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“The Greatest Individual Seasons of All-Time”: Ted Williams’ Historic 1941 Season
If there was ever a man born to be a hitter it was me.” –Ted Williams
“A man has to have goals – for a day, for a lifetime – and that was mine, to have people say, ‘There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived –Ted Williams
The quotes above may sound cocky, but as Dizzy Dean once said ”It ain’t braggin’ if you can do it”, and, as we all know, there was never any doubt that Ted Williams could “do it”!
There’s no debate that Ted Williams was one of the greatest ball players in baseball history and is generally recognized by baseball historians as the greatest pure hitter ever. He played his entire 19-year major league career with the Red Sox (1939–1942 and 1946–1960). He was a seventeen-time All-Star, a two-time American League Most Valuable Player, a six-time American League batting champion, four-time American League home run leader, four-time American League RBI leader, and a two-time Triple Crown winner. Over his career, in which he lost three full seasons and parts of a fourth to military service, he hit 344 (seventh all-time), with 2,454 hits, 521 home runs (19th all-time), 1837 RBIs (14th all-time), and a .482 on-base percentage (first all-time). His .634 slugging average is second all-time, behind only Babe Ruth’s .689.
The “Splendid Splinter’s” Historic 1941 Year:
Ted Williams’ 1941 season is often considered to be the best offensive season ever, even though the MVP award that year went go to Joe DiMaggio. His .406 batting average is still the highest single-season average in Red Sox history, the highest batting average in the major leagues since 1924, and the last time any major league player has hit over .400 since Bill Terry in 1930. His .553 OBP 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 for 61 years; and his .735 slugging percentage was highest in the major leagues between 1932 and 1994. Williams also led the league with 135 runs scored and 37 home runs, and was second in RBIs with 120.
Would He Sit Out the Last Two Games?
On September 28, before the final two games of the 1941 regular season, a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, he was batting .39955, which would have been officially rounded up to .400. Red Sox manager Joe Cronin offered him the chance to sit out the final day, but Ted Williams famously declined, saying: “If I’m going to be a .400 hitter I want more than my toenails on the line.” He proceeded to go 6-for-8 and finished the season at .406.
1941 All-Star Game, His Greatest Thrill:
In the fourth inning of the 1941 All-Star Game, Ted Williams doubled to drive in a run. In the ninth inning, the American League trailed 5-4 and with runners on first and third, Williams homered “with his eyes closed” to secure a 7-5 American League win. Williams later said that that game-winning home run “remains to this day the most thrilling hit of my life.”
Ted Williams was a first ballot selection to the Hall of Fame in 1966 and his #9 has been retired by the Red Sox. He was named to the Major League All-Century team and the Major League Baseball All-Time team.
-Gary Livacari
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Photo Credits: “Sports Illustrated – The Baseball Book”; and public domain.
Information: Excerpts edited from the Ted Williams Wikipedia page.
Statistics from the Ted Williams Baseball Reference page.
