Ted Williams

Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero
$18.00
Leigh Montville has compiled a wonderful biography of one of baseball's most enigmatic players, and perhaps the game's greatest hitter of all-time---Ted Williams. Clearly, the author has a great deal of respect for Williams' hitting prowess; however, he gives a balanced perspective on the human side of the player; a man with a short temper and generally sullen attitude towards his teammates, fans, and sportswriters. Certainly, this attitude probably cost him the MVP Award on at least a couple of occasions, most notably in 1941, when all he did was hit .406 that year.

Williams was driven by a passion to be the greatest hitter to play the game, and amassed an impressive .344 lifetime batting average, with a tremendous amount of raw power; his productivity as a hitter was nothing short of incredible. Unlike a guy like Ty Cobb, who hit for a higher average, but used his blazing speed to beat out many hits; Williams hit slashing lines drives with startling consistency throughout his career, which was shortened substantially by his frequent stints as a Navy fighter pilot. This was a true war hero and a man's man.

Certainly, Ted Williams could be an unpleasant guy to deal with, especially when anyone questioned his character or his desire to play hard. He was frequently at odds with the fans, especially during his tumultuous early years, and his gruff personality didn't endear himself to the sportswriters covering the team.

But to the people who were close to this man, Ted Williams was a man of strong character; possessing a level of honesty & integrity seldom seen in anyone. He simply lacked tact; not good moral values. Anyone who didn't see that, didn't matter, as far as Williams was concerned.

Whether or not you liked him as a person, it's clear this man was driven with a passion for excellence and had a moral fiber that few men possessed; the sad truth is, few truly understood that fact.

Montville's biography sheds some light on the true character of this baseball legend, who played the game at a level very few have accomplished; and who truly was a good man, down to his core; and a true American hero.

Science of Hitting
$16.00
This book is "must-have" reading for any aspiring slugger or student of the game of baseball. Be aware, however, that the book's value does not lie in the specifics of technical hitting instruction. This is much more hitting "theory" as relayed by Ted Williams from his years of experience. There is little, if any, practical detailed instruction on developing mechanics for swinging the bat. On one hand, the book is absolute gospel; I don't think anything in it could be seriously disputed, and to do so is to question the genius of a man whom baseball history shows to be one of the greatest hitters (and philosophers of hitting) that has ever lived. On the other hand, for Ted Williams to offer his personal philosophy and methods for hitting is similar to Tiger Woods trying to teach someone how he hits a golf ball. It might be great information for the rare few that can in some way duplicate Ted's or Tiger's physical abilities, but for a vast majority of players (especially very young players) who lack power, 20/10 eyesight, and one-in-a-million type hand/eye coordination, this book will (at best) offer little to improve their performance and (at worst) may actually lead to swing techniques that make the game more difficult.

For anyone who has spent any time studying the instruction of mechanics for the baseball swing, you already know that the methods of hitting fall into two primary camps. These methods can be differentiated by their beliefs on what is the "proper" swing plane (i.e., what path the bat takes in route to intercepting the pitched ball.) One side is often called "level swing" or "linear", where the swing is more level to the ground, and the other side (where Williams stands) promotes a swing level to the flight of the pitch (where the pitch is following a downward arc from the pitcher due to gravity and the elevation of the pitcher in relationship to the strike zone.) Therefore, the "level" swing that Williams promotes is, in practice, what is commonly known as an "upper-cut" at the ball. This method is commonly adhered to by those who teach "rotational" hitting (as opposed to "linear" hitting.)

Williams himself states several times throughout this book (although the statements are made in passing, and never really expounded upon) that his method for hitting would NOT be recommended for players that don't have the power to hit the ball out of the ballpark. This is where the problem really begins. How many baseball players aspire to be homerun hitters? ALL OF THEM! How many of them truly can be? Very few. An analyst on ESPN recently made the statement, "Just because some guy hits 20 homeruns in a season, people want to label that player a homerun hitter. Not so!" It is a very difficult thing (and quite counter-intuitive to an athlete's competitive nature) to identify and yield to the limitations of your athletic ability. However, Branch Rickey, one of the greatest talent evaluators and baseball minds in history, held the firm belief that it is impossible to teach a player to hit with power. You either have the skill from birth, or you don't. Ted Williams had it. Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, ARod, Chase Utley, Josh Hamilton have it, just to name a few. This isn't just a matter of getting in the weight room and pumping iron. It pertains to the player's natural ability to generate fast, efficient motions of the body that will result in maximum kinetic energy. You are either born knowing how to generate optimal force or you are not. For those that are, then a technique similar to Ted Williams' is probably best for you.

Some of the biggest truths in the book are what make the book both universal and, at the same time, less useful for baseball instruction. Williams makes very general statements about proper mechanics, but then says that the 10 greatest hitters have 10 different styles. The times that he does make a concrete argument (like "upswing is the only way to go") it is placed under the caveat "if you have enough power to make it work." Which, as I have said, very few players truly possess.

Williams also covers his personal strategies for facing pitchers - how he takes more pitches in early at-bats and uses the data he collects for strategies later in the game (i.e., his third, fourth, and fifth at-bats in the game.) Well, if it's not obvious, this advice is nothing more than a fossil of a bygone era. In the modern age of the relief pitchers and situational substitutions, practicing this type of strategy is almost impossible. A professional hitter will be fortunate to get three at-bats against the same pitcher in one game. Hitters at the lower levels of amateur baseball usually play shorter games, and even if one does face a pitcher multiple times, the performance at that level usually lacks the kind of consistency needed to successfully make any sound assumptions.

To summarize this review, I think this book provides an excellent reference point for any student of the game of baseball. Translating the instruction in this book into improved success in the batter's box will require a more thorough understanding of the mechanics of hitting, and a disciplined, discerning athlete to cherry-pick the portions of this book that can actually be applied with his own ability level.

Ted Williams (Second Edition): A Baseball Life
$19.95
I am not the type of person to pick up a book about a sports figure even if I am a fan. I love history books especially Civil War, Napoleonic history and biographies of great leaders. I surprised myself by taking the time to read this book. If you are interested in Ted Williams or baseball especially during the era in which he played 1939-1960, this book could not be rated higher. The author has an introduction of Teds early life and then the remainder of the book is broken down so that each chapter covers a year of his career. This puts Teds life in context of World events which the author neatly weaves within its pages. During his career Ted Williams displayed and developed his hitting skills with the desire of becoming the "greatest hitter who ever lived". Hitting the ball was his obsession. His great desire to excel however was balanced by a contentious personality which was easily set off by the goading of the Boston media. Looking at his stats and realizing that almost 5 years of his life during his prime was spent in the military, I have no doubt that he would have broken Ruth's home run record. Ted Wiliams was both an artist and a scientist at hitting. He studied pitchers, strike zones, handling the bat like no other player. When Mickey Mantle was asked about converstaions with Ted Williams on hitting he said "He makes me crazy." Mickey Mantle did not understand the science of hitting.
Ted Williams probably was the greatest hitter that ever lived, but his personality marred his relationships with the Boston media, sometimes his team mates, and his own family.I do have a few criticisms however. The book is called A Baseball Life, and that is the authors focus. Ted Williams was an intensely private man whether the author out of respect for Ted Williams or lack of investigation gives very little information on his private life. We learn some things about his family such as his mother was an ardent salvation army worker, yet we know nothing of how Ted Williams felt personally about spiritual matters. We also are denied any information on his relationships with his wife Doris or his daughter. The last chapter stops without little mention of his business interests or his managerial stint in the late 60's. Despite these ommissions, Ted Williams A Baseball Life is an exciting, informative look at perhaps the greatest hitter that ever lived yet at the same time considered by others a selfish egotist. When Joe Dimaggio was asked "what do you think of Ted Williams?" His reply was "greatest lefthanded hitter that ever lived?" " "What do you think of Ted Williams as a ballplayer?"
"greatest lefthanded hitter that ever lived".

Ted Williams: The Pursuit of Perfection
$39.95
This is a great book, but basically it's the same book the authors put out in 1997 under the title "Ted Williams: A Tribute" They did add a CD.