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No Easy Way: The Story of Ted Williams and the Last .400 Season
Ted Williams hit .406 for the season in 1941? a feat not matched since. In this inspirational picture book, authentic sportswriting and rich, classic illustrations bring to life the truly spectacular story of the Red Sox legend, whose hard work and perseverance make him the perfect role model for baseball enthusiasts of all ages.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 4, 2010
About the author
Fred Bowen
60 books26 followersFred Bowen is the author of Peachtree’s popular Fred Bowen Sports Story and All-Star Sport Story series. A lifelong sports fanatic, he has coached youth league baseball, basketball, and soccer. His kids’ sports column “The Score” appears each week in the KidsPost section of the Washington Post. Bowen lives in Maryland.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 31, 2010
No matter who does the ranking, no baseball fan would argue about Ted Williams being one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Yet there are not a lot of books for young people about him, perhaps because in addition to being a great player, he was also known for being temperamental, demanding, and having an adversarial relationship with the press and sometimes with fans. I was therefore eager to read Fred Bowen's new picture book about this baseball icon. Bowen, as a sports columnist and a writer of sports fiction for kids, seems particularly well qualified to tackle this subject.
Rather than write a conventional biography of Williams, Bowen chose to concentrate on Williams' 1941 season with the Red Sox, the year he hit .406, a feat no other baseball player has come close to equalling in the following 60 or so years. We learn a bit about Williams' background growing up in San Diego in the 1930's, during the Depression. Right away Williams' enormous ambition is highlighted:
From the time he was young, he knew exactly what he wanted to be. "My dream was to walk down the street and have people say, 'There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.'"
Bowen emphasizes Williams' dedication to the sport, and the hours he spent practicing, before and after school, until blisters grew into hard, ugly calluses on his hands. Why spend so much time practicing? Because Ted "knew there was no easy way to become the greatest hitter who ever lived. No easy way to do the single most difficult thing in sports: to hit a round ball with a round bat." No other player, Bowen tells us, practiced more than Ted, even when he made the major leagues, not only swinging the bat over and over but also squeezing rubber balls to make his wrists and forearms strong.
All this practice pays off in the extraordinary 1941 season, when not only was Joe DiMaggio hitting in a record-breaking 56 straight game streak, Ted Williams was hitting consistently all over American ballparks--could he hit the magic .400 batting average? By the end of the season, his average had dropped to .39955 with only two games to play. He could sit out those last games, and stick with his average, which would have been rounded up to .400, according to baseball rules. Even his manager thought he should sit out the last two games. But that would be taking the "easy way out," and that wasn't Williams' style. Although we know the results in advance, Bowen's exciting narrative builds a suspenseful mood as Williams takes his at-bats during the last two games, a double-header against the Philadelphia Athletics. And the Athletics weren't going to make it easy for him....we almost hold our breath as Bowen describes how Williams, with his stupendous performance in this double-header, raised his average to a stellar .406.
This book is a great addition to baseball collections, and could be enjoyed by baseball fans young and old. I particularly appreciated the way Bowen emphasized Williams' work ethic and his commitment to practicing. An afterword with additional biographical information on Williams' life would have been a nice addition. I also want to give special praise to Charles Pyle's old-fashioned illustrations, which brought to mind classic American illustrators such as Norman Rockwell; they complement the text perfectly, capturing Williams' speed and power but also the innocence of an earlier baseball era, with scenes of Williams eating an ice-cream cone and young boys selling newspapers from canvas bags.
Rather than write a conventional biography of Williams, Bowen chose to concentrate on Williams' 1941 season with the Red Sox, the year he hit .406, a feat no other baseball player has come close to equalling in the following 60 or so years. We learn a bit about Williams' background growing up in San Diego in the 1930's, during the Depression. Right away Williams' enormous ambition is highlighted:
From the time he was young, he knew exactly what he wanted to be. "My dream was to walk down the street and have people say, 'There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.'"
Bowen emphasizes Williams' dedication to the sport, and the hours he spent practicing, before and after school, until blisters grew into hard, ugly calluses on his hands. Why spend so much time practicing? Because Ted "knew there was no easy way to become the greatest hitter who ever lived. No easy way to do the single most difficult thing in sports: to hit a round ball with a round bat." No other player, Bowen tells us, practiced more than Ted, even when he made the major leagues, not only swinging the bat over and over but also squeezing rubber balls to make his wrists and forearms strong.
All this practice pays off in the extraordinary 1941 season, when not only was Joe DiMaggio hitting in a record-breaking 56 straight game streak, Ted Williams was hitting consistently all over American ballparks--could he hit the magic .400 batting average? By the end of the season, his average had dropped to .39955 with only two games to play. He could sit out those last games, and stick with his average, which would have been rounded up to .400, according to baseball rules. Even his manager thought he should sit out the last two games. But that would be taking the "easy way out," and that wasn't Williams' style. Although we know the results in advance, Bowen's exciting narrative builds a suspenseful mood as Williams takes his at-bats during the last two games, a double-header against the Philadelphia Athletics. And the Athletics weren't going to make it easy for him....we almost hold our breath as Bowen describes how Williams, with his stupendous performance in this double-header, raised his average to a stellar .406.
This book is a great addition to baseball collections, and could be enjoyed by baseball fans young and old. I particularly appreciated the way Bowen emphasized Williams' work ethic and his commitment to practicing. An afterword with additional biographical information on Williams' life would have been a nice addition. I also want to give special praise to Charles Pyle's old-fashioned illustrations, which brought to mind classic American illustrators such as Norman Rockwell; they complement the text perfectly, capturing Williams' speed and power but also the innocence of an earlier baseball era, with scenes of Williams eating an ice-cream cone and young boys selling newspapers from canvas bags.
March 26, 2010
My husband is a huge Ted Williams fan, swears he and Ted's son were switched at birth, so when I saw this one on library shelves, I had to read it. And it's nicely done. Talks about the summer of 9141, just before all the big-leaguers went off to war, including Williams and Joltin' Joe. In '41, Ted Williams did something no major league ballplayer has repeated since: he batted over .400 for the season. Ended with a .406, as a matter of fact, no easy task. And no easy way to get there, either. Interesting story. I knew about the record, but I didn't know about the last two games of that season, and how his average was sitting at .39955 (which would have been rounded up to .400) going into those games. Some advised him to sit those games out, but Ted told 'em, "If I can't hit .400 all the way, I don't deserve it." Don't know that we'd hear those words out of many of today's ballplayers.
March 22, 2018
Disclaimer: As a Massachusetts girl who spent the first twenty one years of my life in the state, I can hardly claim to be objective about any book about one of the Red Sox's most famous players.
Still, I thought this was a very well-written and illustrated story about an unforgettable baseball season and a hitting record.
The world was at war and men from all over the U.S. we're signing up in droves to protect our nation and defeat the Axis powers.
The hitting prowess and other accomplishments of Ted Williams do not overshadow his patriotism and bravery, but they are more well known.
This book highlights but one chapter in the life of a sports star, and it is notable that his .406 season has yet to be surpassed.
Black and white photographs and colorful illustrations complement the narrative well and really help to bring the drama of the season to life.
I loved the inclusion of the photo of the illustrator, Chuck Pyle, wearing a Red Sox uniform and posing like an image of Mr. Williams at the back of the book.
Still, I thought this was a very well-written and illustrated story about an unforgettable baseball season and a hitting record.
The world was at war and men from all over the U.S. we're signing up in droves to protect our nation and defeat the Axis powers.
The hitting prowess and other accomplishments of Ted Williams do not overshadow his patriotism and bravery, but they are more well known.
This book highlights but one chapter in the life of a sports star, and it is notable that his .406 season has yet to be surpassed.
Black and white photographs and colorful illustrations complement the narrative well and really help to bring the drama of the season to life.
I loved the inclusion of the photo of the illustrator, Chuck Pyle, wearing a Red Sox uniform and posing like an image of Mr. Williams at the back of the book.
July 23, 2011
"There is no easy way to be a .400 hitter." Isn't that the truth! This is a phenomenal picture book biography of Red Sox great Ted Wiliams and his quest in 1941 to hit .400 for the season. The story tells of his love of the game from a young age, his progression through the minors to the big leagues, but focuses mainly on that last season. The Illustrations perfectly capture the look and feel of nostalgia for America's Pastime. But it is the main theme: working really hard for something, even when it is hard, and not settling for less that is the star of this book. Thank you Ted Williams, for showing us that hard work does pay off, and perseverance is a virtue. Loved this book!
May 26, 2010
Bowen tells, in spare text and with illustrations reminiscent of Norman Rockwell, the simple story of Ted Williams, who wouldn't go into the record books with a tainted record and anything less than a full season of hitting .400, a feat that has not been matched in seven decades. This is a baseball biography for even the very young; read this to a future Hall of Famer in your life.
March 5, 2017
A great retell of Ted Williams' story. But the story doesn't totally work for kids who don't understand batting averages, or why statistics in baseball are even a thing. Author attempts some slight explanation, but left me wishing the author had gone a little further in explaining the significance of a hit, statistics, and the game itself so that unfamiliar kids could enjoy.
April 20, 2019
A good ted Williams biography.
February 25, 2024
Good story and pictures
April 16, 2013
Ted Williams, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, and the last person to hit .400 for a season is detailed in this book. The amount of hard work and dedication that Ted put into his craft is astonishing. this book could be a great tool in showing students that nothing comes easy, even to the greatest of athletes. I have always found it amazing when the most gifted athletes can at the same time be the hardest working of the bunch. Ted Williams was no doubt that sort of player. This book will keep students entertained with it's engaging print and illustrations. On top of the you want to read on to find out if Ted does actually reach that .400 batting average mark for the season. As Ted says, if he is going to do it, he is going to do it all the way. Something that we can all learn from.
March 29, 2010
When it came to the last two games of the 1941 series, Ted Williams, determined from childhood to be the greatest baseball hitter who ever lived, had a choice: sit out the doubleheader and preserve his .400 average, or play? The satisfying story, period paintings in a Norman Rockwell style, and baseball card page design make this both a tribute to a great athlete and to a time when baseball players WERE heroes. On the back cover, under a running line of his 1941 statistics, Williams signs a ball for some admiring young fans; today's fans should be similarly thrilled.
June 23, 2010
A non-fiction book about Ted Williams and the season (1941) he hit over 400. A little too "he was so great" for me, but I enjoyed it anyway. Really liked that in the final games of the season, the players on the other teams wanted to help him but their managers wouldn't let them. Not exactly cheating, but a nice sentiment.
July 18, 2012
The illustrations make this read. The illustrations are classic Norman Rockwellish and bring the baseball era to life. This picture book focuses on Ted Williams the Red Sox slugger, greatest hitter of all times, and the year he batted .400 for the entire season in 1941. A great season and a stat that has never been broken since!
November 4, 2011
This is another great biography book. I would use this book as a resource to my class when picking a person and doing a presentation/report over a famous indiviual. It is a great book that shows the struggles that Ted Williams went through to get to the top of his career.
September 28, 2016
Ted Williams truly was an incredible role model. The book tells of Ted Williams incredible season hitting above .400. Like Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams is a huge part of baseball history. I chose the book because I love baseball and the history of baseball really intrigues me.
March 4, 2010
I liked this and would have rated it higher if not for the overuse of the phrase "no easy way," which is used on several occasions.
August 23, 2010
Ted Williams, Red Sox legend, hit .406 for the season in 1941— a feat not matched since.
(32 pages)
(32 pages)
March 15, 2011
Wonderful story, beautifully written. This would be great to use in the classroom for a discussion about determination and always putting forth your best effort.
March 25, 2011
An interesting story with some great use of repetition (the title) as the lens for viewing Ted Williams' life.
July 9, 2011
A child-friendly story of how Ted Williams was able to hold onto a .400 in the 1941 baseball season.
May 8, 2012
Really a great book. Aside from the Tavares biography, this is probably the best writing on Williams that's available for children. Very good book.
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May 17, 2012Why have an average that rounds up to .400 when you can have .406.
March 11, 2016
Nice easy read. A very interesting sports story. Made it easy to understand why this was such a feat even to a non-fan such as myself.
April 24, 2010
A great story of believing in yourself and not taking the easy way out.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews