Ted Williams Popular Books

Ted Williams Biography & Facts

Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960; his career was interrupted by military service during World War II and the Korean War. Nicknamed "Teddy Ballgame", "the Kid", "the Splendid Splinter", and "the Thumper", Williams is widely regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history and to date is the last player to hit over .400 in a season. His .482 on-base percentage is the highest of all time. Williams was a nineteen-time All-Star, a two-time recipient of the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award, a six-time AL batting champion, and a two-time Triple Crown winner. He finished his playing career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and a 1.116 on-base plus slugging percentage, the second highest of all time. His career batting average is the highest of any MLB player whose career was played primarily in the live-ball era, and ranks 8th all-time. Born and raised in San Diego, Williams played baseball throughout his youth. After joining the Red Sox in 1939, he immediately emerged as one of the sport's best hitters. In 1941, Williams posted a .406 batting average; he is the last MLB player to bat over .400 in a season. He followed this up by winning his first Triple Crown in 1942. Williams was required to interrupt his baseball career in 1943 to serve three years in the United States Navy and Marine Corps during World War II. Upon returning to MLB in 1946, Williams won his first AL MVP Award and played in his only World Series. In 1947, he won his second Triple Crown. Williams was returned to active military duty for portions of the 1952 and 1953 seasons to serve as a Marine combat aviator in the Korean War. In 1957 and 1958 at the ages of 39 and 40, respectively, he was the AL batting champion for the fifth and sixth time. Williams retired from playing in 1960. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, in his first year of eligibility. Williams managed the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers franchise from 1969 to 1972. An avid sport fisherman, he hosted a television program about fishing, and was inducted into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame. Williams's involvement in the Jimmy Fund helped raise millions in dollars for cancer care and research. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush presented Williams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States government. He was selected for the Major League Baseball All-Time Team in 1997 and the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. Early life Williams was born in San Diego, California, on August 30, 1918, and named "Teddy Samuel Williams" after former president Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt as well as his father, Samuel Stuart Williams. Williams himself claimed that his middle name was in honor of a maternal uncle (whose actual name was Daniel Venzor) who had been killed in World War I. He disliked the name "Teddy" and later amended his birth certificate to say "Theodore" instead. His father was a soldier, sheriff, and photographer from Ardsley, New York, who had served in the U.S. Army and was a veteran of Philippine–American War. while his mother, May Venzor, a Spanish-Mexican-American from El Paso, Texas, was an evangelist and lifelong soldier in the Salvation Army. Williams resented his mother's long hours working in the Salvation Army, and Williams and his brother cringed when she took them to the Army's street-corner revivals. Williams's paternal ancestors were a mix of Welsh, English, and Irish. The maternal, Spanish-Mexican side of Williams's family was quite diverse, having Basque, Russian, and American Indian roots. Of his Mexican ancestry he said that "If I had my mother's name, there is no doubt I would have run into problems in those days, [considering] the prejudices people had in Southern California." Williams lived in San Diego's North Park neighborhood (4121 Utah Street). At the age of eight, he was taught how to throw a baseball by his uncle, Saul Venzor. Saul was one of his mother's four brothers, as well as a former semi-professional baseball player who had pitched against Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe Gordon in an exhibition game. As a child, Williams's heroes were Pepper Martin of the St. Louis Cardinals and Bill Terry of the New York Giants. Williams graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in San Diego, where he played baseball as a pitcher and was the star of the team. During this time, he also played American Legion Baseball, later being named the 1960 American Legion Baseball Graduate of the Year. Though he had offers from the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees while he was still in high school, his mother thought he was too young to leave home, so he signed up with the local minor league club, the San Diego Padres. Professional career Minor leagues (1936–1938) Williams played back-up behind Vince DiMaggio and Ivey Shiver on the (then) Pacific Coast League's San Diego Padres. While in the Pacific Coast League in 1936, Williams met future teammates and friends Dom DiMaggio and Bobby Doerr, who were on the Pacific Coast League's San Francisco Seals. When Shiver announced he was quitting to become a high school football coach in Savannah, Georgia, the job, by default, was open for Williams. Williams posted a .271 batting average on 107 at bats in 42 games for the Padres in 1936. Unknown to Williams, he had caught the eye of the Boston Red Sox's general manager, Eddie Collins, while Collins was scouting Bobby Doerr and the shortstop George Myatt in August 1936. Collins later explained, "It wasn't hard to find Ted Williams. He stood out like a brown cow in a field of white cows." In the 1937 season, after graduating from Hoover High in the winter, Williams finally broke into the line-up on June 22, when he hit an inside-the-park home run to help the Padres win 3–2. The Padres ended up winning the PCL title, while Williams ended up hitting .291 with 23 home runs. Meanwhile, Collins kept in touch with Padres general manager Bill Lane, calling him two times throughout the season. In December 1937, during the winter meetings, the deal was made between Lane and Collins, sending Williams to the Boston Red Sox and giving Lane $35,000 and two major leaguers, Dom D'Allessandro and Al Niemiec, and two other minor leaguers. In 1938, the 19-year-old Williams was 10 days late to spring training camp in Sarasota, Florida, because of a flood in California that blocked the railroads. Williams had to borrow $200 from a bank to make the trip from San Diego to Sarasota. Also during spring training Williams was nicknamed "the Kid" by Red Sox equipment manager Johnny Orlando, who after Williams arrived to Sarasota for the first time, said, "'The Kid' has arrived". Orlando still called Williams "the Kid" 20 years .... Discover the Ted Williams popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Ted Williams books.

Best Seller Ted Williams Books of 2024

  • The Loudness synopsis, comments

    The Loudness

    Nick Courage

    Henry Long doesn’t have a heart.Since the Tragedies, he doesn’t have much: just an annoying lowwatt buzz from his makeshift transplant, skinny arms, and a dusty library attic from ...

  • Your Voice and How to Use it synopsis, comments

    Your Voice and How to Use it

    Cicely Berry

    Anxiety about how we speak prevents many of us from expressing ourselves well. In her classic handbook, Cicely Berry, Voice Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and worldfamou...

  • The Baseball 100 synopsis, comments

    The Baseball 100

    Joe Posnanski

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year“An instant sports classic.” New York Post “Stellar.” The Wall Street Journal “A true maste...

  • The Boston Globe Story of the Red Sox synopsis, comments

    The Boston Globe Story of the Red Sox

    The Boston Globe, Chad Finn & Dennis Eckersley

    Experience the illustrious and passionate history of the Boston Red Sox, one of the most storied franchises in baseball, as it happened through the articles, features, and lens of ...

  • Game Worn synopsis, comments

    Game Worn

    Stephen Wong, Dave Grob & Francesco Sapienza

    Game Worn: Baseball Treasures from the Game's Greatest Heroes and Moments is a richly illustrated exploration and firstofitskind compendium study of the world's most coveted an...

  • The Last Commissioner synopsis, comments

    The Last Commissioner

    Fay Vincent

    On a beautiful July morning in 1991, three men gathered in a hotel suite for an informal breakfast and conversation. The discussion ranged widely over events and characters of the ...

  • My Hero synopsis, comments

    My Hero

    The My Hero Project

    In My Hero, some of the brightest lights from around the globe share in their own words stories about the people who have been the greatest source of strength and inspiration to ...

  • Roger Maris synopsis, comments

    Roger Maris

    Tom Clavin

    Tom Clavin and Danny Peary chronicle the life and career of baseball’s “natural home run king” in the first definitive biography of Roger Marisincluding a brandnew chapter to comme...

  • A Season in the Sun synopsis, comments

    A Season in the Sun

    Randy Roberts & Johnny Smith

    The story of Mickey Mantle's magnificent 1956 season Mickey Mantle was the ideal batter for the atomic age, capable of hitting a baseball harder and farther than any other player i...

  • From the Babe to the Beards synopsis, comments

    From the Babe to the Beards

    Bill Nowlin & Jim Prime

    With the “Curse” a distant memory, the Boston Red Sox are the first team this century to win three World Series titles. Before 2004, an obnoxious Yankees fan might have smirked: Th...

  • The Wingmen synopsis, comments

    The Wingmen

    Adam Lazarus

    CASEY Award Finalist for Best Baseball Book of the YearThe untold story of the unique fiftyyear friendship between two American icons: John Glenn, the unassailable pioneer of space...

  • Speaking with Confidence synopsis, comments

    Speaking with Confidence

    Nick Gold

    Does the thought of delivering a presentation make your heart skip a beat? Do your pitches fall flat no matter how much preparation you put in? Are you often comparing yourself to ...

  • Being Ted Williams synopsis, comments

    Being Ted Williams

    Dick Enberg & Tom Clavin

    August 30, 2018 marks the 100th birthday of the former Boston Red Sox outfielder and baseball legend. In Being Ted Williams, esteemed sportscaster Dick Enberg offers a series of pe...

  • 715 synopsis, comments

    715

    Kevin Neary & Monte Irvin

    Hank Aaron forever cemented his legacy in baseball when he surpassed the Babe’s home run record, but his impact reaches far beyond the diamond. 715, which celebrates the 40th anniv...

  • Ted Williams, My Father synopsis, comments

    Ted Williams, My Father

    Claudia Williams

    In this poignant memoir, Claudia Williams, the last surviving child of legendary Boston Red Sox great and Hall of Famer Ted Williams, tells her father’s story, including neverbefor...

  • The New Book of Baseball Trivia synopsis, comments

    The New Book of Baseball Trivia

    Wayne Stewart

    A comprehensive trivia book that enables readers to compete as they answer questions!In The New Book of Baseball Trivia, experienced baseball author Wayne Stewart includes 500...

  • The Cost of These Dreams synopsis, comments

    The Cost of These Dreams

    Wright Thompson

    The instant New York Times bestseller!From one of America's most beloved sportswriters and the bestselling author of Pappyland, a collection of true stories about the dream of grea...

  • Piazza synopsis, comments

    Piazza

    Greg W. Prince

    A franchise and fan base in perpetual search of validation finally had its ticket punched as 2016 dawned. Mike Piazza, who held records in one hand and a city’s rapt attention in t...

  • The Red Smith Reader synopsis, comments

    The Red Smith Reader

    Dave Anderson & Terence Smith

    Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1976, Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith is considered one of the greatest sportswriters ever to live. Put alongside Ring Lardner, Red Smith was beloved by ...

  • Facing Ted Williams synopsis, comments

    Facing Ted Williams

    Dave Heller, Wade Boggs & Bob Wolff

    “The Splendid Splinter,” “Teddy Ballgame,” “The Kid”no matter the nickname, Ted Williams was one of the most accomplished hitters in baseball history. He was the last man to hit .4...

  • Der Einbrecher, der Ted Williams Verkaufte synopsis, comments

    Der Einbrecher, der Ted Williams Verkaufte

    Lawrence Block

    Bernie Rhodenbarr hat sich tatsächlich auf den Pfad der Tugend begeben. Es ist bereits ein Jahr her, seit er sich zum letzten Mal unerlaubt Zutritt zu einem fremden Heim verschafft...

  • The FSG Poetry Anthology synopsis, comments

    The FSG Poetry Anthology

    Jonathan Galassi & Robyn Creswell

    To honor FSG's 75th anniversary, here is a unique anthology celebrating the riches and variety of its poetry listpast, present, and futurePoetry has been at the heart of Farrar, St...

  • Ted Williams Eyes synopsis, comments

    Ted Williams Eyes

    Raymund Eich

    A Writers of the Future honorable mentionEntering the last game of the season, Cooper could be the first player since Ted Williams a century ago to bat .400 thanks to secret biote...

  • The Perfect Yankee synopsis, comments

    The Perfect Yankee

    Don Larsen, Mark Shaw & Yogi Berra

    It was one perfect moment, one singular feat unparalleled in the half a century of baseball that followed. It was Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. In an age when nobody spat in any...

  • Boston Bruins synopsis, comments

    Boston Bruins

    Stan Fischler

    Written by hockey's most authoritative author, this is the definitive collection of Boston Bruins history. In his newly revised edition of Boston Bruins: Greatest Moments and Playe...

  • The Cloudbuster Nine synopsis, comments

    The Cloudbuster Nine

    Anne R. Keene & Claudia Williams

    In 1943, while the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals were winning pennants and meeting in that year's World Series, Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, and Johnny Sain practice...

  • I Remember Ted Williams synopsis, comments

    I Remember Ted Williams

    David Cataneo

    The legendary Red Sox outfielder is remembered through dozens of anecdotes, stories, and insights offered in their own words by former teammates as well as friends, associates, med...

  • Ted Williams and Friends synopsis, comments

    Ted Williams and Friends

    Dick Trust

    Ted Williams capped a storybook baseball career with a storybook ending, hitting a home run in his last at bat in the major leagues. That blast, on a dreary September 28, 1960, at ...

  • Caleb Williams synopsis, comments

    Caleb Williams

    William Godwin & Maurice Hindle

    When honest young Caleb Williams comes to work as a secretary for Squire Falkland, he soon begins to suspect that his new master is hiding a terrible secret. But as he digs deeper ...

  • Incredible Baseball Stories synopsis, comments

    Incredible Baseball Stories

    Ken Samelson

    The works in Incredible Baseball Stories cover the full span of baseball’s rich history. Fans of all ages will enjoy recalling the great and notsogreat moments of the most popular ...

  • Where Nobody Knows Your Name synopsis, comments

    Where Nobody Knows Your Name

    John Feinstein

    From the acclaimed #1 bestselling author . . . a riveting journey through the world of minorleague baseball“No one grows up playing baseball pretending that they’re pitching o...

  • Dirty Faxes synopsis, comments

    Dirty Faxes

    Andrew Davies

    'Coming a little nearer to Scannell's own situation, au pairs have a long, well established and respectable tradition as persons into whom it is OK, even de rigeur, to dip the seig...

  • The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams synopsis, comments

    The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams

    Lawrence Block

    Bernie Rhodenbarr is actually trying to earn an honest living. It's been an entire year since he's entered anyone's abode illegally to help himself to their valuables. But now an ...

  • Ted Williams synopsis, comments

    Ted Williams

    Leigh Montville

    The Kid. The Splendid Splinter. Teddy Ballgame. One of the greatest figures of his generation, and arguably the greatest baseball hitter of all time. But what made Ted Williams a ...

  • Catching a Serial Killer synopsis, comments

    Catching a Serial Killer

    Stephen Fulcher

    The true story behind the ITV series, A Confession 'The gripping allure of longform podcasts, such as Serial' Observer On the evening of Saturday, 19 March 2011, D.S. Stephen Fulch...

  • A SUMMER to REMEMBER with TED WILLIAMS synopsis, comments

    A SUMMER to REMEMBER with TED WILLIAMS

    Paul Korins

    Sammy Baker, with the aid of his magic typewriter, is taken on another fantastical journey back in time. He is transported to 1960 and finds himself sitting in the Red Sox dugout n...

  • Amazing Tales from the Boston Red Sox Dugout synopsis, comments

    Amazing Tales from the Boston Red Sox Dugout

    Jim Prime & Bill Nowlin

    Calling all BoSox fans! In this oneofakind compendium of anecdotes from players, managers, and beat writers, Jim Prime and Bill Nowlin capture all the magic and passion of Boston R...

  • The New Baseball Bible synopsis, comments

    The New Baseball Bible

    Dan Schlossberg, Jay Johnstone & Alan Schwarz

    For fans of baseball trivia, this updated version of The New Baseball Bible, first published as The Baseball Catalog in 1980 and selected as a BookoftheMonth Club alternate, is sur...

  • The Kid synopsis, comments

    The Kid

    Ben Bradlee Jr.

    From acclaimed journalist Ben Bradlee Jr. comes the epic biography of Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams that baseball fans have been waiting for. Williams was the best hitter in b...

  • Rest in Pieces synopsis, comments

    Rest in Pieces

    Bess Lovejoy

    A “marvelously macabre” (Kirkus Reviews) history of the bizarre afterlives of corpses of the celebrated and notorious dead.For some of the most influential figures in history, deat...

  • Red Sox Rhymes synopsis, comments

    Red Sox Rhymes

    Dick Flavin

    From the voice of Fenway Park comes a collection of sixtyfour humorous and nostalgic poems celebrating the Boston Red Sox.A commonwealth institution and popular local television pe...

  • Boston Bruins synopsis, comments

    Boston Bruins

    Stan Fischler

    Written by hockey's most authoritative author, this is the definitive collection of Boston Bruins history. In his newly revised edition of Boston Bruins: Greatest Moments and Playe...