Ted Williams: A Biography

by Bruce Markusen

Overview

The last player to hit .400 in the Major Leagues, Ted Williams approached hitting as both an art and a science. Through his discipline, drive, and extraordinarily keen eyesight, "The Splendid Splinter" became the best hitter in baseball. From his early days as a cocksure rookie for the Boston Red Sox, through his two Triple Crown seasons, six batting titles, his service in two wars, and his tenure as a Major League manager, Ted Williams forged an indelible image in the minds of baseball fans. Yet Williams's public resentment toward fans and, especially, the media, made him few friends. Bruce Markusen presents the brilliant and often embittered career of the man whose mission was to become the greatest hitter of all time. A timeline, bibliography, and narrative chapter on the making of Williams' legend enhance this biography.

It has been said that hitting is the hardest thing to do in professional sports. Baseball's All-Time Greatest Hitters series presents biographies on Greenwood's selection for the twelve best hitters in Major League history, written by some of today's best baseball authors. These books present straight forward stories in accessible language for the high school researcher and the general reader alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313328671
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/30/2004
Series:	Baseball's All-Time Greatest Hitters
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

BRUCE MARKUSEN was the Manager of Programs at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York from 1994 to 2004. He is the author of Baseball's Last Dynasty: Charlie Finley's Oakland A's (which won the prestigious Seymour Award from the Society for American Baseball Research), Roberto Clemente, and The Orlando Cepeda Story. For the Hall of Fame, he has written numerous articles for publication, edited the Hall of Fame's Yearbook and quarterly newsletter, narrated Hall of Fame video productions, and interviewed most of the current living Hall inductees. Markusen is the regularly featured co-host (along with ESPN's Billy Sample) of the Hall of Fame Hour on MLB Radio.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Chronology of Ted Williams' Life and Career
Introduction
The Boyhood of a Hall of Famer
The Pro Game
Donning the Sox
War First, Baseball a Distant Second
Back to Baseball
War is Hell-Part Two
Controversy Replaces Comeback
A Final Season
Beyond the Ball Field
The Managerial Chair
Managing the Sophomore Jinx
Mr. Williams, Meet Mr. McLain
The Lonely Ranger
Retirement, Respect, and Requiem for a Legend
Appendix: Ted Williams' Career and World Series Statistics
Bibliography
Index