Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-02

Ted Says He'll Fool.
Doctor Again and
Be Set for Opener
BY shs Assoeiased Press

SARASOTA. Fla. Mar. a.
Ted Williams vowed today he'd
fool the doctors who gloomily
predicted the Red Sox smuggling
star would miss the baseball sea.
sons opener because of a frac-
tured collarbone.
Don't bet against my playing
in the opening game Of the sea-
son." Williams advised. I'm be
ready. I'll get over this sooner
than they think. I've fooled the
doctors before and I'll fool 'em
again."
The 35-year-old outflelder. who
aStounded the baseball world by
hammering .407 in 81 games after
his discharge from the Marines
last July, may have been whis-
ting in the dark. DR.. Russell r.
Sullivan. chief surgeon of the
orthopedic division of the Boston
City Hospital, who set the frac-
ture and placed the injured
shoulder in cast. was not so
optimistic.
ut was a clean break and
X-rays show a quite satisfactory
position" he said. But Ted
must be in the cast a minimum
Of three weeks and cannot swing
bat for about six weeks. It is
highly doubtful if he'll be ready
for the season opener"
The Red Sox open their sea-
son at Philadelphia Tuesday,
April Is. six weeks from today.
It is estimated Williams would
need at least two weeks of bat
ting practice and conditioning.
after his recovery. before he
could play in regular game.
Second Blow in Four Years.
The injury to Williams. the
second of a serious nature in less
than four years, occurred less
than an hour after he arrived
at Payne Field for his first spring
workout. He had been shagging
flies in leftf1eld for Is minutes
when he raced into left-center
for a sinking liner hit by Hoot
Evers. The ball dropped sharply
and Williams. realizing he
couldn't catch up with it. tried
to stop. He stumbled and landed
heavily on his left shoulder.
Ted arose slowly in great pain.
He grabbed his shoulder and i'm
mediately strobe toward the
clubhouse behind rightfield. As
he passed Terminate Billy Good
man. he grimaced and muttered:
II heard something pop. think
something broke"
So sudden and unexpected was
the accident that hardly any one
realized what had happened.
After Trainer Jack Fadden ad-
ministered first aid, Ted was
whisked away by car to the Of
flee OF DR.. Michael Di Cosola of
Sarasota for further examination.
He was accompanied by DR.. Sulli-
van, who had viewed the accident
from seat in the grandstand,
and Road Secretary Tom Dowd.
Manager Lou Boudreau followed
in another car.
X-rays later revealed Williams
had suffered a broken collar
bone. X-rays will be taken again
tomorrow. after which Ted will
return to his winter home in
Miami.
Appears Quite Cheerful.
Williams appeared quite cheer
full later as he was resting conn
fortably in his hotel room. The
cast, from hip to his neck. COW
cred his entire left shoulder but
he said he had no difficulty NOV
ing his left arm.
Il tried to make a somersault
CATCH" he explained. When I
realized I was falling forward,
I tried to roll over but landed
smack on the left shoulder with
full force. AS soon as I hit I
felt something snap and I knew
damn we'll / broke something.
1t hurt like hell.
Its not as bad as we feared
at first" he added I'll be in
there sooner than any of you
guys expect. Sure, it's a bad
break for me but it just means
I'll have to work that much
harder That's all. I'll be ready"
Williams pointed out he came
back sooner than expected in
(See WILLIAMS. Page A-17.)