Ted Williams was the greatest baseball player of all time. He would be the best batter now if he were still playing. Ted Williams earned six batting titles and four home run titles in his career. His figures are mind-boggling. In average, one out of every nine balls thrown by pitchers was hit by Ted Williams! During World War II, when many players went to war, Williams continued to lead the American League in batting.
He was born on January 25th, 1918 in Boston, Massachusetts and died on August 5th, 2002 in Santa Monica, California at the age of 82.
During his career, Ted Williams only played in 2182 games because of military service during World War II. But he still managed to hit.440 with 177 homers and 984 runs batted in. That's over.500 overall and a homerun title each year from 1939-1942. He's also second only to Joe DiMaggio in terms of total hits (2094) and runs (1429).
Williams started his career with the Boston Red Sox but was traded to the New York Yankees in 1938. Over his career, he played for five teams: the Red Sox, Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels (Angels franchise only existed from 1961-1976), and the Washington Senators (originally from 1901-1960).
Ted Williams was maybe the greatest hitter of all time. The Splendid Splinter hit 521 home runs, ranking third all-time behind Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx, and he retired in 1960 after homering in his final at-bat. Williams had a.344 lifetime batting average, seven batting crowns, and was the final player to bat. 500.
His career was even more impressive when you consider that he played in an era before baseball's steroid scandal came to light. From 1947 to 1959, every single one of Williams' seasons has been voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is now considered by many to be not only the best hitter in baseball history, but also the best player ever.
In fact, several studies have shown that Ted Williams was probably the best hitter who ever lived. Here are some of the statistics that show just how great Williams was:
He has the highest batting average of any player with 2,000 hits.
His overall rating from the Baseball Reference website is first among all hitters.
His.934 career winning percentage is the best of any player with at least 10 years experience.
His 3,021 total bases are second only to Ruth.
His 1,828 hits are second only to Ruth.
His 893 walks are second only to Ruth.
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Ty Cobb, an outfielder whose career ended in 1928, holds the record for the greatest batting average in Major League Baseball (MLB) history.
Schmidt is widely regarded as the finest third baseman in MLB history, not just in Phillies history. The Hall of Famer, three-time MVP, 12-time All-Star, and 1980 World Series MVP spent his entire career in Philly and is an easy choice.
Ted Williams, the last player to bat.400 in a season, is tied for ninth on the all-time lifetime BA list. Babe Ruth finished his career with a.342 batting average, ranking eighth on the all-time list. To be eligible for the list, a player must have at least 3,000 plate appearances. In terms of career batting average, rank among the elite batters. A tie is indicated by a blank field.
When the Twins brought up David Ortiz to play with Molitor in 1997, he was all ears. It's no surprise. Molitor is the only player with at least 3,000 hits, a.300 lifetime average, and 500 steals in the post-integration period.
Ichiro Suzuki just established himself as the best batter in Major League Baseball history. For the tenth year in a row, he got his 200th hit in the United States. This is an achievement that no other batter has ever accomplished. Pete Rose is the only other player to get 200 hits in ten years, which took him 15 years. Even including those days when baseball didn't have any games, Rose batted over.400 five times and had more than 400 hits every single year from 1960 through 1964.
Ichiro's average of.404 is higher than Rose's career mark of.398 and it will be even more impressive once he reaches all 30 teams. The most amazing part is that he is still improving, having recently broken Joe DiMaggio's record for most hits by a left-handed hitter.
Ichiro is the perfect example of a high-average hitter who gets great contact and lots of power from the ball. He has never walked less than 100 times in any season and his 914 walks over his career are second only to Ted Williams' 1,547.
Ichiro has two seasons with over 30 home runs and four others with at least 25 bombs. He also has three decades worth of 0-for-4s to show for it all, which means that he has never gone longer than 115 games without hitting the long ball.
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