Born Teddy Samuel Williams in San Diego on August 30, 1918, the eldest son of May (nee Venzor) and Samuel Stuart Williams came into the world with a diverse ancestry.  His father’s heritage was Welsh and Irish, while his mother’s family hailed from Mexico.  Teddy came by his name in honor of former U.S. President and New York City Mayor, Teddy Roosevelt, whom his parents greatly admired.

Young Teddy grew up in the North Park neighborhood of San Diego.  Before graduating from Herbert Hoover High School, he caught the attention of baseball scouts from both the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals.  Despite the interest from these two great teams, his mother thought that her son was to young to leave home.  To make her happy, he accepted an offer from the San Diego Padres, which was a local Minor League ball club.

Beginning his career with a burning desire to become the greatest hitter of his lifetime, Teddy would one day realize that dream, toward the end of his career.  It was a fitting end for one so focused and talented.  For as Carl Yastrzemski said, “Teddy studied hitting like a broker would study the stock market.”

In 1939, Ted Williams entered Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox: the rivals of the New York club that had initially wanted to sign him.  Gaining fame as the American League’s most potent left-hand hitter, he led in RBI’s and finished 4^th in MVP balloting.   In 1941, Ted’s batting average the last day of the season was .39955, which was rounded off to .400.  Since then, no player has ever achieved such a stat.  But this was by no means the end of the records Ted Williams set that year.

That same year also saw him earning an on-base percentage of .551 in a season: a record that would stand untouched until more than six decades had passed.  In 2002, Barry Bonds surpassed this record. The validity of Bonds’ achievement is cause for hot debate, due to the discovery that he was using steroids when he improved upon Williams’ record.  1941, however, was also a year of controversy for Ted Williams.  Although Williams considered himself the better hitter, Joe DiMaggio had launched a 56-game hitting streak, thus overshadowing Ted’s accomplishments.  This concession earned DiMaggio status as the American League’s MVP.

During his stellar rise within the world of baseball, World War II was in full swing, and rumors arose in the media concerning the veracity of Ted’s 3-A draft classification.  This classification exempted him from military service via a dependency deferment, because he was the sole support of his mother.  Ted countered the rumors by announcing that, once a trust fund had been established for his mother, he would enlist in the Navy.  True to his word, on May 22, 1942, Ted Williams was sworn into the United States Navy.

With his amazing skills, Ted could have opted to play baseball for the U.S. Navy.  Instead, he elected to join the rigorous V-5 program and serve as a naval aviator.  To train for this coveted position, he was sent to Amherst College, to spend six months at Preliminary Ground School. The course included math and navigation.  Out of a possible 4.00 GPA (Grade Point Average), Ted scored a 3.85.  He never did anything by halves.

In the advanced aviation training courses, Ted broke all-time records in hitting targets while making his plane spin like a ballerina in the sky with barrel rolls, wingovers, and zooms.  He also was sent to Air Gunnery School in Jacksonville, where he continued to redefine standards in terms of reflexes, coordination, and visual-reaction time. After more training, he received his wings in the U.S. Marine Corp.

While awaiting a combat assignment at Pearl Harbor, the war ended.  Ted was released from active duty in January 1946, but chose to remain in the U.S. Reserves.  On May 1, 1952, he was recalled to active duty in the Korean War.  Following an eight-week refresher course, Ted was once again offered the chance to play baseball for a service team, but declined this offer in favor of combat duty.  He was assigned to the VMF311 Marine Aircraft Group, based at the K-3 airfield in Pohang, Korea.

Ted flew a total of 39 combat missions and, on half of those flights, functioned as wingman for future astronaut John Glenn.   One of his missions was an air strike against an enemy tank.  During this assignment, his plane was struck by flak and he was injured.  But he managed to limp back to the airbase, and for that day’s action, was awarded the Air Medal.

Although the Korean War demanded a five-year absence from baseball, Ted Williams never complained.  He did what he did because he felt it was his patriotic duty.

While serving his country, Ted developed a deep and abiding admiration for General Douglas MacArthur.  When Ted turned forty, General MacArthur sent him an oil painting of himself.  It was inscribed, “Ted Williams – Not only America’s greatest baseball player, but a great American who served his country.  Signed, Your friend, Douglas MacArthur, General U.S. Army.”

As an outfielder, Ted Williams played 21 seasons for the Boston Red Sox, earning the nicknames of The Kid, The Splendid Splinter, Teddy Ballgame, and the Thumper.  Although twice interrupted by the call to serve his country, Ted Williams achieved induction, in 1966, into The Baseball Hall of Fame.  He passed away on July 5, 2002, not only fulfilling his dream of being the greatest hitter of his time but also serving his country and acting as a role model for so many who had big dreams of their own.