have been 24. He flew as a Marine pilot in the Second World War and again in Korea, losing most of five seasons at the center of his career, and came back from the second absence at 34 to hit .407 over the rest of that year.

He was chosen for 17 All-Star teams and elected to the Hall of Fame in 1966, where he used his induction speech to argue that the Negro Leagues players kept out of the majors belonged in it. He managed afterwards, wrote the standard book on hitting, and fished.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	17	1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960
The Sporting News All-Star	13	1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958
Baseball Magazine All-Star	8	1939, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950
The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year	5	1941, 1942, 1947, 1949, 1957
Most Valuable Player	2	1946, 1949
Triple Crown (batting)	2	1942, 1947
The Sporting News Player of the Year	2	1949, 1957

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1939	BOS	149	565	131	185	44	11	31	145	107	64	2	.327
1940	BOS	144	561	134	193	43	14	23	113	96	54	4	.344
1941	BOS	143	456	135	185	33	3	37	120	147	27	2	.406
1942	BOS	150	522	141	186	34	5	36	137	145	51	3	.356
1946	BOS	150	514	142	176	37	8	38	123	156	44	0	.342
1947	BOS	156	528	125	181	40	9	32	114	162	47	0	.343
1948	BOS	137	509	124	188	44	3	25	127	126	41	4	.369
1949	BOS	155	566	150	194	39	3	43	159	162	48	1	.343
1950	BOS	89	334	82	106	24	1	28	97	82	21	3	.317
1951	BOS	148	531	109	169	28	4	30	126	144	45	1	.318
1952	BOS	6	10	2	4	0	1	1	3	2	2	0	.400
1953	BOS	37	91	17	37	6	0	13	34	19	10	0	.407
1954	BOS	117	386	93	133	23	1	29	89	136	32	0	.345
1955	BOS	98	320	77	114	21	3	28	83	91	24	2	.356
1956	BOS	136	400	71	138	28	2	24	82	102	39	0	.345
1957	BOS	132	420	96	163	28	1	38	87	119	43	0	.388
1958	BOS	129	411	81	135	23	2	26	85	98	49	1	.328
1959	BOS	103	272	32	69	15	0	10	43	52	27	0	.254
1960	BOS	113	310	56	98	15	0	29	72	75	41	1	.316
Career	—	2292	7706	1798	2654	525	71	521	1839	2021	709	24	.344

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1940	BOS	0	0	1	0	0	2.0	3	1	0	1	4.50
Career	—	0	0	1	0	0	2.0	3	1	0	1	4.50

On this day & linked events

1918

Born August 30, 1918

San Diego, CA, USA

2002

Died July 5, 2002

1939

Major-league debut: Ted Williams

Ted Williams made a major-league debut on April 20, 1939.

1941

Final major-league game: Ted Williams

Ted Williams played a final major-league game on September 28, 1960.

1979

Carl Yastrzemski's 3,000th Hit

Carl Yastrzemski singles against the Yankees at Fenway Park for his 3,000th hit, becoming the first American League player with 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.

Image: Public domain