The greatest hitter that ever lived???

[Baseball Guru]

Ted Williams' dream was to walk down the street and hear passersby say "there goes the greatest hitter who ever lived." On the streets of Boston no one would dare say otherwise. In New York it's Ruth, who not only hit them far and often but occasionally would tell you when. Elsewhere, historians would argue for Ty Cobb and his gaudy career average of .367. Red Sox fans cite the fact that "Teddy Ballgame" missed five prime years of his career to fly planes in two wars and his statistics pale in comparison to what he might have done had he had those years to further terrorize pitchers.

I had often wondered the same thing myself. How would Ted Williams have done had he not missed those five years? With the help of a computer and a baseball simulation program I have simulated the 1943-45 and 1952-53 seasons. The following article was written as if Williams had actually played those seasons. Some of the content is pure fiction based on the results of the simulation. My intent was to, once and for all, answer the age old question "who was the greatest hitter who ever lived?" The answer, undoubtedly, is Ted Williams.

Williams joined Boston in 1939. At six foot four and 172 pounds the cocky, rail-thin outfielder looked like anything but a power hitter, despite having blasted 43 home runs for Minneapolis a year earlier. Williams was handed the starting right field job when Ben Chapman was traded to Cleveland for Denny Galehouse. He would make the best of it.

Williams began his incredible run with a rookie season that set standards by which all rookies have since been measured. He finished with a .327 average, 31 home runs, and 145 runs batted in. He set rookie records for RBI and walks that still stand. Setting records would become a habit for the young man from San Diego.

1940 held high hopes for Ted as the Red Sox moved the bullpens into right field, cutting the distance from home plate to 300 feet in right and 380 in right center. The Sox had hoped this would add at least another 10 home runs to his total. He was also moved to left field, widely regarded as easier to play than the notorious sun field in right. Surprisingly, the fans, who felt that Ted was receiving special treatment, began to boo him. Sportswriters chastised him in an effort to sell more newspapers. Williams blasted back and his relationship with the media was forever tarnished. He ended the 1940 season with a .344 average, but had "only" 23 home runs and 113 RBI. Only a handful of his home runs came at Fenway Park with a mere four landing in the bullpens. But finishing only eight points behind DiMaggio in the batting race gave him the confidence he needed to begin what would be the most awesome display of hitting in baseball history.

At the start of the 1941 season Williams predicted that no one could stop him. No one did. The Splendid Splinter went on a five-year tear that rivaled any five-year stretch of Babe Ruth's career. Nursing a swollen ankle, which he had injured in spring training, Ted could only pinch hit for most of April. When he entered the starting lineup for good on April 29th he was hitting an even .400. On May 15th one of the greatest battles in baseball history would begin. New York's Joe DiMaggio had a hit against Chicago, while Williams singled against Cleveland. Both men would continue to terrorize pitchers for the next two months. While DiMaggio's streak took center stage, Ted continued to quietly rack up hits. DiMaggio's streak ended at 56 consecutive games on July 17th, while Williams was hovering around .400. Heading into the last three games of the season Ted was hitting .401. He finished the 1941 season going 7 for 12, raising his average to a career best .406. He also won the home run crown with 37 round trippers and narrowly missed winning the Triple Crown, finishing five RBI behind DiMaggio, with 120. In his first three years Williams would win each leg of the Triple Crown. Now it was time to put them all together.

1942 started a string of Triple Crown years that will never be equaled. Ted finished the year with a .356 average, 36 homers, and 137 RBI. Despite Williams efforts he was passed over for league MVP by the writers he reviled so much. New York Yankee second baseman Joe Gordon took home the honors with a season that paled in comparison to the Red Sox slugger.

Williams continued his onslaught in 1943. Again he walked away with the Triple Crown finishing at .362, with 43 homers, and 131 RBI. The Red Sox began to make a move on the Yankees and finished with an 89-65 record, nine games behind the Bronx Bombers. This would be the third year in a row that the Sox would finish behind New York and the second year in a row that Williams would be slighted for MVP honors. Yankee pitcher Spud Chandler would outdistance Ted in the voting by posting a 20-4 record for the eventual world champions.

1944 saw Ted emerge as a serious power threat and possible heir to the throne of Home Run King. Taking advantage of the depleted pitching staffs of his opponents, Williams amassed 50 round trippers for the first time in his career on the strength of seven multi-homer games, including two three-homer gems. He molested the St. Louis Browns for a record 15 home runs and finished the season by hitting .408 with 10 home runs in Boston's final 26 games. He won his third Triple Crown in as many years with a .357 average, 50 dingers, and 137 RBI. He also established career highs with 154 walks and 141 runs scored. More importantly, however, was that Boston finished with a record of 98-56 and was headed to its first World Series in 26 years. Although Ted set a World Series record by drawing eight walks in five games, he could only muster two singles in 14 at bats, driving in only one run, as the Sox went quietly in five games against the powerful St. Louis Cardinals. Despite losing the series, Williams finally grabbed his first MVP award, edging out Detroit ace Hal Newhouser.

Taking advantage of the weaker pitching again in 1945, Ted continued his onslaught. In what would prove to be his greatest season ever the Splendid Splinter challenged the home run record of 60 held by the Bambino. He began the year with a record 15 home runs in April and continued to batter pitchers while the Red Sox took an early lead in the American League. As he had done the year before he pounded Boston's nearest competitors into submission, almost single-handedly. Against Detroit and Washington, armed with the league's two best pitching staffs, he belted 19 homers and drove in 51 runs in 44 games. His slugging percentage of .761 was the highest of his career and sixth highest in history. Boston finished atop the American League for the second year in a row and for the fourth year in a row Ted Williams won the Triple Crown. He fell just one home run short of Ruth's record, finishing with 59 to go along with a .342 average and a career high 163 RBI. For the second consecutive year he took home MVP honors, once again defeating Hal Newhouser of the Tigers. Appropriately, Williams went a combined 11 for 26 with four homers and 11 Runs batted in against Newhouser, the league's best pitcher, in 1944 and 1945. During his near record breaking home run tear, Ted tied records by belting five homers in two consecutive games, six in three games, and seven in four games. More than anything else, though, Ted wanted to atone for his poor showing in the 1944 World Series. Atone, he did. The Cubs jumped out to a two game lead by winning both games in Boston. Williams went 1 for 3 in game 1 and homered in his first at bat of game two. Chicago then walked him three straight times as Cubs pitcher Hank Wyse neutralized the rest of Boston's offense in a 7-3 Cub win. The Sox battled back with a run in the twelfth inning of game three to win 4-3, while Williams went 0 for 4 with two more walks. Boston made it two in a row, winning game four 6-2. Again, Ted was hitless, going 0 for 3. In four games Williams was hitting a paltry .181. Then he decided to take matters into his own hands. In game five, Ted went 4 for 5 with two ho

[loser69]

http://forum.addictsports.com/baseball/ubb/eek.gif 5 Triple crowns???? WOW!! I never knew that.

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Baseball is the best sport.

[Baseball Guru]

See what you can learn by visiting the History Forum http://forum.addictsports.com/baseball/ubb/wink.gif
Ted is the MAN!!!

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"Man may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very secret of eternity itself, but for me, the ultimate human experience is to witness the flawless execution of a hit-and-run."

LETS GO METS!!!

HELP BE AN ADDICT AND CLICK ON AN AD!!

[loser69]

I have always wondered what his stats would be without wartime interruption.

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Baseball is the best sport.

[Baseball Guru]

Oh I agree loser...I have had several good discussions claiming I think he would have gone down as the greatest player ever and would have have a few more records....

------------------
"Man may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very secret of eternity itself, but for me, the ultimate human experience is to witness the flawless execution of a hit-and-run."

LETS GO METS!!!

HELP BE AN ADDICT AND CLICK ON AN AD!!

[Baseball Guru]

Bring this back top for all the new members to see....

[Baseball Guru]

Bump:D