As promised yesterday, completing the "Ted Williams Weekend" here on the blog, today I present to you my 1971 "Minor League Days Legends Edition", showing perhaps the greatest hitter the game has ever seen before his remarkable Big League career while still toiling in the Minors:
Williams put in two years with the San Diego Padres, playing as a 17 and 18 year old in 1936/1937.
He performed admirably considering his age, hitting .271 and .291 before making the jump to Minneapolis in 1938.
His
season with Minneapolis was killer, as he hit .366 with 43 homers and
142 runs batted in over 148 games for the Millers, giving everyone a
glimpse as to what to expect from the lanky hitting prodigy once he hit
the Majors.
“The Splendid Splinter” was just incredible as a hitter. The last .400
hitter, 521 home runs, a .344 lifetime average with SIX batting titles,
and the man missed MULTIPLE years in his prime due to war and his
service in the military.
I remember as a kid (nerd alert) I used to love averaging out the three seasons before and after his missed seasons and then factoring them into his final career numbers, and they were insane!
If I remember correctly he would have had somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 home runs, 3500 hits, 2000+ runs scored and runs batted in along with the slugging and on-base percentages that would have made his already monster career just other-worldly!
I remember as a kid (nerd alert) I used to love averaging out the three seasons before and after his missed seasons and then factoring them into his final career numbers, and they were insane!
If I remember correctly he would have had somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 home runs, 3500 hits, 2000+ runs scored and runs batted in along with the slugging and on-base percentages that would have made his already monster career just other-worldly!
The man was truly a “hitting-machine”, perhaps the greatest pure hitter ever (or the Babe? Or Cobb? Musial?).
By the way, by today’s rules, Williams should have won SEVEN batting
titles, but in 1954 he lost out to the Cleveland Indians Bobby Avila,
who hit .341 with the THEN required official at-bats instead of 501
plate appearances.
Williams hit .345 with 526 plate appearances based on his 386 at-bats and 136 walks, but under the rules of the day was denied that seventh title.
Williams hit .345 with 526 plate appearances based on his 386 at-bats and 136 walks, but under the rules of the day was denied that seventh title.
