Ted Williams Theodore Samuel " Ted " Williams ( August 30 , 1918 – July 5 , 2002 ) was an American professional baseball player , manager , and World War II and Korean War veteran . Williams played his entire 19 - year Major League Baseball ( MLB ) career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox ( 1939 – 1942 and 1946 – 1960 ) . Nicknamed " The Kid " , " The Splendid Splinter " , " Teddy Ballgame " , " The Thumper " and " The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived " , Williams is regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history . He was a two - time American League ( AL ) Most Valuable Player ( MVP ) , six - time batting champion , 17 - time All - Star , and a two - time Triple Crown winner . He finished his career with a . 344 batting average , 521 home runs , and a . 482 on base percentage , the highest of all time . His batting average is the highest of any MLB player with 500 or more home runs . Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966 in his first year of eligiblity . Born and raised in San Diego , Williams played baseball throughout his youth . Joining the Red Sox in 1939 , Williams immediately emerged as one of the sport ' s best hitters . In 1941 , just his third season , he posted a . 406 batting average , making him the last MLB player to bat over . 400 in a season . Williams interrupted his baseball career in 1943 to serve three years in the US Navy and Marine Corps for World War II . Upon returning to MLB in 1946 , Williams won his first AL MVP Award and played in his only World Series . The following season , he won his second Triple Crown . Williams returned to active military duty for portions of the 1952 and 1953 seasons in the Korean War , in which he served as a Marine aviator . In 1957 and 1958 , at the ages of 39 and 40 respectively , he was the AL batting champion for the fifth and sixth times . Following his retirement from playing in 1960 , Williams managed the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers franchise from 1969 to 1972 . An avid sport fisherman , he hosted a television program about fishing , and he was inducted into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame . Williams ' involvement in the Jimmy Fund helped raise millions in dollars in proceeds for cancer care and research . In 1991 , President George H . W . Bush presented Williams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom , one of the highest civilian award s that can be bestowed on a person by the United States government . He was selected for the Major League Baseball All - Time Team in 1997 and Major League Baseball All - Century Team in 1999 . Early life . Ted Williams was born in San Diego , California as Teddy Samuel Williams , named after his father , Samuel Stuart Williams , and former President , Teddy Roosevelt , although Williams claimed that his middle name stemmed from one of his mother ' s brothers ( in truth , her dead brother was Daniel Venzor ) who had been killed in World War I . At some point Williams changed his name on his birth certificate to Theodore . His father was a soldier , sheriff , and photographer from New York , while his mother , May Venzor , 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 didn ' t like it when she took them to the Army ' s street - corner revivals . Williams ' paternal ancestors were a mix of Welsh and Irish . The Mexican side of Williams ' family was quite diverse , having Spanish ( Basque ) , Russians | 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 ' 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 . 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 . Baseball career . Throughout his career , Williams stated his goal was to have people point to him and remark , " There goes Ted Williams , the greatest hitter who ever lived . " Minor leagues ( 1936 – 1938 ) . Williams played back - up behind Vince DiMaggio and Ivey Shiver on the ( then ) Pacific Coast League 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 football coach at the University of 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 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 nineteen - year - old Williams was ten days late to spring training camp in Sarasota , Florida , because of a flood in California blocking 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 " twenty years later , while the nickname stuck with Williams the rest of his life . Williams remained in major league spring training for about a week . Williams was then sent to the Double - A - league Minneapolis Millers . While in the training camp of the Millers camp for the springtime , Williams met Rogers Hornsby , who had hit over . 400 three times , including a . 424 average in 1924 , who was a coach for the Millers for the spring . Hornsby told Williams useful advice , including to " get a good pitch to hit " . Talking with the game ' s greats would become a pattern for Williams , who talked with Hugh Duffy who hit . 438 in 1894 , Bill Terry who hit . 401 in 1930 , and Ty Cobb against whom he would argue that a batter should hit up on the ball , opposed to Cobb ' s view that a batter should hit down on the ball . While in Minnesota , Williams quickly became the team ' s star . He collected his first hit on the Millers ' first game of the season , and his first and second home runs on his third game . Both were inside - the - park home runs , while the second traveled an estimated five - hundred feet on the fly to a five - hundred and twelve foot center field fence . Williams later had a twenty - two game hitting streak that lasted from Memorial Day to mid - June . While the Millers ended up sixth place in an eight - team race , Williams ended up hitting . 366 with 46 home runs and 142 RBIs while receiving the American Association ' s Triple Crown and finishing second in the voting for Most Valuable Player voting . Major leagues ( 1939 – 1942 , 1946 – 1960 ) . 1939 – 1940 . Williams came to spring training three days late in , thanks to Williams driving from California to Florida and respiratory problems , the latter of which would plague Williams for the rest of his career . In the winter , the Red Sox traded right fielder Ben Chapman to the Cleveland Indians to make room for Williams on the roster , with Williams inheriting Chapman ' s number 9 on his uniform opposed to Williams ' number 5 in the previous spring training , even though Chapman had hit . 340 in the previous season , which led " Boston Globe " sports journalist Gerry Moore to quip , " Not since Joe DiMaggio broke in with the Yankees by " five for five " in St . Petersberg in 1936 has any baseball rookie received the nationwide publicity that has been accorded this spring to Theodore Francis Williams " . Williams made his major league debut against the New York Yankees on April 20 , going 1 - for - 4 against Yankee pitcher Red Ruffing . This was the only game which featured both Williams and Lou Gehrig playing against one another . In his first series at Fenway Park , Williams hit a double , a home run , and a triple , the first two against Cotton Pippen , who gave Williams his first strikeout as a professional while Williams had been in San Diego . By July , Williams was hitting just . 280 , but leading the league in RBIs . Johnny Orlando , now Williams ' friend , then gave Williams a quick pep talk , telling Williams that he should hit . 335 with 35 home runs and he would drive in 150 runs . Williams said he would buy Orlando a Cadillac if this all came true . Williams ended up hitting . 327 with 31 home runs and 145 RBIs , leading the league in the latter category , the first rookie to lead the league in runs batted in . and finishing fourth in MVP voting . Even though there was not a Rookie of the Year award yet in 1939 , Babe Ruth declared Williams to be the Rookie of the Year , to which Williams later said was " good enough for me " . Williams ' pay doubled in , going from $ 5 , 000 to $ 10 , 000 . With the addition of a new bullpen in right field of Fenway Park , which reduced the distance from home plate from 400 feet to 380 feet , the bullpen was nicknamed " Williamsburg " , because the new addition was " obviously designed for Williams " . Williams was then switched from right field to left field , as there would be less sun in his eyes , and it would give Dominic DiMaggio a chance to play . Finally , Williams was flip - flopped in the order with the great slugger Jimmie Foxx , with the idea that Williams would get more pitches to hit . Pitchers , though , were not afraid to walk him to get to the 33 - year - old Foxx , and after that the 34 - year - old Joe Cronin , the player - manager . Williams also made his first of sixteen All - Star Game appearances in 1940 , going 0 - for - 2 . Although Williams hit . 344 , his power and runs batted in were down from the previous season , with 23 home runs and 113 RBIs . Williams also caused a controversy in mid - August when he called his salary " peanuts " , along with saying he hated the city of Boston and reporters , leading reporters to lash back at him , saying that he should be traded . Williams said that the " only real fun " he had in 1940 was being able to pitch once on August 24 , when he pitched the last two innings in a 12 - 1 loss to the Detroit Tigers , allowing one earned run on three hits , while striking out one batter , Rudy York . 1941 . In the second week of spring training in , Williams broke a bone in his right ankle , limiting him to pinch hitting for the first two weeks of the season . Bobby Doerr later claimed that the injury would be the foundation of Williams ' season , as it forced him to put less pressure on his right foot for the rest of the season . Against the Chicago White Sox on May 7 , in extra innings , Williams told the Red Sox pitcher , Charlie Wagner , to hold the White Sox , since he was going to hit a home run . In the 11th inning , Williams ' prediction came true , as he hit a big blast to help the Red Sox win . The home run is still considered to be the longest home run ever hit in the old Comiskey Park , some saying that it went 600 feet ( 183 meters ) . Williams ' average slowly climbed in the first half of May , and on May 15 , he started a 22 - game hitting streak . From May 17 to June 1 , Williams batted . 536 , with his season average going above . 400 on May 25 and then continuing up to . 430 . By the All - Star break , Williams was hitting . 406 with 62 RBIs and 16 home runs . In the 1941 All - Star Game , Williams batted fourth behind Joe DiMaggio , who at that time had broken the consecutive hitting streak record and already had a 48 - consecutive - game hitting streak by the All - Star break . In the fourth inning , Williams doubled to drive in a run , but the National League was winning 5 - 2 in the eighth inning , and Williams struck out in the bottom half of the inning in the middle of a rally by the American League team . In the ninth inning , with the American League trailing 5 - 3 , Ken Keltner got an infield single , Joe Gordon singled , and then Cecil Travis walked to fill the bases . After that , Joe DiMaggio grounded to the infield , and in attempting to carry out a double play , Billy Herman was distracted by Travis as Travis slid into second base , and the throw to first base was wide , with Keltner scoring , making the score 5 - 4 . With runners on first base and third base , Williams stepped to the plate . With a two - ball - and - one - strike count , Williams swung with his eyes closed and hit a home run , making the American League walk - off to win 7 - 5 . Williams later said that the moment " remains to this day the most thrilling hit of my life " . In late August , Williams was hitting . 402 . Williams said that " just about everybody was rooting for me " to hit . 400 in the season , including Yankee fans , who gave pitcher Lefty Gomez a " hell of a boo " after walking Williams with the bases loaded after Williams had gotten three straight hits one game in September . In mid - September , Williams was hitting . 413 , but dropped a point a game from then on . Before the game on September 28 , Williams was batting . 39955 , which would have been rounded up to a . 400 average . Williams , who had the chance to sit out the final , decided to play a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics . Williams explained that he didn ' t really deserve the . 400 average if he did sit out . Williams went 6 - for - 8 on the day , finishing the baseball season at . 406 . ( The present - day baseball sacrifice fly rule was not in effect in 1941 ; had it been , Williams would have hit . 416 . ) Portions of the 10 , 268 people in the crowd ran out on the field to surround Williams after the game , forcing him to grab his hat in fear of its getting stolen , and he was helped into the clubhouse by his teammates . Along with his . 406 average , Williams also hit 37 home runs and had 120 RBIs . Williams ' baseball season of 1941 is often considered to be the best offensive season of all time . The . 406 batting average was Williams ' first of six batting championships , is still the highest single - season batting average in Red Sox history and the highest batting average in the major leagues since 1924 , and the last time any major league player has hit over . 400 for a season . Williams ' on - base percentage of . 553 and slugging percentage of . 735 that season are both also the highest single - season averages in Red Sox history . The . 553 OBP stood as a major league record until it was broken by Barry Bonds in 2002 and his . 735 slugging percentage was highest mark in the major leagues between 1932 and 1994 . His OPS of 1 . 287 that year , a Red Sox record , was the highest in the major leagues between 1923 and 2001 . Williams led the league with 135 runs scored and 37 home runs , and he finished third with 335 total bases , the most home runs , runs scored , and total bases by a Red Sox player since Jimmie Foxx ' s in 1938 . Williams placed second in MVP voting , with Joe DiMaggio winning with 291 votes to 254 votes on the strength of his record - breaking 56 - game hitting streak and large number of RBIs . On December 7 , 1941 , the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor , forcing the United States into World War II a day later . 1942 – 1945 . U . S . Navy and U . S . Marine Corps . In January , Williams was drafted into the military , being put into Class 1 - A . A friend of Williams suggested that Williams see the advisor of the Governor ' s Selective Service Appeal Agent , since Williams was the sole support of his mother , arguing that Williams should not have been placed in Class 1 - A , and said Williams should be reclassified to Class 3 - A . The attorney took the case to the Appeals Board and the board rejected the case . Angry , the attorney took the case to the Presidential Board . Williams was reclassified to 3 - A ten days later . Afterwards , the public reaction was extremely negative . Quaker Oats stopped sponsoring Williams , and Williams , who previously had eaten Quaker products " all the time " , never " [ ate ] one since " the company stopped sponsoring him . Despite the trouble with the draft board , Williams had a new salary of $ 30 , 000 in 1942 . In the season , Williams won the Triple Crown , with a . 356 batting average , 36 home runs , and 137 RBIs . On May 21 , Williams also hit his 100th career home run . He was the third Red Sox player to hit 100 home runs with the team , following his teammates Jimmie Foxx and Joe Cronin . Despite winning the Triple Crown , Williams came in second in the MVP voting to Joe Gordon of the Yankees . Williams felt that he should have gotten a " little more consideration " because of winning the Triple Crown , and he thought that " the reason I didn ' t get more consideration was because of the trouble I had with the draft [ boards ] " . Williams joined the Navy Reserve on May 22 , 1942 , went on active duty in 1943 , and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps as a Naval Aviator on May 2 , 1944 . Williams also played on the baseball team in Chapel Hill , North Carolina along with his Red Sox teammate Johnny Pesky in pre - flight training , after eight weeks in Amherst , Massachusetts and the Civilian Pilot Training Course . While on the baseball team , Williams was sent back to Fenway Park on July 13 , 1943 to play on an All - Star team managed by Babe Ruth . The newspapers reported that Babe Ruth said when finally meeting Williams , " Hiya , kid . You remind me a lot of myself . I love to hit . You ' re one of the most natural ballplayers I ' ve ever seen . And if my record is broken , I hope you ' re the one to do it " . Williams later said he was " flabbergasted " by the incident , as " after all , it was Babe Ruth " . In the game , Williams hit a 425 - foot home run to help give the American League All - Stars a 9 - 8 win . Service baseball . On August 18 , 1945 , following the atomic bomb drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki , Lt . Williams was sent to Pearl Harbor , Hawaii . While in Pearl Harbor , Williams played baseball in the Army League . Also in that eight - team league were Joe DiMaggio , Joe Gordon , and Stan Musial . The Service World Series with the Army versus the Navy attracted crowds of 40 , 000 for each game . The players said it was even better than the actual World Series being played between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs that year . 1946 – 1949 . Williams was discharged by the Marine Corps on January 28 , 1946 , in time to begin preparations for the upcoming pro baseball season . He joined the Red Sox again in , Williams signed a $ 37 , 500 contract . On July 14 , after Williams hit three home runs and eight RBIs in the first game of a doubleheader , Lou Boudreau , inspired by Williams ' consistent pull hitting to right field , created what would later be known as the Boudreau shift ( also Williams shift ) against Williams , having only one player on the left side of second base ( the left fielder ) . Ignoring the shift , Williams walked twice and grounded out to second base . Also during 1946 , the All - Star Game was held in Fenway Park . In the game , Williams homered in the fourth inning against Kirby Higbe , singled in a run in the fifth inning , singled in the seventh inning , and hit a three - run home run against Rip Sewell ' s notorious " eephus pitch " in the eighth inning to help the American League win 12 - 0 . For the 1946 baseball season , Williams hit . 342 with 38 home runs and 123 RBIs , helping the Red Sox win the pennant on September 13 , hitting the only inside - the - park home run in his Major League career in a 1 - 0 win against Cleveland . Williams ran away as the winner in the MVP voting . During an exhibition game in Fenway Park against an All - Star team during early October , Williams was hit on the elbow by a curveball by the Washington Senators ' pitcher Mickey Haefner . Williams was immediately taken out of the game , and X - rays of his arm showed no damage , but his arm was " swelled up like a boiled egg " , according to Williams . Williams could not swing a bat again until four days later , one day before the World Series , when he reported the arm as " sore " . During the series , Williams batted . 200 , going 5 - for - 25 with no home runs and just one RBI . The Red Sox lost in seven games , with Williams going 0 - for - 4 in the last game . Fifty years later when asked what one thing he would have done different in his life , Williams replied , " I ' d have done better in the ' 46 World Series . God , I would " . The 1946 World Series was the only World Series Williams ever appeared in . In the off - season between the 1946 and season , Williams was offered a three - year , $ 300 , 000 dollar contract to play for the Mexican League , which Williams declined . Williams later signed a $ 70 , 000 contract in 1947 . Williams was also almost traded for Joe DiMaggio in 1947 . In late April , Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees owner Dan Topping agreed to swap the players , but a day later canceled the deal when Yawkey requested that Yogi Berra come with DiMaggio . In May , Williams was hitting . 337 . Williams also won the Triple Crown in 1947 , but lost the MVP award to Joe DiMaggio , with 201 votes compared to DiMaggio ' s 202 votes . One writer ( whom Williams thought was Mel Webb , who Williams called a " grouchy old guy " , although the identity of the writer remains unknown ) completely left Williams off his ballot , who would have tied DiMaggio or won if one writer who had voted Williams as second had voted him first . Through 2011 , Williams was one of seven major league players to have had at least four 30 - home run and 100 - RBI seasons in their first five years , along with Chuck Klein , Joe DiMaggio , Ralph Kiner , Mark Teixeira , Albert Pujols , and Ryan Braun . In , under their new manager Joe McCarthy , Williams hit a league - leading . 369 with 25 home runs and 127 RBIs , and was third in MVP voting . On April 29 , Williams hit his 200th career home run . He became just the second player to hit 200 home runs in a Red Sox uniform , joining his former teammate Jimmie Foxx . On October 2 , against the Yankees , Williams hit his 222nd career home run , tying Foxx for the Red Sox all - time record . In the Red Sox final two games against the Yankees to force a one - game playoff against the Cleveland Indians , Williams got on base eight times out of ten plate appearances . In the playoff , Williams went 1 - for - 4 , with the Red Sox losing 8 – 3 due to McCarthy ' s decision to start Denny Galehouse over southpaw Mel Parnell . In , Williams got a new salary of $ 100 , 000 ( $ in current dollar terms ) . He hit . 343 ( losing the AL batting title by just . 0002 to the Tigers ' George Kell , thus missing the Triple Crown that year ) , hitting 43 home runs , his career high , and driving in 159 runs , tied for highest in the league , helping him win the MVP trophy . On April 28 , Williams hit his 223rd career home run , breaking the record for most home runs in a Red Sox uniform , passing Jimmie Foxx . Williams is still the Red Sox career home run leader . However , despite being ahead of the Yankees by one game right before the series , the Red Sox lost both games they had to play against the Yankees . The Yankees won the first of what would be five straight World Series titles in 1949 . For the rest of Williams ' career , the Yankees won eight pennants and five World Series titles , while the Red Sox never finished better than third place . 1950 – 1955 . In , Williams was playing in his eighth All - Star Game . In the first inning , Williams caught a line drive by Ralph Kiner , slamming into the Comiskey Park scoreboard and breaking his left arm . Williams played the rest of the game , and he even singled in a run to give the American League the lead in the eighth inning , but by that time Williams ' arm was a " balloon " and he was in great pain , so he left the game . Both of the doctors who X - rayed Williams held little hope for a full recovery . The doctors operated on Williams for two hours . When Williams took his cast off , he could only extend the arm to within four inches of his right arm . Williams only played 89 games in 1950 . After the baseball season , Williams ' elbow hurt so much he considered retirement , since he thought he would never be able to hit again . Tom Yawkey , the Red Sox owner , then sent Jack Fadden to Williams ' Florida home to talk to Williams . Williams later thanked Fadden for saving his career . In , Williams " struggled " to hit . 318 , with his elbow still hurting . Williams also played in 148 games , sixty more than Williams had played the previous season , 30 home runs , two more than he had hit in 1950 , and 126 RBIs , twenty - nine more than 1950 . Despite his lower - than - usual production at bat , Williams made the All - Star team . On May 15 , 1951 , Williams became the 11th player in major league history to hit 300 career home runs . On May 21 , Williams passed Chuck Klein for 10th place , on May 25 Williams passed Rogers Hornsby for 9th place , and on July 5 Williams passed Al Simmons for 8th place all - time in career home runs . After the season , manager Steve O ' Neill was fired , with Lou Boudreau replacing him . Boudreau ' s first announcement as manager was that all Red Sox players were " expendable " , including Williams . U . S . Marine Corps , Korea ( 1952 – 1953 ) . Williams name was called from a list of inactive reserves to serve on active duty in the Korean War on January 9 , 1952 . Williams , who was livid at his recalling , had a physical scheduled for April 2 . Williams passed his physical , and was named a Captain in the Marine Corps after only playing in six major league games . Right before he left for Korea , the Red Sox had a " Ted Williams Day " in Fenway Park . Friends of Williams gave him a Cadillac , and the Red Sox gave Williams a memory book that was signed by 400 , 000 fans . The Governor of Massachusetts and Mayor of Boston were there , along with a Korean War veteran in a wheelchair . At the end of the ceremony , everyone in the park held hands and sang " Auld Lang Syne " to Williams , a moment which he later said " moved me quite a bit " . The Red Sox went on to win the game 5 - 3 thanks to a two - run home run by Williams in the seventh inning . After he returned from the Korean War in August , Williams practiced with the Red Sox for ten days before playing in his first game , garnering a large ovation from the crowd and hitting a home run in the eighth inning . In the season , Williams ended up hitting . 407 with 13 home runs and 34 RBIs in 37 games and 110 at bats . On September 6 , Williams hit his 332nd career home run , passing Hank Greenberg for seventh all - time . On the first day of spring training in , Williams broke his collarbone running after a line drive . Williams was out for six weeks , and in April he wrote an article with Joe Reichler of the " Saturday Evening Post " saying that he intended to retire at the end of the season . Williams returned to the Red Sox lineup on May 7 , and he hit . 345 with 386 at bats in 117 games , although Bobby Ávila , who had hit . 341 , won the batting championship . This was because it was required then that a batter needed 400 at bats , despite Lou Boudreau ' s attempt to bat Williams second in the lineup to get more at - bats . On August 25 , Williams passed Johnny Mize for sixth place , and on September 3 , Williams passed Joe DiMaggio for fifth all - time in career home runs with his 362nd career home run . He finished the season with 366 career home runs . On September 26 , Williams " retired " after the Red Sox ' s final game of the season . During the off - season of 1954 , Williams was offered the chance to be manager of the Red Sox . Williams declined , and he suggested that Pinky Higgins , who had previously played on the 1946 Red Sox team as the third baseman , become the manager of the team . Higgins later was hired as the Red Sox manager in 1955 . Williams sat out the first month of the season due to a divorce settlement with his wife , Doris . When Williams returned , he signed a $ 98 , 000 contract on May 13 . On his first game back , Williams hit a home run , and he batted . 356 in 320 at bats on the season , lacking enough at bats to win the batting title over Al Kaline , who batted . 340 in 1955 , while hitting 28 home runs and driving in 83 runs , while being named the " Comeback Player of the Year " . 1956 – 1960 . On July 17 , , Williams became the fifth player to hit 400 home runs , following Mel Ott in 1941 , Jimmie Foxx in 1938 , Lou Gehrig in 1936 , and Babe Ruth in 1927 . On August 7 , , after Williams was booed for dropping a fly ball from Mickey Mantle , Williams spat at one of the fans that was taunting him on the top of the dugout . Williams was fined $ 5 , 000 for the incident . The next day against Baltimore , Williams was greeted by a large ovation , and received an even larger ovation when he hit a home run in the sixth inning to break a 2 - 2 tie . In " The Boston Globe " , the publishers ran a " What Globe Readers Say About Ted " section made out of letters about Williams , which were either the sportswriters or the " loud mouths " in the stands . Williams explained years later , " From ' 56 on , I realized that people were for me . The writers had written that the fans should show me they didn ' t want me , and I got the biggest ovation yet " . Williams lost the batting title to Mickey Mantle in 1956 , batting . 345 to Mantle ' s . 353 , with Mantle on his way to winning the Triple Crown . In , Williams batted . 388 to lead the Major Leagues , and remarkably at the age of 40 in 1958 , he led the American League with a . 328 batting average . When Pumpsie Green became the first black player on the Boston Red Sox in 1959 — the last major league team to integrate its team — Williams openly welcomed Green . Williams ended his career dramatically , hitting a home run in his very last at - bat on September 28 , . The classic John Updike essay " Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu " chronicles this event and is often mentioned among the greatest pieces of sports writing in American journalism . Williams is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date to have appeared in Major League games in four decades . Player profile . Playing style . Williams was an obsessive student of hitting . He famously used a lighter bat than most sluggers , because it generated a faster swing . David Halberstam ' s " Summer of ' 49 " recalls him warning teammates not to leave their bats on the ground as they would absorb moisture and become heavier . His biographer Leigh Montville relates the often told story that Hillerich & Bradsby presented Williams with four bats weighing 34 ounces and one weighing 33 1 / 2 ounces , and challenged him to identify the lighter bat , which he was consistently able to do . His devotion allowed him to hit for power and average while maintaining extraordinary plate discipline . In 1970 he wrote a book on the subject , " The Science of Hitting " ( revised 1986 ) , which is still read by many baseball players . Williams was known to discuss hitting with active players enthusiastically until very late in his life . A conversation with Tony Gwynn was filmed for television . Williams nearly always took the first pitch , reasoning that the ability to gauge the pitcher ' s " stuff " was worth conceding a first strike . He was occasionally criticized for refusing to swing at a borderline pitch to put a ball in play when it might have helped advance a runner or score a run ( a recurring theme among sportswriter critics was that " Ted plays for himself . " ) . Yet , Williams argued persuasively about the great advantage that accrues to pitchers when hitters swing at a pitch even one baseball width outside the strike zone . In a graphic from 1968 that accompanied an article in " Sports Illustrated " magazine , Williams divided the strike zone into 77 baseballs , with each baseball containing his projected batting average for pitches thrown in that location . Williams was frequently critical of pitchers and their refusal to bring the related kind of strategic thinking to their pitch selection that he brought to hitting . However , he did show great respect for Red Sox pitcher Bill " Spaceman " Lee , crediting him with that kind of mindset . Williams lacked foot speed , as attested by his 19 - year career total of only one inside - the - park home run , one occasion of hitting for the cycle , and just 24 stolen bases . ( Interestingly , despite his slowness on the basepaths , he is one of only four players in history - along with the noted speedsters Tim Raines , Rickey Henderson , and Omar Vizquel - to have stolen a base in four different decades . ) Williams always felt that had he had more speed , he could have raised his average considerably and helped him hit . 400 in at least one more season . Williams was sometimes considered to be an indifferent outfielder with a good throwing arm . He often spent time in left field practicing " shadow swings " for his next at - bat . Williams occasionally expressed regret that he had not worked harder on his defense . However , Williams did become an expert at playing the rebounds of batted balls off of the left - field wall and fences in Fenway Park . Later on , he helped pass this expertise to the left - fielder Carl Yastrzemski of the Red Sox . Relationship with Boston media and fans . Ted Williams was on uncomfortable terms with the Boston newspapers for nearly twenty years , as he felt they liked to discuss his personal life as much as his baseball performance . He maintained a career - long feud with " SPORT " magazine due to a 1948 feature article in which the " SPORT " reporter included a quote from Williams ' mother . Insecure about his upbringing , and stubborn because of immense confidence in his own talent , Williams made up his mind that the " knights of the Press Box " were against him . Some seemingly were . After having hit for the league ' s Triple Crown in 1947 , Williams narrowly lost the MVP award in a vote where one midwestern newspaper writer left Williams entirely off his ten - player ballot . He treated most of the press accordingly , as he described in his memoir , " My Turn at Bat . " Williams also had an uneasy relationship with the Boston fans , though he could be very cordial one - on - one . He felt at times a good deal of gratitude for their passion and their knowledge of the game . On the other hand , Williams was temperamental , high - strung , and at times tactless . In his biography , Ronald Reis relates how Williams committed two fielding miscues in a doubleheader in 1950 and was roundly booed by Boston fans . He bowed three times to various sections of Fenway Park and made an obscene gesture . When he came to bat he spit in the direction of fans near the dugout . The incident caused an avalanche of negative media reaction , and inspired sportswriter Austen Lake ' s famous comment that when Williams name was announced the sound was like " autumn wind moaning through an apple orchard . " Another incident occurred in 1958 in a game against the Washington Senators . Williams struck out , and as he stepped from the batter ' s box swung his bat violently in anger . The bat slipped from his hands , was launched into the stands and struck a 60 year - old woman — one who turned out to be the housekeeper of the Red Sox general manager Joe Cronin . While the incident was an accident and Williams apologized to the woman personally , to all appearances it seemed at the time that Williams had hurled the bat in a fit of temper . One of the paradoxes of Williams life is that he gave generously to those in need . He was especially linked with the Jimmy Fund of the Dana – Farber Cancer Institute , which provides support for children ' s cancer research and treatment . Williams used his celebrity to virtually launch the fund , which has raised more that $ 750 million between 1948 and 2010 . Throughout his career , Williams made countless bedside visits to children being treated for cancer , which Williams insisted on going unreported . Often , parents of sick children would learn at check - out time that " Mr . Williams has taken care of your bill . " The Fund recently stated that , " Williams would travel everywhere and anywhere , no strings or paychecks attached , to support the cause . . . His name is synonymous with our battle against all forms of cancer . " Williams demanded loyalty from those around him . He could not forgive the fickle nature of the fans — booing a player for booting a ground ball , then turning around and roaring approval of the same player for hitting a home run . Despite the cheers and adulation of most of his fans , the occasional boos directed at him in Fenway Park led Williams to stop tipping his cap in acknowledgement after a home run . Williams maintained this policy up to and including his swan song in 1960 . After hitting a home run in his last career at - bat in Fenway Park , Williams characteristically refused either to tip his cap as he circled the bases or to respond to prolonged cheers of " We want Ted ! " from the crowd by making an appearance from the dugout . The Boston manager Pinky Higgins sent Williams to his fielding position in left field to start the ninth inning , but then immediately recalled him for his back - up Carroll Hardy , thus allowing Williams to receive one last ovation as he jogged on and off the field , but he did so without reacting to the crowd . Williams ' aloof attitude led the writer John Updike to wryly observe that " Gods do not answer letters . " Williams ' final home run did not take place during the final game of the 1960 season , but rather in the Red Sox ' s last home game that year . The Red Sox played three more games , but they were on the road in New York City and Williams did not appear in any of them , as it became clear that Williams ' final home at - bat would be the last one of his career . In 1991 on Ted Williams Day at Fenway Park , Williams pulled a Red Sox cap from out of his jacket and tipped it to the crowd . This was the first time that he had done so since his earliest days as a player . A Red Smith profile from 1956 describes one Boston writer trying to convince Ted Williams that first cheering and then booing a ballplayer was no different from a moviegoer applauding a " western " movie actor one day and saying the next " He stinks ! Whatever gave me the idea he could act ? " Williams rejected this ; when he liked a western actor like Hoot Gibson , he liked him in every picture , and would not think of booing him . He once had a friendship with Ty Cobb , with whom he often had discussions about baseball . He often touted Rogers Hornsby as being the greatest right - handed hitter of all time . This assertion actually led to a split in the relationship between Ty Cobb and Ted Williams . Once during one of their yearly debate sessions on the greatest hitters of all - time Williams asserted that Hornsby was one of the greatest of all - time . Cobb apparently had strong feelings about Hornsby and he threw a fit , expelling Williams from his hotel room . Their friendship effectively terminated after this altercation . This story though was later refuted by Ted Williams himself . Military service . World War II . Williams served as a Naval Aviator during World War II and the Korean War . Unlike many other major league players , he did not spend all of his war time playing on service teams . Williams had been classified 3 - A by Selective Service prior to the war , a dependency deferment because he was his mother ' s sole means of financial support . When his classification was changed to ( 1 - A ) following the American entry into World War II , Williams appealed to his local draft board . The draft board ruled that his draft status should not have been changed . He made a public statement that once he had built up his mother ' s trust fund , he intended to enlist . Even so , criticism in the media , including withdrawal of an endorsement contract by Quaker Oats , resulted in his enlistment in the U . S . Navy Reserve on May 22 , 1942 . Williams did not opt for an easy assignment playing baseball for the Navy , but rather joined the V - 5 program to become a Naval aviator . Williams was first sent to the Navy ' s Preliminary Ground School at Amherst College for six months of academic instruction in various subjects including math and navigation , where he achieved a 3 . 85 grade point average . Williams was talented as a pilot , and so enjoyed it that he had to be ordered by the Navy to leave training to personally accept his American League 1942 Major League Baseball Triple Crown . Williams ' Red Sox teammate , Johnny Pesky , who went into the same aviation training program , said this about Williams : " He mastered intricate problems in fifteen minutes which took the average cadet an hour , and half of the other cadets there were college grads . " Pesky again described Williams ' acumen in the advance training , for which Pesky personally did not qualify : " I heard Ted literally tore the sleeve target to shreds with his angle dives . He ' d shoot from wingovers , zooms , and barrel rolls , and after a few passes the sleeve was ribbons . At any rate , I know he broke the all - time record for hits . " Ted went to Jacksonville for a course in aerial gunnery , the combat pilot ' s payoff test , and broke all the records in reflexes , coordination , and visual - reaction time . " From what I heard . Ted could make a plane and its six ' pianos ' ( machine guns ) play like a symphony orchestra " , Pesky says . " From what they said , his reflexes , coordination , and visual reaction made him a built - in part of the machine . " Williams completed pre - flight training in Athens , Georgia , his primary training at NAS Bunker Hill , Indiana , and his advanced flight training at NAS Pensacola . He received his gold Naval Aviator wings and his commission as a second lieutenant in the U . S . Marine Corps on May 2 , 1944 . Williams served as a flight instructor at the Naval Air Station Pensacola teaching young pilots to fly the complicated F4U Corsair fighter plane . Williams was in Pearl Harbor awaiting orders to join the Fleet in the Western Pacific when the War in the Pacific ended . He finished the war in Hawaii , and then he was released from active duty on January 12 , 1946 , but he did remain in the Marine Corps Reserve . Korean War . On May 1 , 1952 , at the age of 33 , Williams was recalled to active duty for service in the Korean War . He had not flown any aircraft for about eight years but he turned down all offers to sit out the war in comfort as a member of a service baseball team . Nevertheless , Williams was somewhat resentful of being called up , which he admitted years later , particularly regarding the Navy ' s odd policy of calling up Inactive Reservists rather than members of the Active Reserve . After eight weeks of refresher flight training and qualification in the F9F Panther jet fighter at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point , North Carolina , Williams was assigned to VMF - 311 , Marine Aircraft Group 33 ( MAG - 33 ) , based at the K - 3 airfield in Pohang , South Korea . On February 16 , 1953 , Williams was part of a 35 - plane air raid against a tank and infantry training school just south of Pyongyang , North Korea . During the mission , a piece of flak knocked out his hydraulics and electrical systems , causing Williams to have to " limp " his plane back to K - 13 , a U . S . Air Force airfield close to the front lines . For his actions of this day , he was awarded the Air Medal . Williams stayed on K - 13 for several days while his plane was being repaired . Because he was so popular , GIs and airmen from all around the base came to see him and his plane . After it was repaired , Williams flew his plane back to his Marine Corps airfield . In Korea , Williams flew 39 combat missions before being withdrawn from flight status in June 1953 after a hospitalization for pneumonia . This resulted in the discovery of an inner ear infection that disqualified him from flight status . During the Korean War , Williams also served in the same Marine Corps unit with John Glenn ; the future astronaut described Williams as one of the best pilots he knew . In the last half of his missions , Williams was flying as Glenn ' s wingman . Williams likely would have approached or exceeded Babe Ruth ' s home run record if he had not served in the military , and might have set the record for career RBIs as well , exceeding Hank Aaron ' s total . While the absences in the Marine Corps took almost five years out of his baseball career , he never publicly complained about the time devoted to service in the Marine Corps . His biographer Leigh Montville argued that Williams was not happy about being pressed into service in South Korea , but he did what he thought was his patriotic duty . Post - retirement . After retirement from play , Williams helped new left fielder Carl Yastrzemski in hitting . He then served as manager of the Washington Senators , from 1969 – 1971 , then continued with the team when they became the Texas Rangers after the 1971 season . Williams ' best season as a manager was 1969 when he led the expansion Senators to an 86 – 76 record in the team ' s only winning season in Washington . He was chosen " Manager of the Year " after that season . Like many great players , Williams became impatient with ordinary athletes ' abilities and attitudes , particularly those of pitchers , whom he admitted he never respected . He occasionally appeared at Red Sox spring training as a guest hitting instructor . Williams would also go into a partnership with friend Al Cassidy to form the Ted Williams Baseball Camp in Lakeville , Massachusetts . It was not uncommon to find Williams fishing in the pond at the camp . The area now is owned by the town and a few of the buildings still stand . In the main lodge one can still see memorabilia from Williams ' playing days . On the subject of pitchers , in Ted ' s autobiography written with John Underwood , Ted opines regarding Bob Lemon ( a sinker - ball specialist ) pitching for Cleveland Indians around 1951 : " I have to rate Lemon as one of the very best pitchers I ever faced . His ball was always moving , hard , sinking , fast - breaking . You could never really uhmmmph with Lemon . " Williams was much more successful in fishing . An avid and expert fly fisherman and deep - sea fisherman , he spent many summers after baseball fishing the Miramichi River , in Miramichi , New Brunswick , Canada . Williams was named to the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame in 2000 . Williams , Jim Brown , and Cal Hubbard are the only athletes to be inducted into the Halls of Fame of more than one professional sport . Shortly after Williams ' death , conservative pundit Steve Sailer wrote : Williams reached an extensive deal with Sears , lending his name and talent toward marketing , developing , and endorsing a line of in - house sports equipment - such as the " Ted Williams " edition Gamefisher aluminum boat and 7 . 5 hp " Ted Williams " edition motor , as well as fishing , hunting , and baseball equipment . Williams continued his involvement in the Jimmy Fund , later losing a brother to leukemia , and spending much of his spare time , effort , and money in support of the cancer organization . In his later years , Williams became a fixture at autograph shows and card shows after his son ( by his third wife ) , John Henry Williams , took control of his career , becoming his de facto manager . The younger Williams provided structure to his father ' s business affairs , exposed forgeries that were flooding the memorabilia market , and rationed his father ' s public appearances and memorabilia signings to maximize their earnings . One of Ted Williams ' final , and most memorable , public appearances was at the 1999 All - Star Game in Boston . Able to walk only a short distance , Williams was brought to the pitcher ' s mound in a golf cart . He proudly waved his cap to the crowd — a gesture he had never done as a player . Fans responded with a standing ovation that lasted several minutes . At the pitcher ' s mound he was surrounded by players from both teams , including fellow Red Sox player Nomar Garciaparra . Later in the year , he was among the members of the Major League Baseball All - Century Team introduced to the crowd at Turner Field in Atlanta prior to Game two of the World Series . Personal life . On May 4 , 1944 , Williams married Doris Soule , daughter of his hunting guide . Their daughter , Barbara Joyce ( " Bobbi Jo " ) , was born on January 28 , 1948 , while Williams was fishing in Florida . They divorced in 1954 . Williams married the socialite model Lee Howard on September 10 , 1961 and they were divorced in 1967 . Williams married Dolores Wettach , a former Miss Vermont and " Vogue " model , in 1968 . Their son John - Henry was born on August 27 , 1968 , followed by daughter Claudia , on October 8 , 1971 . They were divorced in 1972 . Williams lived with Louise Kaufman for twenty years until her death in 1993 . In his book , Cramer called her the love of Williams ' life . After his death , her sons filed suit to recover her furniture from Williams ' condominium as well as a half - interest in the condominium they claimed he gave her . Williams had a strong respect for General Douglas MacArthur , referring to him as his " idol " . For Williams ' 40th birthday , MacArthur sent him an oil painting of himself with the inscription " To Ted Williams — not only America ' s greatest baseball player , but a great American who served his country . Your friend , Douglas MacArthur . General U . S . Army . " William ' s son , John - Henry , and Williams ' brother , Danny , both died of leukemia . Death . In his last years , Williams suffered from cardiomyopathy . He had a pacemaker implanted in November 2000 and he underwent open - heart surgery in January 2001 . After suffering a series of strokes and congestive heart failure , he died of cardiac arrest at the age of 83 on July 5 , 2002 , at Citrus Memorial Hospital , Inverness , Florida , near his home in Citrus Hills , Florida . Though his will stated his desire to be cremated and his ashes scattered in the Florida Keys , Williams ' son John - Henry and youngest daughter Claudia chose to have his remains frozen cryonically . Ted ' s eldest daughter , Bobby - Jo Ferrell , brought suit to have her father ' s wishes recognized . John - Henry ' s lawyer then produced an informal " family pact " signed by Ted , Claudia , and John - Henry , in which they agreed " to be put into biostasis after we die " to " be able to be together in the future , even if it is only a chance . " Bobby - Jo and her attorney , Spike Fitzpatrick ( former attorney of Ted Williams ) , contended that the family pact , which was scribbled on an ink - stained napkin , was forged by John - Henry and / or Claudia . Fitzpatrick and Ferrell believed that the signature was not obtained legally . Laboratory analysis proved that the signature was genuine . John - Henry said that his father was a believer in science and was willing to try cryonics if it held the possibility of reuniting the family . Though the family pact upset some friends , family and fans , a public plea for financial support of the lawsuit by Ferrell produced little result . Citing financial difficulties , Ferrell dropped her lawsuit in exchange that a $ 645 , 000 trust fund left by Williams would immediately pay the sum out equally to the three children . Inquiries to cryonics organizations increased after the publicity from the case . In " Ted Williams : The Biography of an American Hero " , author Leigh Montville claims that the family cryonics pact was a practice Ted Williams autograph on a plain piece of paper , around which the agreement had later been hand written . The pact document was signed " " Ted Williams " " , the same as his autographs , whereas he would always sign his legal documents " " Theodore Williams " " , according to Montville . However , Claudia testified to the authenticity of the document in a sworn affidavit . Ted ' s two 24 - hour private caregivers who were with him the entire period the note was said to have been created also stated in sworn affidavits that John - Henry and Claudia were never present at any time for the note to be produced . Following John - Henry ' s unexpected illness and death from acute myelogenous leukemia on March 6 , 2004 , John - Henry ' s body was also transported to Alcor , in fulfillment of the family agreement . Awards and recognition . In 1954 , Williams was also inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego ' s finest athletes both on and off the playing surface . Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 25 , 1966 . In his induction speech , Williams included a statement calling for the recognition of the great Negro Leagues players : " I ' ve been a very lucky guy to have worn a baseball uniform , and I hope some day the names of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson in some way can be added as a symbol of the great Negro players who are not here only because they weren ' t given a chance . " Williams was referring to two of the most famous names in the Negro Leagues , who were not given the opportunity to play in the Major Leagues before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947 . Gibson died early in 1947 and thus never played in the majors ; and Paige ' s brief major league stint came long past his prime as a player . This powerful and unprecedented statement from the Hall of Fame podium was " a first crack in the door that ultimately would open and include Paige and Gibson and other Negro League stars in the shrine . " Paige was the first inducted in 1971 . Gibson and others followed , starting in 1972 and continuing off and on into the 21st Century . On November 18 , 1991 , President George H . W . Bush presented Williams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom , the highest civilian award in the US . The Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston , Massachusetts , carrying 1 . 6 miles of the final 2 . 3 miles of Interstate 90 under Boston Harbor , opened in December 1995 , and Ted Williams Parkway ( California State Route 56 ) in San Diego County , California , opened in 1992 , were named in his honor while he was still alive . The Tampa Bay Rays home field , Tropicana Field , installed the Ted Williams Museum ( formerly in Hernando , Florida , 1994 - 2006 ) behind the left field fence . From the Tampa Bay Rays website : " The Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame brings a special element to the Tropicana Field . Fans can view an array of different artifacts and pictures of the ' Greatest hitter that ever lived . ' These memorable displays range from Ted Williams ' days in the military through his professional playing career . This museum is dedicated to some of the greatest players to ever ' lace ' em up , ' including Willie Mays , Joe DiMaggio , Mickey Mantle , Roger Maris . " Legacy . At the time of his retirement , Williams ranked third all - time in home runs ( behind Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx ) , seventh in RBIs ( after Ruth , Cap Anson , Lou Gehrig , Ty Cobb , Foxx , and Mel Ott ; Stan Musial passed Williams in 1962 ) , and seventh in batting average ( behind Cobb , Rogers Hornsby , Shoeless Joe Jackson , Lefty O ' Doul , Ed Delahanty and Tris Speaker ) . His career batting average is the highest of any player who played his entire career in the live - ball era following 1920 . Williams was also second to Ruth in career slugging percentage , where he remains today , and first in on - base percentage . He was also second to Ruth in career walks , but has since dropped to fourth place behind Barry Bonds and Rickey Henderson . Williams remains the career leader in walks per plate appearance . Most modern statistical analyses place Williams , along with Ruth and Bonds , among the three most potent hitters to have played the game . Williams ' baseball season of 1941 is often considered favorably with the greatest seasons of Ruth and Bonds in terms of various offensive statistical measures such as slugging , on - base and " offensive winning percentage . " As a further indication , of the ten best seasons for " OPS " , short for " On - Base Plus Slugging Percentage " , a popular modern measure of offensive productivity , four each were achieved by Ruth and Bonds , and two by Williams . Although Williams ' career did not overlap with that of Ruth or Bonds , a direct comparison with another great hitter , Hank Aaron , is possible . From 1955 to 1960 , Williams maintained an average OPS of 1 . 092 , as compared with . 950 for Aaron . Williams ' age ( 37 - 42 ) was well past the prime of most hitters , but he still managed to hit . 388 at the age of 39 . Although Aaron ( age 21 - 26 ) recorded only one of his five best seasons , their averages are not too far from the career averages of the two baseball players . In 1999 , Williams was ranked as number eight on " The Sporting News " ' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players , where he was the highest - ranking left fielder . Military and civilian decorations and awards . Williams received the following decorations and awards :