Ok, I expect this to die rather quickly, but I have to tell somebody (and hope for more than a standard ‘Oh, that’s nice’ reply). Being the baseabll fanatic that I am, I have autographed baseballs of Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Stan Musial, Ozzie Smith, and most recently Jim Edmonds and Fernando Tatis - all Cardinals just cuz that’s the easiest to get hold of here in St. Louis, but my search has finally ended and I finally got myself a Ted Williams autographed baseball! It cost a good sized chunk of change, but it’s worth it to have a ball signed by the greatest hitter to ever play the game. (I’m sure someone may differ with me on that, but don’t make me go to the stats. I’m lethal with baseball stats)
Oh well, that’s all. I got a baseball that Ted Williams wrote on, but my friends aren’t big on baseball history and when I told them they just said, Ted who? Frickin’ heathens.
Lifetime batting average of .344
521 career homeruns
batted .406 in 1941, the last man in baseball to do it over the course of a full season
Lost 5 years of playing baseball to military service in WWII and Korea in the prime of his career. At the time, he was averaging 35-40 homeruns a year, which would have made him the first man to make a serious run at Babe Ruth’s homerun record.
I’m sure there’s more things he did, just look up Ted Williams in your browser.
I know jack shit about baseball, but I love the BoSox and I know who Ted Williams is, even tho’ I was born during the early Nixon years. That’s pretty freakin’ cool, BratMan. Put that sucker in a place of pride and show it to everybody, even if they don’t care. Once in a while you’ll get someone like denbo or myself who will be properly appreciative.
I’d still say Ruth was the better hitter - if you want Ted’s years back, you’d have to give Ruth back his pitching years. Williams has Ruth by 2 points in average, but is down 50 or 60 in slugging. I’d say Williams was #2. He can have greatest living hitter.
[quote]
but it’s worth it to have a ball signed by the greatest hitter to ever play the game. (I’m sure someone may differ with me on that, but don’t make me go to the stats. I’m lethal with baseball stats) [/quote
Greatest hitter ever? You have got to be kidding me? It’s all Mario Mendoza. Heck, he even has a line named after him. That must mean he was good.
I suppose that my son’s Omar Vizquel autographed cast and cap would mean nothing to any of you? Ok, so he’s not the greatest hitter of all time. (heck of a shortstop, though)
I burn with envy, Bratmeister. I have (my wife has, actually) a personalized autographed ball from Rusty Le Grande Orange Staub. It’s hers, cause he wrote her name on it. I, however, have a photograph of the '69 Mets outfield, autographed by Jones, Agee and Swoboda. Neither is in the stratosphere of Williams, of course, but being Mets fans, they touch my heart.
If it makes you feel better about this current generation, when I informed my 15-yr-old daughter that you had a Teddy Ballgame autographed ball, she was extremely impressed. I’m raisin’ that gal right, let me tell you.
Congratulations on scoring a great piece of history. Although, how big a St. Lou fan can you be if you don’t have a Bob Uecker ball? sheesh
Congrat’s Bratman. Nice work. My brother-in-law is a dealer of such things, and he has added alot of auto’s to my collection even though i’m more into the cards.
I dunno there Chief. I loved watching Johnny play when i was a kid and still think he was an awesome player, but he is being challenged in both the offense and defense department. Offense goes to Mike Piazza, hometown boy from my area. (i woulda put in a smilie there, but i know Chief hates them, and it’s not good to piss of somebody capable launching artilery) Defense goes to I-Rod, and he ain’t bad hittin that juiced ball either. I think Johnny may be supplanted in the next couple of years if these guys keep it up. IMHO of course.
Gotta chime in with Johnny Bench as the best overall catcher, but the best offensive catcher is Josh Gibson. And I believed that before that Sports Illustrated article ever appeared.
lurkernomore - very good point. If we give Ruth his years as a pitcher back, and, as long as we’re being hypothetical, let Ruth play with the more lively baseball used after 1920 (the same kind of ball Williams was hitting) and Ruth is uncatchable. Aaron may not have been able to catch Ruth then. (For those wondering, the baseball was made differently before 1920 and was known as the dead-ball era, post-1920 is the lively-ball era).
DAVEW0071 - with the exception of the Williams ball, all the other baseballs were signed by players I actually met. I haven’t met Uecker yet. But, should I have him sign a ball or try to find a TV guide with a cover story about Mr Belvedere?
ChiefScott - I would have to agree with you about Johnny Bench being the greatest catcher of all time. He revolutionized how his position was played with the one-handed catch and the sweep tags. I’ve never seen another catcher use his mitt like a 1st baseman’s glove.
Mully - Josh Gibson, huh? What makes you think that? Would it be 972 homeruns in a league where the pitchers were allowed to throw spitballs, scuff the ball, put whatever they wanted on the ball? Would it be that he was such a threat at the plate that he did it all before the age of 36, when he died of a brain tumor? I guess that’s what you’re thinking, cuz I don’t know anyone else who could hit 972 HRs before age 36.
I’d argue Rey Ordonez is the best now, and may be better than Smith was - he had a VERY generous scorer on a lot of balls thrown in the dirt taht weren’t scooped. Ozzie did have great range. Rey had 4 errors last year, none in the last 100 games. That said, all the above are better all-around players. Ozzie was Rey-level at first, but he learned to hit in the big leagues. Vizquel was hitting .275 last I looked.
On catchers, Bench might hit as well as Piazza against the watered down pitching and tiny strike zone in this era. Piazza is a BAD defensive catcher. i notice when he got hurt, those guys trying to run on Pratt got thrown out, so the pitchers must keep them fairly close. I think I-rod and Charles Johnson have arms like Bench (and Santiago’s may have been better) but are less agile behind the plate - I think JB had a year with no passed balls…
Dave, eat your heart out. I was in the upper deck at Game 5 in '69. Dad wouldn’t let me on the field.
Brat - the largest part of Ruth’s AB came after 1920. I won’t argue his stats would jump too much - but I think his atts beforehand encourgade the owners to juice the ball. I think the change was made for him.
Mully, - Gibson is a hard call. Most of his HRs came barnstorming, not in league competition, where the fragmentary stats are not nearly as good, so I can’t say he was the best. However, he DID supposedly hit one out of Yankee Stadium, and no one else has. The closest were Mantle and Howard. So maybe he was. A shame he never got to try.
Oh, and one note about what I consider the most overhyped stat of all- the 200 hit club. Ted isn’t in it. Whenever someone talks about someone getting 200 hits, I say I’ll pick an OF that has 4 200 hit seasons between them, bat them 3-4-5, and you take who you want. Williams(0),Ruth(3), Mays(1). Most hits any of them ever got was 208 by Mays. Next.
I’ve heard that argument a lot. Please forgive the hijack, but I really need a diversion today, so I looked up some stats. I’ve concluded that it’s very close, although Omar will probably beat Ozzie in the error department. I suppose, too, that Ozzie’s All-Star appearances were based not only on his defensive abilities, right? Anyway, these are the stats I found:
[ul]
[li]Vizquel has played for 11 yrs. thus far, Smith played for 19 (but I’m sure you know that; I’m the baseball idiot; all of you obviously are not).[/li]
[li]Putouts V: 2291, S: 4250[/li][li]Assists V: 4251, S: 8374[/li][li]Errors V: 125, S: 281[/li][li]Double Plays V: 970, S: 1589[/li][li]Fielding Percentage V: .981, S: .978[/li][li]Range Factor V: 4.49, S: 5.03[/li][li]All-Star Games V: 2, S: 15[/li][li]Gold Gloves V: 7, S: 13[/li][/ul]
If I remember, I’ll start a new thread when Vizquel retires. I’m just a humble Indians fan – very humble these days (stop laughing).
Again, I apologize for the hijack, but the diversion helped.
