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kairos12

(13,247 posts)
Mon Apr 24, 2023, 08:57 AM Apr 2023

I recently read a story about Ted Williams.

On the day he returned from overseas combat duty in Korea he went out to Fenway. He was coaxed into doing some hitting. Mind you he hadn't swung a bat in a very long time.

Reports were he hit numerous HRs into the deepest parts of Fenway.

He left the batting cage with bleeding hands.

Teddy Ballgame in a nutshell.

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I recently read a story about Ted Williams. (Original Post) kairos12 Apr 2023 OP
Was Obsessed With Hitting ProfessorGAC Apr 2023 #1

ProfessorGAC

(69,861 posts)
1. Was Obsessed With Hitting
Mon Apr 24, 2023, 12:50 PM
Apr 2023

Awfully good at it.
A few stat facts about him.
• He missed 3 full seasons due to WW2. In the 2 seasons prior & 2 seasons after he returned, he hit 73 & 70 homeruns. It is not unreasonable to predict 105 Homer's over those three years. The he missed all but 19 games in 2 years for Korea. Same time periods, he hit 58 & 57, so 28 per year. Add that 56, and we could project him at over 680 home runs.
• His walk to strike out ratio was phenomenal. Over 2000 walks, only 709 Ks. Nearly 3 to 1! For a power hitter. What an eye he must have had. Over his career, the % of walks per plate appearance was MORE THAN 2x the MLB average. And, his strikeout % was 3/4ths of the league average, which includes contact hitters. Unreal.
• Doing the same thing with hits, it's pretty easy to project more than 800 hits. He'd have nearly 3,500 hits.
• His on-base percentage is the highest in MLB history. .482. This is essentially reaching base 29 times every 60 at-bats.
As you can tell, I'm quite the Ted Williams admirer.

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