Hitter: The Life and Turmoils of Ted Williams by Linn Ed (1994-03-30) Paperback

by Ed Linn

Following the career of Ted Williams from 1939, an experienced sportswriter presents the story of this great athlete, his dramatic professional baseball career, his service during World War II and the Korean War, and his record-breaking feats. 20,000 first printing.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Biography, Nonfiction

Unknown Binding

First published April 1, 1993

About the author

Edward A. "Ed" Linn (November 14, 1922 - February 7, 2000) was an American sportswriter, author, and biographer who wrote extensively on baseball. During his career, he wrote or co-wrote 17 books, ranging from novels to non-fiction.

He is best known for being the co-author of baseball owner Bill Veeck's three autobiographies: Veeck As in Wreck, The Hustler's Handbook, and Thirty Tons A Day.
-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging look at the baseball life of Ted Williams and an apt title. The book is mainly about Ted the baseball player, his accomplishments and life within the game. If you are looking for tabloid type details about his life skip this one, other than his legendary battles with the press and a few drinking stories that did not involve him. Tom Yawkey (Red Sox owner), Joe Cronin (manager) and others led the way in that department. Hard drinking and late nights were part and parcel of the baseball life back 'in the day'. One of the funniest lines in the book was where one Sox player said 'they could have dropped a bomb on the team hotel at 2AM and they would still have been able to field a team the next day', as so many were out on the town! There is a ton of interesting statistical data in this book (with several appendices including the entire 1941 season of his .406 BA) and Linn makes a convincing case for Williams winning 4 or 5 MVPs (he won 2). The 1947 MVP was essentially stolen by one angry Boston sports writer. His numbers remain amazing to this day, not least the incredibly small number of strikeouts and huge number of walks. His 1941 OBP was the highest ever in a season until Barry Bonds* in 2002. The book was written in 1993 so it does not deal with his later life, stint as a manger and inevitable demise but it stands as a grand testimony to the hitting greatness of 'The Kid'. We were all that once but few have ever risen to his level.

[Jon Christie]

Even though this had been sitting on my shelf for longer, I read the Leigh Montville treatment first of "Teddy Ballgame" so there was not much new here. But I love Ted Williams in a non-gay kind of way. Not a great dad. Selfish. Cantankerous. Verbally abusive to good friends like Bobby Doerr when they were just fishing off of Islamorada in Florida. The development that spoiled the keys probably did not help his overall temperment. But he was the last person to hit 400 and it will remain that way. Furthermore, he was drafted twice and served two stints as a pilot (WWII and The Korean War). He was like a real life amalgam of John Wayne characters. And if he had not lost 4+ seasons to military service I suspect he would hold numerous other distinctions.

[Randy · Rating 2 out of 5]

All the baseball-related facts are there, but the story never gels. Additionally, the details of Williams' equally-stormy domestic life are relegated to the last chapter, where a brief summing-up is offered.

For such a tumultuous, complicated and gifted baseball player slash celebrity, 'Hitter: The Life and Turmoils of Ted Williams' is curiously flat. I was never tempted to skip a domestic chore to return to it.

Williams was a notoriously difficult personality, and perhaps Linn didn't have the access or the cooperation required to write a fully-developed biography. Regardless, my final impression is disappointed.

[Tobe · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the name suggests, this biography focused heavily on Ted Williams career as arguably the best hitter to ever play baseball. If you are looking for a in-depth study of the man, spanning both his baseball career and life before and after the game, I would choose one of the other available biographies. This one is really just about his career as a Red Sox. There is sparse coverage about his two stretches of service in the military, his marriages or his time as a manager. The author’s writing style is hardly polished; the book reads at times just like a long breezy sports column. Recommended for baseball fanatics, not more general readers.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ted Williams, a first rate ball player and honestly a first rate human too. At times this was slow but that is more about the writing than it is about Ted. And I have moved up my admiration for this man by about 20 times. Also, the fact that he didn't get to see 2004 is even sadder now. For Ted, always.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoyed reading about Ted Williams' baseball career (sometimes a LOT of stats recounted), it would have been nice to hear more about his personal life as well. I found this author to be a bit dry.

[Andrew Scholes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned more about Ted Williams than I had know before. It stuck primarily to his life in baseball, there didn't seem to be much else. It was an average biography.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though Linn is indisputably a William's fan, he doesn't sugarcoat the past and instead gives us a telling picture of the greatest hitter in history and perhaps the most juvenile. We don't learn much about Williams' personal life after childhood, but then again, the book is called "Hitter," so it's Linn's prerogative to concentrate on stats. And this IS a book for stat-heads; Linn goes into great detail concerning many stats that weren't talked about at the time of this book's initial release. And his opinion that Ted's OBP in 1941 is more incredible than DiMaggio's hit streak has gained leverage in the decade and a half since publication. But readers who couldn't care less about stats would enjoy this book too, as it's probably the most revealing in regards to Williams' relationship with the press, which has been exaggerated for decades, with most pundits siding with either Williams or the Boston press on the issue. The fact is, as this book explains, they were both very much at fault. I recommend this book to all baseball fans, but Red Sox fans will particularly enjoy it.

[Chris Gager · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to my bio of Warren Spahn the author published this book originally in the late 50's or early 60's. Or... this could be an expansion of that book. The original was published by Sport Magazine and was likely the version I read long ago. Teddy Ballgame, the Kid, the Splendid Splinter etc. was my first sports hero. What an interesting guy but not always the finest human being. Came from an emotionally difficult background in San Diego. His mother was "The Angel of San Diego"; very active in charitable work but not much of a mother apparently. The family was pretty poor. I did in fact see him play at Fenway a few times, including the Bunning no-hitter when he made the last out on a deep fly ball to right. All that post-death crap with his family is just awful. Date read is a guess.

[Charles Charlesworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

It doesn't matter how well written, I am biased. Ted Williams was a life long hero not only as a baseball player but also as a Marine, Marine fighter pilot,Fly Fisherman, Hunter and perennial model of all sportswear in Sears and Roebucks catalog. This book just added the details of his life for my edification. Fairly and truly a well written Biography.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just reading the stats makes you shake your head in awe. To think that he did it all as well as fighting in two wars during his prime. He might have been a difficult guy to deal with but any baseball fan will enjoy this book.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ted wasn't a great man most of the time, but boy could he hit.

Solid bio of arguably the greatest hitter whoever lived.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

The facts and stories are fascinating, but writing is terrible.

[Chris Marzullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the best hitter who ever will play
Loved this book one of many I've read on the man and this is a great one