This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/6/2006.
Born "Theodore Samuel Williams" in 1918, Ted Williams was a larger than life figure who combined exceptional eyesight and patience with strength and determination to become arguably the best pure hitter in the history of baseball. Early in his career, he stated that he wished to be remembered as the "greatest hitter who ever lived," an honor that he indeed achieved in many eyes by the end of his career. When Williams moved up to the Major Leagues for the Red Sox in 1939, he made an immediate impact as he led the American League in RBIs, the first rookie to do so. On the last day of the 1941 season, Williams opted to play in both games of the day's doubleheader and got six hits in eight at bats, raising his season average to .406; no one has reached .400 for the season since. An obsessive student of batting, Williams hit for both power and average. In 1970 he wrote a book on the subject, "The Science of Hitting," which is still read by many baseball players today. Though twice interrupted by military service (five years, WWII and Korea) as a Marine Corps pilot, Williams had a glorious 19 year career with the Red Sox, appearing in 17 All-Star games. He led the league in batting average, runs and total bases six times, and won the Triple Crown (1942, 1947) and the American League Most Valuable Player (1946, 1949) twice, in four separate years. Williams led the AL in on base percentage twelve times, in slugging percentage nine times, in walks eight times, and in home runs and RBIs four times. A lesser-known accomplishment is Williams' feat of reaching base for the most consecutive games, 84. In his last season of 1960, Williams played in 113 games, hit .316 with 29 home runs and had a slugging percentage of .645. Ted Williams retired from the game in 1960 and hit a home run in his final at-bat, on September 28, 1960. At the time of his retirement, he had played in 2,292 games and had a career batting average of .344 with 521 home runs. Williams was elected to the Baseball HOF in 1966. On the left front tail of the jersey is a white felt tag with the name "Williams" stitched in red. Below this is the "Tim McAuliffe Inc." manufacturers tag. Attached to that is a small white tag with the jersey size "44." Below this is a white felt tag with year "1957" stitched in black. As the legend goes, Ted Williams donated this jersey to his high school, Herbert Hoover High School in San Diego. On June 8, 1966, the high school had a "Ted Williams Night" benefit called the "Ted Williams Field Campaign" which featured a free drawing for Ted Williams Sports Equipment. The school had this jersey on display to be drawn for a give-away, and for that purpose the "Williams" and "1957" tags were added. Included is a ticket stub from that event. Across the front of the jersey is "RED SOX." On the back of the jersey is the player number "9." All lettering and numbering is done in red on navy blue felt. The jersey shows nice game use with sweat stains and wear, and is in pristine condition for its use and age. The lettering and numbers are all original, unquestionably a Ted Williams game-used mid-1950s jersey though not necessarily a 1957. With the exception of the "Williams" and "1957" tags mentioned above, the jersey appears to have no alterations of any kind.