Ted Williams played 21 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, twice interrupted by military service as a Marine Corps pilot. Nicknamed 'The Kid,' 'the Splendid Splinter,' ' Teddy Ballgame,' and 'The Thumper,' he is considered one of the greatest hitters ever, and many consider him the greatest.
Williams was a two-time American League Most Valuable Player winner, led the league in batting six times, and won the Triple Crown twice. He had a career batting average of .344, with 521 home runs, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. He is the last player in Major League Baseball to bat over .400 in a single season (.406 in 1941). Williams holds the highest career batting average of anyone with 500 or more home runs. His career year was 1941, when he hit .406 with 37 HR, 120 RBI, and 135 runs scored.
In 1941, he entered the last day of the season with a batting average of .39955. This would have been rounded up to .400, making him the first man to hit .400 since Bill Terry in 1930. Manager Joe Cronin left the decision whether to play up to him. Williams opted to play in both games of the day's doubleheader and risk falling short, explaining that "if I can't hit .400 all the way, I don't deserve it." He singled in his first at-bat, raising his average to .402, and followed it with a home run and two more hits in the first game. Williams went 2 for 3 in the second game, for a total of 6 hits in his last 8 at bats, for a final average of .406. No player has hit .400 in a season since. Williams acknowledged that "There was some great batting done that year [1941]". He continued, "I think, surely, to hit .400 you have to be an outstanding hitter having everything go just right, and in my case the hitter was a guy who lived to hit, who worked at it so hard he matured at the bat at a time when he was near his peak physically. The peaks met."
This bat was manufactured by Hillerich & Bradsby and has labeling consistent with the 1946-1949 H & B label period. This center brand, on a bat being held in Ted Williams’ own hands, can be clearly seen on the cover of the book A Complete Reference Guide to Louisville Slugger Professional Player Bats by Vince Malta. This bat has model O1 stamped into the knob. It measures 35 inches in length and weighs approximately 31.5 ounces. A review of Ted Williams’ personal H & B ordering records documents six orders of model O1 bats (totaling over 70 bats) meeting those specifications (35 inches with weights between 32 and 34 ounces) being shipped directly to Williams for his personal professional use between 2/7/1946 and 4/3/47.
This bat has a natural finish and displays light game use characteristics. Hit marks are discernable on the barrel, as are a few apparent cleat marks and two small black color transfers.
This bat has been authenticated by John Taube, PSA/DNA (Certification I02626). John confirms the bat’s documentation in Williams’ H & B records, and his use of the model during the referenced period. However, two characteristics of this specific bat are unable to be attributed directly to Williams or any specific player.
1. Below the label at the sweet spot is an area approximately 2.5 inches by 6 inches where the wood has developed a rich patina. Authentication of this bat by PSA/DNA (see below) indicates that the finish in this area appears to have been ‘flamed’ post-shipping, and that alteration cannot be directly attributed to either H & B or any specific player.
2. There has also been an alteration of the knob where it has been trimmed to the degree that it has become basically a flared knob / handle. PSA/DNA authentication indicates that no basis for that alteration is contained in Williams’ H & B records, thus the alteration is unable to be attributed to Williams.
The conclusion of PSA/DNA is that this is a professional model bat that was manufactured for either the personal use of Ted Williams (it is consistent in model, length, and weight to his documented records of the specific label period) or was manufactured in response to a Boston Red Sox team index order of the period, as O1 was a popular model at that time. The two alterations noted above cannot be attributed to any specific player.
This bat is, without question, a Ted Williams professional model bat manufactured by Hillerich & Bradsby during the period between 1946 and 1949. This bat matches Ted Williams’ personal H & B factory records of orders in 1946 and 1947. The unknown factor here is whether the alterations noted above were done by Ted Williams, or by another unidentified player. While the alterations cannot be directly attributed a single specific player, neither can any single specific player, including Williams, be ruled out as having altered this bat. With regard to the finish, close examination of that area shows a discolored area that is similar to the darkened patina sometimes seen when use is found in a concentrated area. Still, the overall use on this bat does not appear consistent with the degree of use necessary to produce that effect. With regard to the knob, it is noted that in 1960, at the end of Ted Williams’ career, one order of model U1 bats were ordered by Williams, a model that is distinguished by a flared knob.
This bat represents an outstanding opportunity to fill the hole in your collection with a Ted Williams game used professional model bat that was manufactured specifically to his specifications during a period in his career when he hit over .340 in four consecutive years, 1946-1949, and was used (and altered) by either Ted Williams or another unidentified player.
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