“The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams,” by Ben Bradlee Jr., is an 807-page biography that contains fascinating little-known information about the baseball player some believe is the greatest hitter of all time.
I love that it’s a thick book. It means that I won’t finish it too soon, leaving me wanting for more. Shorter volumes don’t last long enough. And if it’s a book I can’t put down -- as the Williams biography is -- I feel cheated because the enjoyment of it is over way too fast.
Many baseball fans with a shallow knowledge of The Splendid Splinter may not know that he was half Mexican, on his mother’s side. Throughout his life, he sought to keep that part of him a secret, for he was embarrassed about his heritage. Just as sad, he shunned his Mexican relatives personally, leaving them confused and disappointed.
The book is nevertheless a great read. Williams was a larger-than-life figure, and his unusual, sometimes tragic personal journey is as engrossing as his dramatic baseball career.
Another nugget from the book: When Williams played for the Minneapolis Millers for some seasoning, he and his teammates did an off-season barnstorming tour through Minnesota and South Dakota. Williams told a local sportscaster that the first stop would be “some jerk town called Worthington.”
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The Worthington crowd caught wind of the remark and booed Williams until he hit a home run out of the park and over some cow barns his first time at bat. Bradlee said fans cheered “every move he made” after that.
Inspired by “The Kid”, I’ve decided to make this column a quiz about baseball’s greatest players.
See how much you know by taking the plunge. The answers are at the end, but don’t peek before you finish.
This Hall of Famer, known for his surly disposition, averaged an unprecedented .402 in batting average over a five-year span. (a) Napoleon Lajoie (b) Rogers Hornsby (c) Ty Cobb.
He developed his pitching art playing catch with his father in a small Midwestern town, and later made a sensational major league debut at the age of 17. (a) Bob Feller (b) Dizzy Dean (c) Warren Spahn.
This slugger was so strong, a rival once said of him, “He has muscles in his hair.” (a) Jimmie Foxx (b) Mickey Mantle (c) Lou Gehrig.
Beset by alcoholism in the latter stages of his career, this pitcher nevertheless finished second to Walter Johnson in career shutouts. (a) Lefty Grove (b) Cy Young (c) Grover Cleveland Alexander.
A spectacular defender, he was nicknamed “the human vacuum cleaner.” (a) Ozzie Smith (b) Honus Wagner (c) Brooks Robinson.
In 1969, starting in his first All-Star game, he homered and singled and had what would have been a second home run robbed by Carl Yastrzemski. (a) Willie Stargell (b) Johnny Bench (c) Willie McCovey.
As a youngster, he often attended school without shoes, and in high school he was trained to become a cleaner of laundry. His grandfather worked as a sharecropper and his father worked in the steel mills. His mother died after giving birth to her 11th child 22 years after he was born. He was (a) Hank Aaron (b) Dizzy Dean (c) Willie Mays.
His 792 doubles ranks first on baseball’s all-time list. (a) Wade Boggs (b) Tris Speaker (c) Frank Robinson.
The all-time leader in triples. (a) Sam Crawford (b) Rickey Henderson (c) George Sisler.
At the age of 45, after the color barrier was broken, this great of the negro leagues, turned down a contract saying he was “over the hill.” (a) Buck Leonard (b) Cool Papa Bell (c) Oscar Charleston.
He led his league in stolen bases for nine consecutive years, the most successive years by any player. (a) Rickey Henderson (b) Luis Aparicio (c) Lou Brock.
The first major league catcher to wear shin guards. (a) Bill Dickey (b) Ray Schalk (c) Roger Bresnahan
(Answers: 1 b, 2 a, 3 a, 4 c, 5 c, 6 b, 7 c, 8 b, 9 a, 10 a, 11 b, 12 c)
