13 Replies to “Farewell, Splendid”

1. Andrew Northrup says:

   July 5, 2002 at 6:17 pm

   <a href=”http://espn.go.com/classic/obit/williams_ted_kurkjian.html”>The best ever.</a>

   Some baseball nerd needs to figure out what Ted Williams’ stats would look like if he played in the modern era.  He’d probably hit .430.

2. Jeff G says:

   July 5, 2002 at 6:30 pm

   All those years he missed with those 2 stints in the military… In the prime of his career, too.

   Man, what his numbers would’ve looked like.  They just don’t make ‘em like him anymore.

3. Bill Quick says:

   July 5, 2002 at 6:35 pm

   It’s hard to say.  The Babe was probably the greatest hitter of all time, with his combination of .342 lifetime average along with 714 homers.  However, Williams hit .344 over 19 seasons, and he spent three of his potentially most productive years (1942-45) in the army, which would probably have added another 100 home runs to his lifetime total of 521.  Tough call.  I’ll still go with the Babe on the basis of his lifetime slugging percentage.

4. Bill Quick says:

   July 5, 2002 at 6:37 pm

   Whoops, I forgot about the Korean War.  He would probably have passed Babe in homers – though not by much.  I’ll still stick with the Babe’s slugging, though.

5. Andrew Northrup says:

   July 5, 2002 at 6:38 pm

   Yeah, I guess that Babe Ruth guy was a pretty okay hitter, too.  I liked him better as a pitcher, though.

6. Jeff G says:

   July 5, 2002 at 6:42 pm

   Williams didn’t have Gehrig hitting behind him.

7. Bill Quick says:

   July 5, 2002 at 6:47 pm

   Babe still holds the World Series record for most innings pitched in a single game – 14.  BTW, William’s slugging percentage of .634 is good for second place all-time, but it’s still 56 points behind the Babe’s .690, one of the very few records that may never be broken.

8. Bill Quick says:

   July 5, 2002 at 6:55 pm

   Neither did Babe, until 1925.  But he still managed to average 47 homers and hit .368 for those five early years with the Yankees.  Heck, Jeff, <i>you</i> could have been backstopping Ruth and it wouldn’t have made a heck of a lot of difference.

9. Jeff G says:

   July 5, 2002 at 7:36 pm

   I was a fine hitter, Bill.  Lots of pop.  And from both sides of the plate, too.  And <i>speed</i>..!

   Hard to judge “best” because of the differences in the eras.  Ruth probably takes it, but we’ll never know what Teddy would’ve done in those lost years.

10. Andrew Northrup says:

    July 5, 2002 at 7:42 pm

    Ruth could definitely out-drink Ted.  All-time leader in blood alcohol content, and no need to normalize for different eras there.

11. Doubting Thomas says:

    July 5, 2002 at 8:18 pm

    Marine fighter pilot, baseball superstar, individualist, man’s man, American man, American legend.  We should all be so cool.

12. Pseudo-Socialist Baseball Geek says:

    July 8, 2002 at 11:08 am

    I heard that Ted Williams scored the best ever on the military fight hand-eye coordination test.  If I remember correctly, I heard that said by Bobby Knight.  Always take Bobby at his word.  Love Ted Williams but would love to see Ichiro bat .400 this years for the Mariners.  Better yet, I’d love to see Oulerud do it.  I always go with the old guys these days–changing demographics and all.

13. Anonymous says:

    July 8, 2002 at 11:11 am

    That’s “military flight (he was a pilot) hand-eye coordination test.  Although I’m sure Ted would have done well on a fight hand-eye test as well.

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