For Dad (April 9, 2020)

80/20

Narrator: 

On Wednesday, September 28th, 1960, at Fenway Park in Boston, forty-two year old Ted Williams — the last man to hit .400 — came to bat for the last time in his career.

Injuries the season before had brought his batting average below .300 for the first time, and he had felt so bad about it that he had volunteered for a cut in pay. 

Despite steady pain from a pinched nerve in his neck, he had brought his average back up again to .316 in 1960, and despite having missed four seasons in the military, had a lifetime total of 520 home runs and had compiled the highest career batting average since Rogers Hornsby — .344. 

Now he had finally had enough. 10,454 loyal fans came out to say goodbye.

Ted Williams:

Lousy day — damp, drizzly, heavy. And I hit two balls that I think some days would have gone out for sure, but this day they didn’t, caught ‘em up against the fence. 

But the last time up, I got the count 2-0 on Fisher, and I missed a ball…I don’t know yet how I missed that ball. And I know he thought he threw it by me, he thought he threw it by me. And he couldn’t wait now, there is an experience thought there, because I could just sense he said, “Gee, give me that ball, I’ll throw another one by him.” And I could just see all of that developing in his own mind.

Sure enough, he came back with the same pitch, and I hit it good, and it went for a home run, which is kind of a storybook finish. 

Narrator:

Williams hit it into the Red Sox bullpen scattering his teammates. Then he circled the bases for the last time. His long career of feuding with the fans and the press was over. Some hoped he might finally tip his cap, something he had not done since his rookie year. 

Ted Williams:

I just — I just couldn’t do it. I even thought about it going around the bases knowing this is my last time there, but… It was 80/20 of not doing it. There was just a little thought.

Narrator:

“I had a really warm feeling,” he said later, “but it just wouldn’t have been me.” 

Bob Costas:

For my money, Ted Williams is the greatest hitter of all time. I’d take him over Ruth. I’d take him over Cobb. I’d take him over Cobb because of the combination of power and average. I’d take him over Ruth because with Ruth you can only speculate about what he would have done in the modern era. Ted Williams hit .388 at the age of thirty nine in 1957. 

He was what few of us ever become. He was exactly what he set out to be. He said he wanted to be able to walk down the street some day and have people say, “There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived.” 

And if they don’t say that, it’s only because they don’t know what they’re talking about.