Loyalty and Longevity Pt. 3: Ted Williams

In this series, I look at players who played their entire Major League career with the Red Sox, as long as said Major League career lasted at least ten years.

There are tons of books entirely about the career and life of Ted Williams.  His hitting exploits are legendary and are well-known.  I don't really think I need to go much into his actual career, not only for the reasons above, but because I myself have covered his career in various posts.  

What I will discuss here is the fact that Williams spent his entire playing career with the Boston Red Sox.  We are talking about a span of time touching four decades (1939-1960).  He missed three full seasons from 1943 through 1945 due to service in World War II, but otherwise was a constant in the Red Sox batting lineup.  Williams played in 2,292 games, which is actually third all-time in Boston history.  Both Carl Yastrzemski and Dwight Evans have more.  He is fourth all-time in at-bats with 7,706 (Behind Yaz, Evans, and Jim Rice), though that is a function of the number of walks he took.  He is first in walks, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.  

Despite spending his entire career in Boston, Williams's career was not without some controversies and possibilities to leave Boston.  There are rumors that he may have requested to be traded, but he said so many things over the years that there is no way to be sure.  On at least one occasion, Williams was nearly traded, to the Yankees of all teams.  For Joe DiMaggio.  The story goes that Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and the Yankees owner were drinking and discussing trading Williams, whose swing was tailor-made for Yankee stadium, for DiMaggio, whose swing was tailor-made for Fenway Park.  The trade was basically made, but the next morning Yawkey asked the Yankees to sweeten the deal, since DiMaggio was coming off of an injury and was older than Williams, and asked the Yankees to include a young prospect named Yogi Berra.  The Yankees said no, and the trade was cancelled.

So it was that Williams played his entire career with Boston.

Red Sox in Cooperstown Pt. 17: Ted Williams

TED WILLIAMS
Years with Boston: 1939-1942, 1946-1960 (.344/.482/.634, 521 home runs, 1,839 RBIs)
Best Year in Boston: 1941 (.406/.553/.735, 37 home runs, 137 RBIs)

What is there really to say about Ted Williams?  There are multiple books already written about him.  I own several myself and just finished reading one a few weeks ago.  Ted Williams was, quite simply, the greatest player in Red Sox history.  He holds the all-time Major League record with an incredible .482 on-base percentage.  He also holds the team record for home runs in his career.  And of course, he was the last player to this date to hit over .400 in a season.  Williams is an inner-circle Hall of Famer.

Ted Williams arrived in the Majors in 1939 and immediately took the league by storm, hitting .327 and leading the league in RBIs with 145.  That happened as a rookie.  1940 saw his power numbers slip a little, but his rate stats improved.  Then of course in 1941, he hit .406 on the season.  He finished second in the MVP race to Joe DiMaggio.  He followed that up by winning the Triple Crown in 1942.  Somehow he missed out on the MVP award that season too.

Williams missed the next three seasons due to service in World War II but came back strong in 1946, leading the Red Sox to the World Series for the first time since 1918.  He was injured shortly before the World Series though and his injury hampered his ability to hit in the Series.  He did win his first league MVP in 1946 though.

1947 saw Williams win his second Triple Crown, and once again, not win the MVP.  He won the batting title again in 1948 and the Red Sox lost in a one-game playoff to determine the league champions.  Then, in 1949, he finally won another MVP by leading the league in home runs and RBIs, while just missing out on the batting title.

In 1950, Williams suffered another injury that decreased his power for the rest of his career.  Williams was recalled to military service in the Korean War for much of the 1952 and 1953 seasons.  Williams once again came back strong in 1954.  Unfortunately, the Red Sox were no longer very good as a team and Williams was the major reason to watch the team.

After a few years of impressive hitting, Williams had a terrific season in 1957 that saw him just miss another .400 season, hitting .388, while also hitting 38 home runs.  He was second in the AL MVP vote that season too.  He won his sixth and final batting title in 1958, at the age of 40.  Williams had a lackluster year in 1959, but bounced back in a big way for his final season in 1960 and hit a home run in his final at-bat.

Williams was an easy choice for the Hall of Fame and sailed in on his first ballot.  He spent his entire playing career in Boston, winning two Triple Crowns, two MVPs (and should have won more if there had not been some bizarre voting), and six batting titles.  He was one of the greatest hitters, if not the greatest, to ever play the game.

My Top 15 Red Sox Starting Lineup Figures

I was pretty late to the Starting Lineup craze.  I think the first time I picked one up was in 1997, just a few short years before they were discontinued.  And of course by that time they were releasing fewer and fewer figures.  When I discovered Ebay though I was able to go back and get a bunch of figures that I never was able to get before.

I liked the figures themselves, but it's the fact that they included cards that really sold them for me.  I could add a card to my collection and display a figure.

So without further ado, these are my Top 15 Red Sox Starting Lineup figures.

15.  PEDRO MARTINEZ (1999)

This was one of my most anticipated pieces.  It was the first one of Pedro with the Red Sox.  There is not much to the pose, but it was Pedro.  And he was quickly becoming the greatest pitcher in the game.  I have three pieces of Pedro.  Always on the lookout for more.

14.  MO VAUGHN (1998)

It is kind of a neat pose and it was a nice piece of one of my favorite players.  But that is about all I really have to say about it.

13.  NOMAR GARCIAPARRA (2000)

It is really the pose that makes this one interesting.  I am pretty sure there are others out there like it, but this is the only Red Sox one like it.  It definitely stands out in my collection.

12.  CARL YASTRZEMSKI (1998 COOPERSTOWN COLLECTION)

This one made it this high because it was my first special edition SLU.  The pose is kind of boring unfortunately but it is the only Yaz I have.  He does have some other pieces in other special edition sets, but I have not gotten around to getting any of those.

11.  JOHN VALENTIN (1996)

This one has a couple of things going for it, helping it to place so high.  For one, this is the only John Valentin figure released by Kenner.  Secondly, and most importantly, this was my very first SLU.  The pose is not anything to write home about, but it was my first.  I remember seeing it on the wall of a local card shop with a low price tag, and I decided to take the plunge.

10.  SCOTT COOPER (1995)

Again, the pose is not all that interesting, but this was the only Scott Cooper figure issued.  I remember hearing about its existence from a Beckett magazine, but I never actually saw it until I got on Ebay.  What makes this one particularly interesting is that Cooper is not actually pictured on the card, instead it is Damon Berryhill.

9.  MIKE GREENWELL (1989)

Much of the reason for this placement is the pose.  I prefer the fielding poses personally over the hitting poses.  There just is not all that much you can really do with the hitting poses.  This is the only Greenwell figure I have, but I am aware of a few other figures in existence.

8.  NICK ESASKY (1990)

Again, I love the pose on this one.  Esasky stretching to make the catch from another infielder.  This is the only Esasky SLU showing him in a Red Sox uniform, obviously since he only spent one year with the team.  The only downside to this one is that one of the cards shows Esasky with the Reds.  I would almost consider picking up the Todd Benzinger SLU just to switch the rookie year cards.  Benzinger has the same pose.

7.  WADE BOGGS (1990)

I have a couple of Boggs SLUs, he was my first favorite player after all.  But this one is my favorite because of the fielding pose.  The others all show him hitting.  I also love the two cards along with it.  This is one that I searched for for a long time.  I almost bought it at the store when I bought the Valentin, but someone else grabbed it when I set it down for a moment.  It was years before I saw it again.

6.  CY YOUNG (2000 ALL CENTURY TEAM)

I do not have a lot of the special edition figures, but this Cy Young was one I had to add.  I love the vintage uniform and the old-style glove and pitching pose.  Plus, it's Cy Freaking Young.  There actually are a couple of other Cy Young figures out there, but this is the only one I have managed to get.

5.  TED WILLIAMS (1999 COOPERSTOWN COLLECTION)

One of the other few special editions I have.  I had to add one of the best hitter in Red Sox history.  I do like this hitting pose and the uniform and card both look great here.  Williams has another piece and one day I might pick it up.  It has been awhile since I bought one.

4.  ELLIS BURKS (1990)

Ellis Burks has some nice SLUs, but none of them come close to matching the awesomeness of this one.  This is the only Red Sox SLU I have seen where the player is on the basepaths.  That added to the fact that there are two cards included and you have a great piece.

3.  BABE RUTH (1994 COOPERSTOWN COLLECTION)

How could I possibly pass up The Babe in a Red Sox uniform?  There just is no possible way to do it.  Plus the great pose that I have never seen on another piece and of course the card.  It's Babe Ruth, come on.

2.  NOMAR GARCIAPARRA (1998)

It is a great pose and also Nomar's very first SLU piece.  This was a little expensive when it first came out, but my grandparents bought it for me for my birthday when I turned 17.  It was a great gift.

1.  LEE SMITH (1989)

I really do not know what it is about this one.  The pose is not terribly exciting.  Maybe it's the fact that it's Lee Smith, and maybe it's because there are no other Red Sox closers who had SLUs.  I am a big fan of Smith's even though I never actually got to see him pitch for the Red Sox since I started watching the team the year after he was gone.  He is one of those players I just try to pick up as much Red Sox stuff as possible.  And this was definitely a goal.

I have just a couple of disappointments from these.  One, they stopped making them.  Two, Boston never got a catcher.  There was a large team piece that had Rick Cerone, but no individual pieces.  And I don't think the team piece had any cards.  If it had gone longer, we might have gotten a Carlton Fisk Cooperstown collection or a Jason Varitek.  It would have been nice if Tony Pena had gotten a piece, but no.  So no catchers, and that is a shame.  It also would have been nice if the Bruce Hurst figure had been released.  Prototypes exist but are hard to find.  That was the only southpaw SLU made for the Red Sox.

Some of My Cards

I don't have a scanner so I can't really get around to showing off some of my stuff.  But at one point that was different.  So I dug up my old photobucket account and I am going to show some stuff off once in awhile.

So here is the first scan:

From left to right, top to bottom:

1.  2004 Timeless Treasures Home Away Gamers Dual Jersey Ted Williams.  A dual jersey of Ted Williams.  This thing was not terribly cheap but who could pass up a dual jersey card of the greatest Red Sox ever?

2.  2004 Sweet Spot Sweet Threads Prime Manny Ramirez.  What a great-looking patch from Manny.  This is from the 100th Red Sox anniversary patch the team wore in 2001, I think.  I have a Trot Nixon jersey with this patch on the shoulder that was a gift from a former girlfriend.

3.  2004 Absolute Memorabilia Tools of the Trade Material Combo Manny Ramirez.  Nice Manny cards are reasonably inexpensive and I think I got this for under $20.00.  It has two jersey pieces, a bat piece, glove piece, and a shoe piece.  

4.  2003 Bowman Chrome Xfractor Autograph Kevin Youkilis.  Sometimes you have to get in before the player becomes a star.  I got it during his rookie season, it would have been a lot more later on.

5.  2003 Topps Tribute World Series Relics Carlton Fisk.  A great picture from his walkoff home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series complete with a bat piece and a piece of the Green Monster.

6.  2002 SP Legendary Cuts Autographs Billy Goodman.  I wanted a cut auto from Legendary Cuts for a long time but they were in very high demand.  So I had to narrow my focus to some lesser known players.  I ended up with this one, still my only one.  Goodman won the batting title in 1950 but never really had a permanent position.

7.  2003 Topps Pristine Yellow Printing Plate Hanley Ramirez.  I always liked printing plates for some weird reason and this was one of my first ones.  I also jumped on this before Hanley became a big star.  I have a lot of decent cards of Hanley which would have been better if he had more than two at-bats with Boston.  I was always disappointed that Boston moved him.

Baseball Card Spotlight: 2001 Fleer Red Sox 100th Anniversary

Of course I was going to cover this set eventually on this blog. The set featured 100 cards and there were a series of inserts, game-used, and autograph cards as well.

BASE SET
The base set featured 100 cards with a couple of subsets. Players included such Hall of Famers as Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Bobby Doerr, stars like Nomar Garciaparra, Pedro Martinez, and Mo Vaughn, and regional favorites like Pumpsie Green, Gene Conley, and Bill Lee.

Cards 78-92 were a subset entitled Beantown's Best and included All Stars and favorites.

YAWKEY'S HEROES
The first insert set was Yawkey's Heroes, which featured some of the favorite players in Boston since Yawkey took over the team. It features players like Ted Williams, Tony Armas, Dennis Eckersley, Tony Pena, Johnny Pesky, and more.

SPLENDID SPLINTERS
The other insert set was named after Ted Williams's nickname and featured some of the best hitters in Red Sox history. There was also a game-used parallel featuring game-used bat pieces of most of these cards, including Ted Williams and Babe Ruth. I have Wade Boggs and Jim Rice.

RED SOX THREADS
The jersey card insert set featuring players like Pedro Martinez, Carl Yastrzemski, Roger Clemens, and others. I have Dwight Evans and Don Zimmer.

BOSOX SIGS
The autograph set featuring a number of tough signers like Carl Yastrzemski, Roger Clemens, and Nomar Garciaparra. I have Bernie Carbo, Jim Lonborg, and Rico Petrocelli.

Obviously, this is my favorite set of all time, but I wish they would have had a larger base set and more players. Or at least updated it later on. I bought the set itself and a few retail boxes. I bought the set to get all of the base cards and the retail boxes to get some of the inserts and hopefully a relic or autograph. It was only after I started on ebay that I was able to compile the relics and autos I own, as well as finish off the insert sets. Great cards. Wish there were more.

Game-Used/Autograph Pack Pulls

I might as well go ahead and get this out of the way now. Over the years, I have only gotten seven game-used or autograph Red Sox cards in packs. Probably not the least of any team, certainly not the most. I do not have any real way of keeping track since I have sold or traded most of my other ones. I do know that only one of my Red Sox cards holds a candle to some of the other stuff I have pulled. I have gotten Barry Bonds and two Derek Jeter autograph cards. So here's a picture. If you click it, you can see a larger picture:1. TED WILLIAMS: 2002 FLEER CLASSIC CUTS (BAT) This was the very first game-used Red Sox card I pulled, and it's a great one. I bought a hobby box of 2002 Fleer at the local hobby shop, thinking it was inexpensive and I would probably get something decent out of it. I had no idea it would be a Ted Williams game-used bat card. I had not gotten a Williams game-used before because they were more expensive than I was willing to pay. This is my all-time favorite pull. 2. JIM RICE: 2003 FLAIR GREATS HOME TEAM CUTS (BAT) This one I kind of saw coming. I picked up one of the special Red Sox boxes of 2003 Flair Greats with the additional pack of all Red Sox. I knew I would be getting something. Jim Rice is a recent Hall of Famer, although he was not at the time I got this. The Home Team box was a great idea that I wish they would have done more with. 3. MANNY RAMIREZ: 2003 FLEER AUTHENTIX HOME TOWN HEROES (JERSEY) See above. Fleer Authentix did the same thing. This time, the players were currently active and I got Manny Ramirez. 4. GEORGE SCOTT: 2004 TOPPS ALL TIME FAN FAVORITES AUTOGRAPH (AUTOGRAPH) Fan Favorites is one of my favorite sets. After compiling the 2003 team set through retail blasters, I decided with the smaller team set in 2004 to just buy one hobby box. I also wanted a better shot at autographs. There was one autograph card each year that I really wanted for the Red Sox. In 2004 my pick was George Scott, I was shocked when I actually pulled it in a pack. 5. CARL YASTRZEMSKI: 2005 ARTIFACTS AL ARTIFACTS (JERSEY) I bought a hobby box of 2005 Artifacts. This was one of the big pulls, though not the biggest. With this Yaz jersey, I completed the trifecta of the major Red Sox left-fielders. 6. DAVID ORTIZ: 2005 FLEER CLASSIC CLIPPINGS GAME WORN JERSEY COLLECTION (JERSEY) This one was taken from a retail blaster. Each blaster had one in it, I was lucky to get a Red Sox in mine. 7. KRIS JOHNSON: 2006 BOWMAN STERLING (AUTOGRAPH) One day I decided to spring for a pack of 2006 Bowman Sterling. Incredibly expensive packs had something like two autos and a game-used. One of my autos was this 2006 draft pick. Johnson is doing reasonably well in the minors and may make it to Boston in late 2011.

The Franchise Player: Ted Williams

Most people who follow baseball probably already knew this. Ted Williams is the best player to play for the Red Sox. Williams holds numerous team records that do not look as if they will broken anytime soon. He holds the franchise record for home runs (521), batting average (.344), slugging percentage (.634), on-base percentage (.482), and walks (2,019). He is second in runs batted in (by 5), runs scored (by 18), hits, doubles, total bases, and extra base hits.

Williams played from 1939 through 1960 with several years fragmented or missed due to active service. Williams was a fighter pilot in World War II and Korea. He spent his entire major league career with the Boston Red Sox.

He was one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game. He was somewhat limited in the field and on the base paths, but he could get on base better than almost anyone. Williams lead the league in on-base percentage twelve times. Eight times, he lead the league in walks. Ted Williams never collected 200 hits in a single season and finished about 350 hits shy of 3,000 for his career, but this was due to the fact that he walked so often, and due to his missing so much time for service. If he had played those five years completely, he likely would have reached 3,000 hits, and possibly challenged Babe Ruth for the career home run record.

Individually, Williams was an MVP twice (1946, 1949) and finished second four more times. He won the Triple Crown twice, leading the league in home runs, runs batted in, and batting average in 1942 and 1947. He is also so far the last player to bat .400 in a single season (.406 in 1941). He was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first attempt in 1966. He died in 2002.

Ted Williams is the face of the Boston Red Sox, the player that most people think of when they think of the team. He owns several of the team's offensive records and won many individual awards. He is one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game and very deserving of his place in baseball history.

Glimpses Into My Red Sox Obsession

I was thinking about this recently. Since I just started the blog, I wanted to give some insight into how my Red Sox obsession started out. Which I did on Saturday. Today, I want to show you how deep my obsession goes. It has seeped into almost every fabric of my being. I have tons of Red Sox paraphernalia at home and even more baseball cards.

But this is where it gets a little strange. In my education, I have done four, yes four, school projects involving Red Sox players. That's bizarre.

1. In fifth grade, we had to do research reports. I can't remember if it had to be a biography or just a general report. Anyway, my report was on Ted Williams.

2. In seventh grade, we had to write a biography on a famous person. We then had to dress up like that person in order to do a presentation to the class in that persona. I already did Ted Williams, so this time, I chose Joe Cronin. My memory of this is that since I did not own a Red Sox jersey at the time, I had to take a gray t-shirt and put the words "Red Sox" on using red electrical tape.

3. In my senior year of high school, in Spanish class we had to do a presentation, all in Spanish, of a famous living person of Spanish heritage. My choice this time was the somewhat ambiguous Nomar Garciaparra.

4. Finally, in my senior year of college, I took Conflict Resolution. We had to do a research paper in that class as well. My subject was Kevin Millar. You see, at the time, there was a big controversy because the Florida Marlins had sold Millar's contract to the Chunichi Dragons in Japan. In order to clear the major leagues though, Millar had to be put on waivers and it was an unwritten agreement among the clubs that other teams would not put in a waiver claim on a player being sold to a Japanese League team. Theo Epstein however, decided to put in the claim and bring Millar to Boston, so there was some animosity between Chunichi and Boston.

So there you have it. Not even my education was safe from my Red Sox obsession. At least I got A's on all of those projects.