Ted Williams: The greatest hitter who ever lived on PBS American Masters

A great movie for the young player who desires to be .400 hitter. Obsession, patience, study of the pitcher, knowledge of the game and strike zone, a perfect swing thru the zone, "stay loose", "master of his trade", constant questioning of coach's, players, umpires and "proper thinking".

During the Area Code years, I would ask the veteran scouts about Ted and they would relate stories.

The story of his "crash landing" in Korea was very remarkable.

Bob Williams

The most revealing, and no doubt the most saddest to the many parents on this forum, was the comment that neither of his parents ever went to see him in person playing baseball in the Majors.  They were only interested in his baseball career once he was getting ready to sign his contract.  How sad and it makes his career all the more remarkable.

Things were different back then. Lou Gehrig’s mother was upset he was leaving college to play a game. She wanted him to stay in school to get his engineering degree. 

Thanks for sharing. 

Just finishing watching + really enjoyed the in depth look into his psyche, thank you 2022NYC!  

The show is available on the PBS app.

I often wonder why Williams is so easily ceded the title of The Greatest Hitter that ever lived when he is not.  In the top handful to be sure but not the greatest.

Babe Ruth hit 200 more home runs and was only 2 points lower in lifetime batting ave. and a few points lower on opb but outslugged Williams and had 400 more RBI.

Before you give me the 5 war years stuff on Williams let me remind you Ruth lost 5 years to pitching.  If he had played his whole career as a RF in the live ball era he likely would have hit 900 home runs and driven in nearly 3,000.  Numbers that would far surpass any hitter to pick up a stick.  Ruth simply is the best hitter to ever play … and it really isn't that close. 

I think a chunk of Williams legacy derives from DiMaggio's unspoken deal to allow him to claim the Greatest Hitter Moniker in exchange for the Greatest Ballplayer label.  

Thanks for the link.    Watched it last night!

yes. williams certainly is not the greatest hitter ever. ruth had better stats then he had. both played in a weak unintegrated league so williams doesn't have that over the babe.

best hitter ever is either ruth or if you adjust strongly for league quality bonds. if you want to exclude steroid users you could also use another modern hitter.

Greatest hitter of all time?  Kind of hard to determine that about anybody given the changes in the game, coverage of the game  and athletic talent over the years.   I look at it through three lenses.   First, is what other players of that era say about the player.   When these HOFers get together to talk about somebody being extraordinary that captures my attention.  I loved that MLB Bob Costas roundtable with Willie Mays, Johnny Bench, Sandy Koufax, etc...a couple years ago discussing some of their HOF brethren.    These guys know how good some of these players are because they shared the field with them.   Second, is what the national media or reporters of the time say about the players abilities.   Lastly, what the statistics say.  Statistics aren't perfect, but they are part of the equation for situations that go back 100 years.   Sorry, stats by themselves don't do it for me.   We need context.

JMO.

RJM posted:

The show is available on the PBS app.

Found in on Xfinity On Demand for $7.99. Downloaded the PBS app to Amazon Fire TV Stick and it was free. Thanks

He authored the hitting bible, so I agree he should have that title.