During his remarkable career with the Boston Red Sox, Ted Williams earned many nicknames: The Kid, The Splendid Splinter, Teddy Ballgame… but the only nickname that he ever wanted was “the greatest hitter who ever lived.”

And maybe he really was? He’s baseball’s all-time leader in on-base percentage, and he’s second behind only Babe Ruth in both slugging and on-base plus slugging percentages. He’s the last guy to hit .400, and that was 80 years ago. And on top of all that, he lost close to five full seasons (and three of them in the prime of his career) to serve in two different wars.

This hour, a look at the man, the hitter, and the pitchman (you see what I did there) that was Ted Williams.

GUESTS:

Jim Baumer - A Maine-based writer and the author of Moxie: Maine in a Bottle
Nick Davis - Produced and directed Ted Williams: “The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived”; his newest film, about the 1986 New York Mets, is Once Upon a Time in Queens
Sam Miller - National baseball writer at ESPN

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Colin McEnroe and Catie Talarski contributed to this show, which originally aired July 19, 2018.

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Ted Williams: the greatest hitter who ever lived?