The parents of baby boomers(post WW II gen) were kin to that baseball icon, Ted Williams. Born in San Diego, California in 1917, he grew up without home electronics, without much of anything, really. Ben Bradlee, Jr. has written the definitive biography of an American life about which much has already been written. The amount of written material focused on the life of one man is hard to imagine. For over 22 years, he dominated the print media with his marvelous exploits while playing the All American game of baseball.
He came of age during the depression years 1929-1940. He played high school ball at Herbert Hoover High School in San Diego and displayed considerable talent. Enough talent to be signed by the San Diego Padres of the old Pacific Coast League. There were no major league teams west of St. Louis until 1957, when the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to S.F. and L.A. While a senior in high school, he look leave in the spring to play for the Padres, and when the season was over, he returned and finished his last semester.(couldn't do that today). During the winter, an agreement was reached with the Boston Red Sox owner, Tom Yawkey, who bought the Sox a few years before for about $500,000.
Young Ted would break in at age 19. At 6'4" and 140, he was not very impressive, even in 1939, until he swung his bat. That swing would turn heads and captivate a baseball crazy nation that longed for diversion from the harsh reality of the Depression.
The author, Ben Bradlee, a writer editor for the Boston Globe for 25 years, began his research in 1999, 3 years before Ted died. He was thus able to discuss the man's life in the present tense at the beginning. He interviewed over 600 people: from family members, his 3 children, his wives(exes), to former teammates, coaches, mentors, friends and enemies. Since he served in the military for over 5 years during his prime, his former squadron members gave ample testimony to his service as a Marine fighter pilot during WW II and Korea, where he survived being shot down and riding the jet in for a "wheels up" landing.
He retired in 1960 after 22 years of professional baseball. His accolades and accomplishments put him in Cooperstown on the first ballot as soon as he was eligible, quicker than Joe Dimaggio.
Upon his retirement from baseball as a player, he began a career in business as a sportsman/spokesman for companies who recognized his prowess as a master fisherman, accomplished on freshwater as well as the ocean. His Florida headquarters were on the island of Islamagorda where he had a home.
Part II shortly(when I finish the book)
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