Ted Williams wanted to the best hitter in baseball. Instead in 1938, the California youth found himself demoted to the minor leagues. Britt Aamodt looks at Ted Williams’ season with the Minneapolis Millers.
Transcript
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Ted Williams wanted to be the best hitter in baseball history. Only problem was he hadn't made the cut at the Boston Red Sox training camp. He'd been demoted to the minors. So 1938, Williams found himself wearing number 19 for the Minneapolis Millers, the Red Sox farm team, whose home turf was Nicollet Park in South Minneapolis, down among the streetcar sheds. Minneapolis sports writers and fans immediately took to this gangly California youth known to shout “Yahoo” and “Hi Ho Silver” on the field, but whose devotion to the swing sometimes left his defensive game wanting. Ted Williams knew what he wanted. In private in his hotel room, he stood before the mirror swinging an invisible bat and repeating, “I'm Ted Williams, the best hitter who ever lived.” He closed his season as the star of the Minneapolis Millers, 46 home runs, 142 runs batted in. And he'd finally earned his promotion to the Boston Red Sox. Years later, at his retirement in 1960, Ted Williams was recognized as one of the best hitters baseball had ever seen.
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