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 77 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.

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? <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/onbase_perc_career.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He's baseball's all-time leader in on-base percentage</a>, and he's second behind only Babe Ruth in both <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/slugging_perc_career.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slugging</a> and <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/onbase_plus_slugging_career.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on-base plus slugging</a>&nbsp;percentages. He's <a href="http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/22356050/why-hit-400-ever-again" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the last guy to hit .400</a>, and that was 77 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.

The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/about">The Colin McEnroe Show</a> is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/tags/the-nose">The Nose</a> for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

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