What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now?: A Remembrance

by Richard Ben Cramer, Ruth Fecych (Editor)

When legendary Red Sox hitter Ted Williams died on July 5, 2002, newspapers reviewed the stats, compared him to other legends of the game, and declared him the greatest hitter who ever lived. Richard Ben Cramer, Pulitzer Prize winner and acclaimed biographer of Joe DiMaggio, decodes this oversized icon who dominated the game and finds not just a great player, but also a great man. In 1986, Richard Ben Cramer spent months on a profile of Ted Williams, and the result was the Esquire article that has been acclaimed ever since as one of the finest pieces of sports reporting ever written. Given special acknowledgment in The Best American Sportswriting of the Century and adapted for a coffee-table book called Ted The Seasons of the Kid, the original piece is now available in this special edition, with new material about Williams's later years. While his decades after Fenway Park were out of the spotlight -- the way Ted preferred it -- they were arguably his richest, as he loved and inspired his family, his fans, the players, and the game itself. This is a remembrance for the ages.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Biography, Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2002

About the author

Richard Ben Cramer was an American journalist and writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1979 for his coverage of the Middle East. His work as a political reporter culminated in What It Takes: The Way to the White House, an account of the 1988 presidential election that is considered one of the seminal journalistic studies of presidential electoral politics.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short book (128 pages) consisting of the author's interview of baseball Hall-of-Famer Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, known for his volatile and unpredictable personality almost as much as for his perfectionist approach to batting. I've seen Williams interviewed in more depth in the Ken Burns documentary on baseball, so I was aware of some of his eccentricities but this adds a little more info. A good read for those who want only the most basic information, but in my mind, no substitute for a proper full-length biography. I will probably take a swing at that one of these days.

**#29 of 120 books pledged to read/review during 2016**

[Monte Lamb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great one hour read. It is an expanded version of a magazine article written by the author. You see Ted how he lived after his baseball life and how his earlier life affected his later years. You see him with all the warts and problems he was renown for and also see how he did some good things for other people. Ted was an amazing character and in this short book, you can get a good picture of the man.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A touching, humorous tribute to one of the most fascinating and enduring cultural icons in the history of this country. This is a one-sitting reading that completely grasps the oversized personality, violent charisma, and storied accomplishments of this true Renaissance Man.

[Debra Kocher]

This 'book' - really a printed edition of a New Yorker article - is way too short. It really left me wanting more. Another stunning Cramer research job, and I wish he had written a full length book on Ted Williams.

[Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little biography of Williams with a good mix of his baseball career and his life after. Good insight to his personality. Several long biographies are available for more details and information but this is a nice easy to read quick view.

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short book showing many examples of Ted’s greatness and many examples of his flaws. It reminded me of when I met Williams at a sportsman show. Everyone was getting less than a minute with him until he spent 10 minutes talking with my dad about fishing.

[Mike Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The great Ted Williams, aka The Splendid Splinter, was an incredibly great ballplayer who felt great rage when he thought people didn’t appreciate what he could do. That rage was directed at everyone, including himself. This book is short but does an excellent job at telling the story. At the beginning of the book you may be offended by Ted, in the middle you may be amazed, and at the end you may feel sorry for him and cheer his accomplishments and his realization of becoming a good guy!

[Kalle Wescott]

I read /What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now?: A Remembrance/, by Richard Ben Cramer:

This is the second Ted Williams book I've read in a year - he is quite the character.

The book is rather laconic, pithy, and maximic (like this review), and was worth the quick read.

[Bob Gorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve liked Ted Williams since I was a kid and a baseball nut. At about that time I read “My Turn At Bat.” Richard Ben Cramer’s piece, which I believe was originally a long magazine piece, does a great job capturing the outsized man’s personality.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Idolized Ted Williams as a kid who liked reading about baseball. Less so when i learned more about him as a human. Good short read to get an idea of who he was the good and the bad. A craftsman with a dark side. Good writer. Short book.

[Micah ☔️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keeps company with Summer in Algiers by Camus (works where I’ve only read the title essay, not the entire book, but I have to register a rating on here because holy shit). And Erasure by Percival Everrett (great literature with fishing as a motif).

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good companion book to the 2 recent biographies written about Ted Williams.

[Merrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short read, fun while just a few minutes from his home on the Keys.