I saw Ted Williams hit the 347th home run of his career! It was at Fenway Park on July 18, 1954. One of my favorite memories: I was nine. My dad, grandpa, and I were sitting near third base together. Ted Williams came to the plate. He was a Marine veteran returning home after flying combat missions in an F9F Panther Jet in Korea. Everyone cheered! He was a hero. I heard the crack of the bat. The crowd roared. The ball soared so high over the right field fence that it looked like it might never come down.
@@gordons-alive4940 If he hit an average of 35 home runs per season he lost for service to his country he would indeed be close to that mark. And he did not take light duty either. He piloted fighter bombers and was good at it.
At 1:39 it is mentioned that Williams played 139 games in 1939, but the screen image displays 149 games. That error gets corrected by 1:45. At 14:49 the author extrapolates career stats for Williams had he not missed games in service to his country, yet he uses a 162 game schedule, which did not exist during Ted's playing career. Still, nice job. We shouldn't lament the "lost" years. They weren't lost; service to one's country is a higher calling. Nothing takes away from the notion that Ted Williams is one of the greatest baseball players of all time and arguably its greatest pure hitter.
Writers back then, as is still the case today were also the official scorers. There were more than a few plays were DiMaggio received some very generous scoring decisions on batted balls during his hitting streak, that were clearly errors. HOF Cleveland's SS Lou Boudreau was very loud about this stuff going on. Nothing could possibly have been as bad as it is today though. Every game I watch there are at least two plays that are scored incorrectly. Just by watching the error counts by position from say 1980 through today. Yearly error counts are way down too. Back in 1940 error counts were much higher! The numbers don't lie. Compare error totals by position from 1940 to 1990.
MVP, like HoF, was a POPULARITY contest. It's not that DiMaggio didn't have an MVP-worthy season, he DID...but Williams was simply BETTER, even during "Joltin' Joe's" fabled 56-game hitting streak.
What is worse is that Ted Williams was outvoted for the MVP in 1942 and 1947 when he was Triple Crown winner both seasons. New York writers didn't like him.
That's absolutely incredible- to win two Triple Crowns, but no MVP Award. And Williams came so close to winning a THIRD Triple Crown in 1949, winning the Homers and RBI titles, but missing the batting title (to George Kell) by only .0002! Truly the greatest hitter of all time.
@@bluemoon-20 He almost won the Triple Crown in 1941, too. He led the league in batting (of course) and home runs, but not RBI. He had 120 and DiMaggio had 125. I believe I've heard that Williams once reached base by either a hit or a walk in 80-some straight games.
@keithsmith4780 Mind-boggling. I know it's been talked about, but Williams lost those 3 years- in his prime- as a pilot in World War II, then parts of 2 more seasons in the Korean War. I have an autographed plaque of Williams' stats, along with the projections of what he might have finished his career with no military service. The numbers are simply overwhelming.
If I recall, he missed .400 by only 12 hits. Williams by then had all the speed of a snail, and he commented that if he'd been younger he could easily have legged out 12 grounders for hits.
He couldn't run in '57 and always believed it was a better year than the '41 season. Considering he turned 39 years old in August I would have to agree. No one in MLB history has had a better hitting season at such an advanced age particularly in the live ball era.
You mentioned the most interesting aspect of that season...Williams outhit DiMaggio during DiMaggio's streak AND his average dropped during that stretch.
@@davruck1 Ehh...nothing WRONG with "consistency". What's oft-forgotten is that hitting is also a bit of LUCK. That is, one can hit a pitch squarely and absolutely crush it...and the ball finds its way to a fielder's mitt, though it might "smart", still an OUT. Conversely, as the fictional perpetual minor-league catcher Lawrence "Crash" Davis (Kevin Costner) explained it to an ever-clueless Ebby "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins): Know what the difference between hitting .250 and .300 is? It's 25 hits - 25 hits in 500 at-bats is 50 points. There's six months in a season, that's about 25 weeks. That means if you get just one extra flare a week - just one - you get a ground ball with eyes, you get a dying quail, just one more dying quail a week ... and you're in Yankee Stadium. Of course, I say MAKING CONTACT and working the count is what gets one the opportunity to get on base with those weak-assed hits, so discipline and skill are still involved. There's another aspect which, some 83 years hence, we often fail to consider. The war clouds were rumbling proverbially just over the horizon. The economic news hadn't been good, with unemployment having spiked up to near the nadir of the Great Depression, and "da Goimans" (Germans) had overrun France and the Low Countries, had lined up most of the Balkans as allies, and had stomped through Yugoslavia and Greece. In North Africa, the "Desert Fox", Erwin Rommel, had turned around a certain total defeat in Libya of the Italians by the British; and had invaded Egypt and was threatening Cairo and to cross the Suez Canal. German U-boats were enjoying a "happy time", torpedoing and sinking Britain-bound ships almost at will. The WORST news, however, came in the middle of the '41 baseball season, as the Germans attacked the Soviet Union by surprise, and inflicted huge defeats, one after the other. The press was anxious that the USSR would surrender or at least sue for a peace that'd leave Hitler most of what he'd wanted. While certainly "Joltin' Joe" couldn't personally do anything about all that, his hitting streak proved a welcome distraction from all the bad news.
Nope! Best hitter ever is still is Ty Cobb! Cobb lifetime batting average: .367 while Ted Williams: .344! Cobb it .300 or higher in 23 CONSECUTIVE SEASONS!! Take that for data! Mic drop!
At least top 2. Ted has the greatest hitter of all-time as Babe. So, do you go by what you've seen of Ted. Or since there's no real video, or at least not alot of video, so do you go by your eyes with Ted or do you go by what Ted says? Just food for thought. NO wrong answer if you chose either one.
It has only been the past couple of decades that the writers voted for the best player. previously a player had to be on a team that went to the World Series. That is why Willie Mays only won two MVP and Hank Aaron one during their careers.
@@stevenmeyer9674 you sure about that? what period of time are we talking about? Obviously they stopped it by 1986 since Mike Schmidt was named NL MVP. I wonder when it ended.
Real respect to Ted for telling the media to screw off after they told him how terrible he was for not seeing his family during the off season. I totally get that. My family growing up was super drama heavy and Im someone that likes peace and quiet and just wants to be left alone.
@@robmckrobmck5567 "...and the Bronx bombers won more games, the pennant, and the series" Underscoring the fact that baseball is a team sport. The MVP, though, is an award for individual performance.
@@calguy3838 That's EXACTLY the point. For non-pitchers, we look primarily at their BATTING. After all, as Robert DiNiro, in his portrayal of bootlegger/gangster Al Capone put it, when at bat, it's the time for INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT. But, when fielding, he's...what? PART OF A TEAM. And despite whatever he achieves at the plate, he gets "nowhere" unless the TEAM wins. Fortunately, these days no one gets brained by a baseball bat from behind for failure.
@@calguy3838 The Yankee Clipper measured baseball success in pennants and WS rings. So, no player in MLB history impacted winning and established the Yankee mystique like Joe D. His aura, his presence, his respectability in the dugout and club house got every Yankee to buy in to winning in Oct. Teddy Ballgame was a better hitter but as a lefty in Fenway, he stubbornly pulled everything to right. With his vision and swing, he could've hit 400 every other year if he sent pitches careening off the green monster. Dimaggio was a rightie with a bigger strike zone who rarely struck out in the house that Ruth built.
Ted Williams’ lifetime OPS+ was 191. His last year, 1960, when he was 42, he managed an OPS+ of 190. His lifetime OB % was .482. The greatest pure hitter ever? Look no further than Ted Williams.
Depends on whether you count Barry Bonds. Which basically boils down to "if you use peds in a league where most players use peds, is it still cheating?".
@@harmonicarchipelgo9351 Barry Bonds only outmatches Williams in the power department. He os nowhere near him in Avg or Obs! Willie Mays was the greatest all around baseball player while Ted Williams was the greatest hitter.
Josh Gibson and Babe Ruth both had better career OPS+. And OB% includes reaching base by walk and hit-by-pitch, so it's more than hitting. But Williams certainly was one of the greatest pure hitters.
@@ron88303 Well this would be a bad analogy for the sake of the times. In those guys days the gloves were horrendous and they did not score errors as openly. This accounted for the higher OBS and even AVG. Williams still had a higher lifting Batting Avg
@@TyrannoJoris_Rex he's never won an mvp despite hitting over 500 homers and having the 10th most rbis of all time. he's never been friendly with the media and as a result, the media hasn't been kind to him when it comes to mvp voting.
Joe Dimaggio was good but the MVP should have gone to Ted Williams. I remember something about Ted Williams, in a test of reflexes, as I recall, he had the fastest reactions of any Marine pilot in World War II. And in the Korea War, he came up from the Marine Reserve and served as a jet pilot in combat. Typically, a full time Marine pilot would be paired with a Marine pilot brought up from the Reserve. They must have thought highly of him because he often flew as John Glenn's wingman.
@@gregtaylor113 In 1941 Williams had 456 at bats, with 185 hits, for a .405701 average. He had 8 RBI fly-outs. If those 8 RBI fly-outs did not count as at-bats, he would have had 185 hits in 448 at-bats, for a .412946 average.
Mind-boggling, to win two Triple Crowns (1942, 1947), but no MVP Award for either season. And Williams came so close to winning a THIRD Triple Crown in 1949! He won the Home Run and RBI titles, but missed the batting title (to George Kell)- by only .0002. Truly the greatest hitter of all time.
The definition of the award for in those days was “the player who contributed the most to his team’s success.” In the era of two leagues who produced a single team to go to the World Series, that generally meant a player on the winning team.
The award, specifically, does not require the team of the MVP to win the Championship or even make the playoffs. But, if one wants to play that game, there is a stat whose very purpose is to gauge the value of a player to his team. 1941: WAR Williams 10.4 Dimaggio 9.3 Soooo, not only did Williams have better stats, he contributed 1 extra win to the Red Sox compared to Dimaggio's contribution to the Yankees.
@@bauerj3398 I’m sure his WAR was a little higher, although, not that much. Which is irrelevant, since the only war anyone was talking about involved Germany. But I was explaining the thinking of the time. You’re the one playing “the game” of applying modern logic and practices to something that happened over 80 years ago.
@@tomdeangelo7792 I am confused. You say that it was higher, but not that much. Those are the exact numbers. And the point of those numbers is to dismiss the notion that Dimaggio provided more value to his team simply because his team was better.
@@bauerj3398 you’re talking about a 1.1 difference in a stat that didn’t exist at the time. The Yankees finished 17 games ahead of Boston, with the Yankees jumping from 4th to 1st during the streak, a lead they never relinquished. Why is it so difficult for you to understand their way of thinking? Success was determined by wins vs losses, and finishing 1st. You don’t have to agree with it.
@@tomdeangelo7792 I am talking about a stat with a 12% difference that specifically measures what we are talking about. And the most important thing? We are not just talking WAR. We are talking about who had the best season, and that was Williams. So, Williams had the better season, and the only rationalization that they come up with is the 'most valuable to the team' and now that is shown to be B.S. by Williams having a significantly higher WAR. I understand their way of thinking. I know exactly why Dimaggio won. Why is it so difficult for you to understand that their 'way of thinking' had no basis in fact or even un-biased judgement?
With today's rules, Ted Williams would of hit .415 Back then the sacrifice fly rule was not in effect. Best pure hitter of all time. Imagine if he could have played those 5 & 1/2 seasons he lost in his prime by serving his country at war. Imagine his stats!
I'm actually ok with Dimagio winning it in '41. It could've went either way and I'd be like ok. BUT,in '42? Come on!! Not even close. Led league in, BA, HR, R.B.I, BB,SLG, OBP, OBPS!! Like how does he NOT in it that year? I understand the Yankee lore, and all that, but, has anyone EVER led the league in ALL of those categories in the same season? Like before or since? I'd be shocked if they have. I'd be willing to bet half of everything I'm worth to bet I'm right about this.
I checked baseball reference because I was curious, and Babe Ruth never did it because of his average, and Barry Bonds never did it because of his RBI's. Technically you're wrong though. After a systematic check of triple crown winners, there was one other instance where a player led the league in all those categories... In 1947... Ted Williams did it again, and again lost the MVP to Joe Dimagio.
Just another reason why people have despised NY and the Yankees for decades. I'm not ok with DiMaggio winning in '41. He had a nice year, hit .357, Williams at .406. Ted's OBP was .553, more than 10 points higher than Joe's. .553!!! That's insane! Half his hits were probably balls outa the strike zone. One was in NY, married actresses, was mentioned in song, was a media darling. The other, not so much.
Judge very nearly led in all those categories 2 years ago. His average dropped in the last 2 weeks while chasing the AL home run record and he finished 2nd in BA. And it took a season like that to beat Ohtani performing to his expectation. Because that's how good Ohtani is.
@@peteshallcross787 DiMaggio had a *nice year* ?? Well, if THAT isn't the understatement of the last 200 years. A year in which Joe D. had a 56 game hitting streak , a record that likely will never be broken. Williams played in a bandbox of a ballpark (Fenway), whereas, DiMaggio played in a massive Yankee Stadium, death to RH power hitters. This was the OLD Yankee Stadium, before the '73/'74 renovations, yet still Joe hit 30 HR's/125 RBI's. The edge goes to Williams in OBP and the power stats, however, DiMaggio played a more difficult position (CF vs LF), had better speed, was a better baserunner and was clearly better in the field. The Yankee Clipper would have won gold gloves had they been awarded in the 1940's. Not the case with Williams. These are good reasons why DiMaggio was MVP.
@@jamesanthony5681 Well, Joltin Joe married actresses and his name is mentioned in songs, lol. Williams was a lefthanded pull hitter so the green monster had no advantage. Probably half his hits were out of the strike zone cuz pitchers could pitch around him, unlike DiMaggio. They both had records that year that will never be touched. I agree on the fielding end as a southpaw I played CF and RF for a long time. Yep, Joe had a great year but let's face it, one was a media darling, the other not so much. Kinda like Biden and Trump, hahaha! I still give Teddy the edge and I enjoy arguing with Yankee fans who are knowledgeable baseball fans. Cheers from the beer state, James!
Being a Yankee fan there was no love lost with the Red Sox and Ted Williams. Having said that, no one was a better hitter than Williams. He came so close to .400 at age 39. Had he not been a war hero in two different wars his stats would have been even more unbelievable. Imagine what he would have done as a Yankee playing in the Stadium with its short right field porch, especially with the preponderance of right handed pitchers. Too bad he had such a bad relationship with the press...seems they down-played a lot of his accomplishments but were sure to point out any time he had a bad game or left the winning runs on base (did not happen too often). I probably liked him more than most of his Boston fans. That said, DiMaggio was more of an all-around player-he could hit, he could run, he could catch, and he could throw. Ted...well he could hit. I was lucky enough to grow up with Williams, DiMaggio, the debate about the best center fielder in NYC-Mantle, Snider, or Mays-plus some of the best pitchers like Ford, Koufax, Spahn, Gibson, Seaver, Ryan, Palmer, et al. Pitchers now only go 6 or 7 innings vs the old days when you kept count of complete games and hitting .300 wouldn't even get a mention in the top 10 BA. Now anything above .330 is considered a rarity. Won't even bother to discuss the salary differentials other than the fact that most players held down another job during the off-season to make ends meet. Thanks to the likes of Scott Boros that is no longer the case; even marginal players are making seven figure salaries plus endorsements.
The Splendid Splinter and Joltin' Joe (The Yankee Clipper), these gentlemen possessed qualities rarely seen in the famous today: pride in duty and LOVE of country. BTW--Joe's brother Dom was Ted's Red Sox teammate.
I've known this since I was a kid. It was a joke! The writers hated and stopped him from winning the MVP - twice! If I was Joe DiMaggio I would have given Williams the MVP Award. Writers voting for Awards was a travesty and they proved it!
Talking to my father and uncles it seems that most fans in the 40s believed that Williams was the best hitter in baseball, but DiMaggio was the more valuable player, a better fielder, base runner. Williams didn't seem too interested in the other aspects of the game., By 41 DiMaggio had become the team leader of the most successful team in baseball. Teddy was most of a loner..Overall I think DiMaggio was the more valuable player.
The way I see it.. DiMaggio’s feat was simply amazing! That being said, you can technically get at least 4 plate appearances per game and have 1 hit per game, thus hitting.250. Ted Williams was amazing for a full season!
Interesting facts. The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series September 11 1918. Ted Williams was born August 30 1918. The Red Sox didn't win another World Series until 2004, Ted Williams died in 2002.
17 games behind Yankees had something to do with this. sure he STILL deserved MVP but it was probably assumed someone would hit .400 again. Bill Terry did it 1930 11 years before and then in the 20's Hornsby, Cobb, Sisler
If I remember correctly, John Glenn was the senior guy. He got the privilege of choosing his wingman. It says a lot about Ted Willliams abilities as a pilot that he would get chosen by Glenn to back up Glenn.
Another reason why awards are not the true measure of the greatness of a player. In fact, they're a waste of time. I don't need a committee to tell me who's great.
You could justify Dimaggio being more valuable in '41 because he was an elite center fielder while Williams was a mediocre left fielder. But the '42 snub was a travesty.
@@peteshallcross787 How can you say "not really"? It has long been accepted that if two players put up similar stats, the more valuable one is the one who plays the more defensively-demanding position especially if he plays it well.
@@GeraldM_inNC Hey Gerald, love NC, my bro lives there. Joe had a nice year, to say he was a streaky hitter is an understatement. True, he had a more demanding fielding position but the batting stats are ridiculously in favor of Ted. Williams was 50 points higher than DiMaggio and Ted's OBP was .553, over 100 points higher than Joe's. .553!!! Always pitching around Ted. I wonder how many hits he had from balls out of the strike zone. The Yanks were so stacked they probably would have been champs without DiMaggio. One was a media darling, the other, not so much. Just another reason why people for decades despise NY and the Yankees . Cheers!
@@peteshallcross787 Williams never had a lineup around him comparable to any Yankee lineup. He didn't have all that much to drive in before him and never had anyone suitable behind him to protect the other team from pitching around him. Take Williams out of those lineups and they were mediocre.
@@GeraldM_inNC Agreed Gerald, more evidence how outstanding Ted was. The best hitter ever, imo. The greatest player ever imo was my boyhood idle who we lost this week. He's running in the outfield heavens right now I believe. RIP #24
The press like DiMaggio much more than Williams and the press does the voting. It helped that the Yankees went to the World Series. Ted also won the triple crown one year and lost the MVP to, I think, Joe Gordon.
The hitting streak is a fun stat, but in terms of winning games all it means is you are getting a lot of hits. Williams got a lot of hits, as in substantially more than DiMaggio. Williams was head and shoulders above DiMaggio that year in terms of batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage (and by extension OPS), runs, home runs, etc. DiMaggio had a slight edge in RBI, but when that goes to the guy with lower batting and slugging, we're clearly seeing the influence of his World Series winning teammates getting on base.
I'll take "the 56-game hitting streak captivated the nation, nobody thought at the time it would never happen again since the last was 11 years removed, and the Yankees won the pennant by 17 games that year" for 100, Alex.
The truth is, the '41 Yankees did not need DiMaggio to win the pennant. They won it by 17 games in a non-competitive league. DiMaggio had a 9.3 WAR that season. Now do the math . . .
@@wmg5852 You're right -- DiMaggio played in a great ballpark for a line-drive hitter like him. And Williams played in a great ballpark for his skills set as well. Both played major roles in their success but should have had no effect on the MVP vote. #DoTheHomework
@@RayManzarekRocks Are you kidding me? You do realize Yankee stadium was a graveyard for righty power hitters. Joe hit .334 lifetime on the road with 213 Homers, at home he hit just .315 with 148. Just being a right-handed hitter in and of itself is a disadvantage. And Joe had it all over Ted in intangibles; if Williams played in the DH era, he would've been one. Ted was big on walking though; he did that great. Guess it won a lot of games for the Sox when he walked with 2 out and a man on second.
@@wmg5852 The worse the competition (.372 versus sub-.500 teams), the better DiMaggio was in '41. While Joe D. fattened up on cream puffs, Teddy Ballgame produced an insane .423/.556/.708 slash line versus opponents with .500-or-better records.
@@RayManzarekRocksAgain, are you kidding me??? The Yankees were the only team Williams faced that had a winning record!!! He hit damned good against them that year but so what, the Red Sox still had a losing record against the Yanks (I believe it was 9-13.) I notice you do not rebut anything I write, but trot out your own spin.
I’ve been a Yankee since I was old enough to remember anything. I always admired the Red Sox, my favorite players were Jim Rice followed by the Yaz Followed by Dwight Evans. I live in Florida now and I was finally able to go to Fenway Park and it was like going to church. I wish I would’ve seen Williams play, but it was way before my time. A lot of the best redsox players end up as Yankees.
As a too-old Yankee fan who realizes the distinct advantage that left-handed hitters have, I am always amazed at the inability of people who think they know baseball, who do not take this simple fact into consideration when they're looking at stats. During his career, Ted Williams faced an inordinate amount of right-handed pitching, even more than Ruth and Gehrig. Look, Ted was great, one of the best, but to say that facing 75-80% right-handed pitching didn't help 'up' his stats, is just not true. It helped Cobb, Ruth, and Gehrig, and it helped Ted too. Joe DiMaggio was a great hitter too, who just happened to be right-handed; he also happened to play his home games in Yankee stadium, which was notoriously tough on right-handed power hitters. his lifetime BA was .325, but his lifetime BA in road games was .334, and he also hit 213 of his 361 Homers on the road. If he had hit left-handed, he would've been a complete monster in the old Yankee stadium. In 1939, he hit .381, and I may be wrong, but I don't think any right-handed hitter has approached it since. And let's not compare Ted and Joe when it comes to the intangibles (like fielding or base running), because we all know who was better.
77% of William's at bats were against righthanders. He hit .350 vs them, compared to .312 vs lefthanders. 71% of Dimaggio's at bats were against righthanders, who he hit .314 against, compared to .342 against lefthanders.
Ted Williams is among the two greatest players with what-ifs attached to their records. The other is Mickey. The reasons are slightly different, though; Ted's was honorable, whereas Mickey's was just sad.
A ton of players lost 3 years to WW2 (yes, I know Williams served in Korea too), but everybody can play the what-if game with a lot of players. 'What if' Gehrig doesn't contract ALS, what if Babe Ruth didn't spend his first 5 years as a pitcher? So many players' careers are cut short by injury as well. Koufax retired at 30, and I'm sure he didn't want to.
he hit .388 16 years later in 1957 and beat out my guy mickey for the batting title. imagine hitting .365 like mantle did and loose the title by 23 points!
Statistical proof shows that the Yankees would have won the typically lame American League by eight games with an average center fielder. DiMaggio won because of a 56-game batting streak, played in a big market and had the national media in his corner. BTW, Williams had comparable slash line(.412/12/50-408/15/55) during those 56 games with an OPS that was 43 points higher.
Damn Yankees! Williams also excelled as a pilot in the military and was recognized as an outstanding fly fisherman. Freeze him! DiMaggio was a jerk, stated by Mantle who Joey was jealous of. And what about Marilyn, lol?
MVP is often awarded to the most valuable player on the pennant-winning team, or (in modern times) a contender in the postseason. That's not what the award should be, but that's the reality. The Yankees won most of the pennants in the 1940s and therefore most of the MVP awards. In Williams' era, there were no divisional playoffs, so your team either won the pennant in the regular season, or they tried again next year. Despite having a stellar career, he only played in one World Series (1946). Having the sportswriters make the selection was supposed to bring a level of objective analysis, but to a large extent the awards went to media favorites, a problem that continues to this day.
Light had been invented lol Jesus! They started installing lights in MLB parks as early as 1939, but not all parks had them yet. Wrigley Feild didn't have lights until 1988. I watched the game when they turned them on!
We're all aware of Williams' missing out because of his strained relationship w/ the press but DiMaggio's WAR (the stat that has a lot of weight with the stat nerds now) was 9.3 which was 2nd behind Williams and his team was 17 games ahead of the 2nd Place Red Sox that year (who went 9-13 against the Yankees and were 37-40 on the road vs. 47-30 at Fenway.) So it's not like Steve Stone winning the Cy Young in 1980 over a vastly superior Mike Norris or something.
If you think sports lournalism is crap today, you wouldn't believe how bad those baseball writers were. Thank God they no longer get to set the all star lineup.
Even to this day, MVP is usually awarded to the best player on the first place team. For most of Williams' career, the first place team was the Yankees. If Williams hit 100 HR in a season, it would not have mattered. One notable exception to the unwritten MVP rule was Alex Rodriguez winning MVP in 2003, not only playing for a last-place team, but his contract was the main reason why his team finished last because they could not afford pitching. In some ways, the MVP was the LVP.
@@RayManzarekRocks Then it's just an incredible coincidence that the MVP is usually from the first place team. I'm not saying that's the way it should be, but more often than not, that's the way it is. Go look it up and prove yourself wrong.
@@djcavanaugh That's a lie. There have never been a BBWWA HOF guideline that stipulates any candidate must be a member of a first-place team. In fact, MORE THAN 20 PLAYERS WON THE AWARD WHILE ON TEAMS THAT FINISHED LOWER THAN SECOND PLACE. Two Cubs players accomplished this with teams that were fifth (Banks twice) and sixth (Dawson).
@@selfdoMays was the real MVP that season. The problem was that the vote took place days before the World Series and. the Dodgers led the NL from July 7 until the final game of the best-of-three playoff series. Wills generated great support for the award because of his leadership and stolen base record (104), which helped change the game.
There's some debate over whether Williams missing those 727 games cost him statistically. He might have had a shorter career due to injuries and normal wear and tear on his body. An athlete only has so many games that his body can endure.
I love Teddy Baseball. Perhaps the greatest hitter of all time. However, nobody knew at the time that he would be the last person to hit over 400. As great an achievement as that was, Bill Terry of the NY Giants had done it in 1930. And there were quite a few 400 hitters before him. However, only one person in the entire history of the game has ever had a hit in over 50 consecutive games. Let alone in 56. That was Joe DiMaggio. Plus DiMaggio was one of the greatest fielders and base runners of his time with a cannon for an arm. So, even though a very strong argument could be made that Ted Williams deserved the MVP, hitting in 56 consecutive games is a greater achievement than hitting over 400. Not to mention the other half of the game that needs to be played. DiMaggio deserved the MVP in in 1941.
Joe's average during that fabled 56-game hitting streak was still considerably lower than that of Williams, never mind the huge difference between the two in OPS. While a hitting streak captures the imagination, in the end, what does it actually CONTRIBUTE to the objective of any player being in the lineup, which DiMaggio himself would have endorsed (along with the Mr. Coffee machines), as versus overall batting average, and, combined with slugging percentage, the OPS? And in the much-ballyhooded "WAR" stat, although Joe's was indeed a gaudy 9.3, he was considerably bested by "Teddy Ballgame's" 10.4. That sez the "Dead Sox" would have been a LOSING team w/o him, whereas the Yankees could likely have won the AL pennant w/o DiMaggio (although it'd not been so memorable). Any objective analysis reveals that Williams got SCREWED by the BBWAA, and not just in 1941. The snub was even more egregious the following year, as Williams won his first (but not LAST) Triple Crown. Part of the reason was that, of course, over the off-season, Pearl Harbor had happened, and Williams, who'd thanks to being the sole support of his mother, had been, like anyone in his situation, classified 3A in the Draft, found himself reclassified to "1A", as were all men thus categorized. He went to his draft board to protest the re-classification, as he'd not yet signed a new contract with the Red Sox (they held back, wanting to see if there'd be baseball at all, and if he'd be drafted or not), and since SGLI wasn't a thing in 1942, he desired to purchase a life insurance policy (probably a pre-paid single term) that'd take care of his mother should he be killed in combat. His San Diego-based Draft Board reviewed his case, and I believe one of its members was the largest stockholder of the PCL San Diego Padres, who Williams had played for even as a high school senior, and granted him being restored to the '3A' status, which rendered him practically immune to the Draft in the short run. Williams was excoriated in the press as a draft dodger and coward, although hundreds of thousands of men in similar situations had likewise applied with their respective draft boards and most were granted reclassification and/or deferments. In particular, a rather rabid and unpleasant reporter named Dave Egan, self-styled as "The Colonel", made it his personal mission to hound Williams for looking out for his family's interests, and can be said to be the main reason Williams was snubbed in his Triple Crown seasons. FWIW, once Williams had signed with the Red Sox and negotiated a substantial advance so he could purchase the life insurance policy that'd take care of his mother, he enlisted in the Navy and was granted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the USMC, becoming an aviator. Williams would remain stateside as an instructor (so would DiMaggio, although younger brother Dominic, who, like Ted, also enlisted in the Navy, did serve overseas, and attained the rank of CPO (E-7) ). Joe enlisted in the Army, being assigned to the Army Air Force as a PE instructor, and also remained stateside, although he requested a combat assignment. In 1952, with the Korean War dragging on, the Navy recalled many, who, like Williams, were in the inactive reserve, and he went back into the USMC as a Captain (O-3), trained on the F9 Panther, and flew combat missions in Korea, being the "wingman" of Major John H. Glenn...yes, THAT John Glenn, then known as the "MiG-mad Marine", long before his Mercury astronaut exploits.
@@selfdo Thank you for your response. It was interesting, informative and well thought out. But, you're preaching to choir. As I said previously, I love Teddy Baseball. He deserves to be on the Mt. Rushmore of all time great hitters. Also, as you noted, he was a decorated war hero and great American. And just so you know, I'm from NH and a Red Sox Fan. With that being said, and even with all of his incredible stats, how many players have won an MVP when their team came in third, 11 games out of first place? His hitting stats are absolutely gaudy, but again, how were his fielding and base running? Playing center field in the cavernous Yankeed stadium of 1941 was a difficult position. The Yankee Clipper was an all around great player. He made the players around him better. Especially the pitchers. In fact, he was named the greatest living player while he and Williams were both still alive. Just saying.
@@johnnh8646 Sports writers' favoritism doesn't overcome the stats. Sure, Joe had greater speed, there was actually a proposed trade after the 1948 season to bring Williams to the Yankees, and DiMaggio to the Red Sox, but the Yankees wanted Dominic to come to them as well, and were willing to pay handsomely for it, as Williams simply wasn't a center fielder in ANY ballpark. The Red Sox wouldn't go for it, they planned to have Joe alternate between left and right field, depending on who was pitching, and keep his brother in center. Yes, the habit was to award the MVP to who was considered the best player on the PENNANT winner, but there was already precedent to do otherwise. Williams was simply a much better hitter, although there's nothing about Joe's 1941 and 1947 seasons that said outright he didn't deserve consideration for the MVP...it's just that "Teddy Ballgame" was better. But not good enough to single-handedly carry the BoSox to an AL pennant; no one is consistently THAT good. And there are numerous examples of great hitters on terrible teams, at least the RedSox were usually competitive during the Splendid Splinter's tenure. They almost never get the "lo ve", and not even from their own front office. Look no further than Pirate slugger Ralph Kiner, who led the NL in HRs from his rookie season through his seventh. In that 1952 campaign, Kiner led the league not only in dingers but also free passes (110), a nod to how terrible the Pirates were that year at the plate, finishing 42-112, one of the seasons noted in the book on baseball futility, "ON A Clear Day, They Could See Seventh Place." After that year, Kiner was called into Pirate GM Branch Rickey's office, and Rickey cut his salary by $5K. Angered and disappointed, Kiner pointed out how great a year he'd had, but Rickey's (in)famous response was: "We finished last WITH you. We could finish last WITHOUT you." Williams didn't help his cause by feuding with sports writers and fans, even in his home town, but that simply shows how these awards tend to be more a popularity contest than an objective evaluation.
@@selfdo The Splendid Splinter would be proud of you. You’re a great advocate. Thanks for sharing the Kiner story. Too bad those guys didn’t have free agency.
Granted DiMaggio did not participate in real combat like Ted Williams did, but he did miss 3 years due to the war. 3 of his better years age 28,29,30. He probably would have batted closer to .330 lifetime and had another 90 Home Runs. Along with his CF defense being regarded as the best in MLB, which isnt even discussed here as to how he was an MVP.
George Brett is one of two players to hit in the .390s for a season. During his 1980 season, Brett was over .400 in September that year. He missed 44 games due to injury, but won the American league MVP. Tony Gwynn hit .394 in 1994.
All accounts I've heard about DiMaggio were negative. He was self-centered, arrogant, and quick tempered. He didn't want to serve in the military and yet claimed to be patriotic. It's fair to label him as a narcissist and a hypocrite.
First of all, awesome vid. I love your stuff. I will say this though. I don't mean to be so pedantic, but when you showed Williams in a Senators jersey, that's the one that became the Texas Rangers, not the one that was the Nationals and became the Twins. Just sayin'.
@@steverenom.299 Yes! They came into the National League in 1962 as the Colt 45s. Changed it to Astros in 1965. In 2013 they went from the National League to the American League.
Our Tigers had the game in the bag but, it required walking Theodore. Ball four got a tad to close and Ted sent it over the wall. Williams was the best hitter ever and, he usually caught practice fly balls behind his back. Dom Dimagio may have been the best fielder ever. Mickey Mantle a close second on fielding.
In 1941 there should have been two MVP’S Williams for his .406 BA and Joe DiMaggio for his 56 game hitting streak I firmly believe this was the right thing to do, and it should have been done
It was unfortunate that 2 great baseball players had one of the best years ever the same year. Joe DiMaggio was also a great fielder, Ted Willaims was not so this along with the fact that the Yankees won the pennant that year probably made the difference.
Several years ago a sports reporter in Boston said this---- you have to realize that some of these reporters and talking heads think they are bigger than the game. Isn`t that the truth.
The greatest hitter that ever lived period. Somewhere in an alternate universe, WW2 and korea doesn’t happen and Ted is better than babe Ruth for ages. But in this universe, the media treated him so poorly.
The 56-game hitting streak was a cheap pretense to snub Ted Williams in 1941. But then they snubbed him in 1942 without a pretense because Ted won the triple crown and not the MVP.
A somewhat similar situation decided by NYY bias will come up with Dustin Pedroia’s HoF candidacy. If Phil Rizutto is in, Dustin deserves to be in - twice. Beats him overwhelmingly in nearly every category.
I saw Ted Williams hit the 347th home run of his career! It was at Fenway Park on July 18, 1954.
One of my favorite memories: I was nine. My dad, grandpa, and I were sitting near third base together.
Ted Williams came to the plate. He was a Marine veteran returning home after flying combat missions in an F9F Panther Jet in Korea. Everyone cheered! He was a hero.
I heard the crack of the bat. The crowd roared. The ball soared so high over the right field fence that it looked like it might never come down.
Seriously cool story !
Doesn't get much better than that!
great memory
79 yrs young! Helluva memory to have sir!
Back when baseball was king and football was getting there and basketball no where near
Underrated and misunderstood.
If not for his military service, he would have hit over 600 HRs with over 4,000 hits.
That is part of what makes him great, too.
He might've gotten close to 700. He missed nearly five seasons in his prime.
@@gordons-alive4940 If he hit an average of 35 home runs per season he lost for service to his country he would indeed be close to that mark. And he did not take light duty either. He piloted fighter bombers and was good at it.
It is obvious to anyone that knows baseball that Ted was the greatest hitter of all time.
@@brakk727 And then, IIRC, he became a HoF pro sport fisherman.
At 1:39 it is mentioned that Williams played 139 games in 1939, but the screen image displays 149 games. That error gets corrected by 1:45. At 14:49 the author extrapolates career stats for Williams had he not missed games in service to his country, yet he uses a 162 game schedule, which did not exist during Ted's playing career. Still, nice job. We shouldn't lament the "lost" years. They weren't lost; service to one's country is a higher calling. Nothing takes away from the notion that Ted Williams is one of the greatest baseball players of all time and arguably its greatest pure hitter.
Another error: At 4:44 it says his !941 April/May OPS was 1,036, but it also shows his OPS and SLG, and they add to 1,206!
Those who voted for MVP back then didn’t like Williams because he wouldn’t kiss their asses.
Exactly.
@@waynejohanson1083 No. That wasn't the main reason.
And he wasn't a Yankee
True he was his own man a Marine fighter pilot in WWtwo and Korean war legend
Writers back then, as is still the case today were also the official scorers. There were more than a few plays were DiMaggio received some very generous scoring decisions on batted balls during his hitting streak, that were clearly errors. HOF Cleveland's SS Lou Boudreau was very loud about this stuff going on. Nothing could possibly have been as bad as it is today though. Every game I watch there are at least two plays that are scored incorrectly. Just by watching the error counts by position from say 1980 through today. Yearly error counts are way down too. Back in 1940 error counts were much higher! The numbers don't lie. Compare error totals by position from 1940 to 1990.
MVP, like HoF, was a POPULARITY contest. It's not that DiMaggio didn't have an MVP-worthy season, he DID...but Williams was simply BETTER, even during "Joltin' Joe's" fabled 56-game hitting streak.
I honestly don't know how to argue with Teddy being the best hitter that ever lived.
It's also beyond me how anybody can win the triple crown and not be the MVP.
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 Yankee favoritism. Where was the media center for the USA in 1941-1947? Speaks for itself.
Williams was a better hitter, period, than DiMaggio
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 Well there's this guy named Rogers Hornsby...
His statistics and conduct as a Marine Corps fighter pilot are even more impressive than his baseball stats.
What is worse is that Ted Williams was outvoted for the MVP in 1942 and 1947 when he was Triple Crown winner both seasons. New York writers didn't like him.
More to the point, BOSTON writers didn't like Ted and wouldn't vote for him. Cost him the 1947 MVP.
@@moeball740he wasn't a kiss ass and also spoke his mind.
That's absolutely incredible- to win two Triple Crowns, but no MVP Award.
And Williams came so close to winning a THIRD Triple Crown in 1949, winning the Homers and RBI titles, but missing the batting title (to George Kell) by only .0002! Truly the greatest hitter of all time.
@@bluemoon-20 He almost won the Triple Crown in 1941, too. He led the league in batting (of course) and home runs, but not RBI. He had 120 and DiMaggio had 125. I believe I've heard that Williams once reached base by either a hit or a walk in 80-some straight games.
@keithsmith4780 Mind-boggling. I know it's been talked about, but Williams lost those 3 years- in his prime- as a pilot in World War II, then parts of 2 more seasons in the Korean War.
I have an autographed plaque of Williams' stats, along with the projections of what he might have finished his career with no military service. The numbers are simply overwhelming.
Williams almost hit .400 again in 1957. He finished .388 at 39
If I recall, he missed .400 by only 12 hits. Williams by then had all the speed of a snail, and he commented that if he'd been younger he could easily have legged out 12 grounders for hits.
Probably the best season by any player at that age until Bonds
I have to downvote that, comparing an honest players season to a cheater is not legitimate.
@@GeraldM_inNCone of the complaints about Williams was it was a war year, his 57 season shut them up.
He couldn't run in '57 and always believed it was a better year than the '41 season. Considering he turned 39 years old in August I would have to agree. No one in MLB history has had a better hitting season at such an advanced age particularly in the live ball era.
In 1941 Dimaggio and Williams struck out a COMBINED total of only 40 times!!!
You mentioned the most interesting aspect of that season...Williams outhit DiMaggio during DiMaggio's streak AND his average dropped during that stretch.
How is this interesting? A streak don’t even mean you are playing well. Just consistent.
@@davruck1 Ehh...nothing WRONG with "consistency". What's oft-forgotten is that hitting is also a bit of LUCK. That is, one can hit a pitch squarely and absolutely crush it...and the ball finds its way to a fielder's mitt, though it might "smart", still an OUT. Conversely, as the fictional perpetual minor-league catcher Lawrence "Crash" Davis (Kevin Costner) explained it to an ever-clueless Ebby "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins):
Know what the difference between hitting .250 and .300 is? It's 25 hits - 25 hits in 500 at-bats is 50 points. There's six months in a season, that's about 25 weeks. That means if you get just one extra flare a week - just one - you get a ground ball with eyes, you get a dying quail, just one more dying quail a week ... and you're in Yankee Stadium.
Of course, I say MAKING CONTACT and working the count is what gets one the opportunity to get on base with those weak-assed hits, so discipline and skill are still involved.
There's another aspect which, some 83 years hence, we often fail to consider. The war clouds were rumbling proverbially just over the horizon. The economic news hadn't been good, with unemployment having spiked up to near the nadir of the Great Depression, and "da Goimans" (Germans) had overrun France and the Low Countries, had lined up most of the Balkans as allies, and had stomped through Yugoslavia and Greece. In North Africa, the "Desert Fox", Erwin Rommel, had turned around a certain total defeat in Libya of the Italians by the British; and had invaded Egypt and was threatening Cairo and to cross the Suez Canal. German U-boats were enjoying a "happy time", torpedoing and sinking Britain-bound ships almost at will. The WORST news, however, came in the middle of the '41 baseball season, as the Germans attacked the Soviet Union by surprise, and inflicted huge defeats, one after the other. The press was anxious that the USSR would surrender or at least sue for a peace that'd leave Hitler most of what he'd wanted. While certainly "Joltin' Joe" couldn't personally do anything about all that, his hitting streak proved a welcome distraction from all the bad news.
he was the best hitter in baseball hands down,,,,,,
Best ever. Read his book.
I could name a few who are better…. Let me know when ?
I liked Rod Carew's bat skills also.
@@michaelf6705 nice pick, he's one of my favorites too
Nope! Best hitter ever is still is Ty Cobb! Cobb lifetime batting average: .367 while Ted Williams: .344! Cobb it .300 or higher in 23 CONSECUTIVE SEASONS!! Take that for data! Mic drop!
Greatest hitter who ever lived.
At least top 2. Ted has the greatest hitter of all-time as Babe. So, do you go by what you've seen of Ted. Or since there's no real video, or at least not alot of video, so do you go by your eyes with Ted or do you go by what Ted says? Just food for thought. NO wrong answer if you chose either one.
@@isthiswherewecamein6130 I believe they are now saying Josh Gibson was the greatest hitter.
Barry Bonds, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charles, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Albert Pujols are the greatest hitters to have ever lived.
@@mastermace7770Bonds and Pujols?? Steroid kings like Piazza, McGuire etc. etc...
@@mastermace7770Looks like you like your coffee black and bitter.
Joe Gordon winning the MVP is insane. I get The Yankees was a dynasty in those days but his stats weren’t good compared to Ted Williams.
It was won by Joltin' Joe DiMaggio in 41 largely because of the 56-game hitting streak which is pretty fing hard to do, too.
You have proved how forgettable Gordon is by misspelling his name.
@@tomcat4841 oh shut up, it was mistake. There it’s fix so this comment is irrelevant now.
@@zoeledwards6617 Aren't we sensitive! Take your Fentanyl and have a lie down.
Man, can you imagine a team with both Joe D and Williams in the outfield?
It's incredible that Williams had two triple crowns plus a .406 season and didn't win MVP in any of them
Makes you wonder if the baseball writers did not like him.
Sports writers didn't like Boston.
corruption. lack of integrity.
It has only been the past couple of decades that the writers voted for the best player. previously a player had to be on a team that went to the World Series. That is why Willie Mays only won two MVP and Hank Aaron one during their careers.
@@stevenmeyer9674 you sure about that? what period of time are we talking about? Obviously they stopped it by 1986 since Mike Schmidt was named NL MVP. I wonder when it ended.
Real respect to Ted for telling the media to screw off after they told him how terrible he was for not seeing his family during the off season. I totally get that. My family growing up was super drama heavy and Im someone that likes peace and quiet and just wants to be left alone.
It is none of the media's business what he does in the off season. It is his life and he is entitled to his private life.
Did the media ever tell us how terrible Mickey Mantle was for being a drunk and career underachiever?
@@RayManzarekRocks It's ok, he was a Democrat!
@@peteshallcross787, and a Yankee, don't forget that part.
Williams fought for his country in WWII also. A great American and the greatest hitter.
DiMaggio had the 56 game streak. During this 56 game streak, Williams outhit him and had a better batting average.
...and the Bronx bombers won more games, the pennant, and the series
@@robmckrobmck5567 "...and the Bronx bombers won more games, the pennant, and the series"
Underscoring the fact that baseball is a team sport. The MVP, though, is an award for individual performance.
@@calguy3838 That's EXACTLY the point. For non-pitchers, we look primarily at their BATTING. After all, as Robert DiNiro, in his portrayal of bootlegger/gangster Al Capone put it, when at bat, it's the time for INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT. But, when fielding, he's...what? PART OF A TEAM. And despite whatever he achieves at the plate, he gets "nowhere" unless the TEAM wins. Fortunately, these days no one gets brained by a baseball bat from behind for failure.
@@calguy3838 The Yankee Clipper measured baseball success in pennants and WS rings. So, no player in MLB history impacted winning and established the Yankee mystique like Joe D. His aura, his presence, his respectability in the dugout and club house got every Yankee to buy in to winning in Oct. Teddy Ballgame was a better hitter but as a lefty in Fenway, he stubbornly pulled everything to right. With his vision and swing, he could've hit 400 every other year if he sent pitches careening off the green monster. Dimaggio was a rightie with a bigger strike zone who rarely struck out in the house that Ruth built.
He was on a pennant winning team 10 times, won 9 WS rings in 13 years. Teddy Ballgame won a pennant once
Ted Williams’ lifetime OPS+ was 191.
His last year, 1960, when he was 42, he managed an OPS+ of 190.
His lifetime OB % was .482.
The greatest pure hitter ever? Look no further than Ted Williams.
Depends on whether you count Barry Bonds. Which basically boils down to "if you use peds in a league where most players use peds, is it still cheating?".
@@harmonicarchipelgo9351 Barry Bonds only outmatches Williams in the power department. He os nowhere near him in Avg or Obs! Willie Mays was the greatest all around baseball player while Ted Williams was the greatest hitter.
Josh Gibson and Babe Ruth both had better career OPS+. And OB% includes reaching base by walk and hit-by-pitch, so it's more than hitting. But Williams certainly was one of the greatest pure hitters.
@@ron88303 Well this would be a bad analogy for the sake of the times. In those guys days the gloves were horrendous and they did not score errors as openly. This accounted for the higher OBS and even AVG. Williams still had a higher lifting Batting Avg
@@harmonicarchipelgo9351yes it’s still cheating because Griffey was clean but you pretend those players don’t exist
gotta wonder what ted's final numbers wouldve been had he not lost years to service in both ww2 and korea
You don't have to wonder. You can work it out,
Much like Eddie Murray who you did a video on earlier Williams was a victim of the media.
What happened with him?
We're all victims of the media now
@TyrannoJoris_Rex his accolades got suppressed by the media. never got the credit he deserved despite being probably the best to ever swing a bat
@@sn0ipe333 Why was Murray suppressed by the media?
@@TyrannoJoris_Rex he's never won an mvp despite hitting over 500 homers and having the 10th most rbis of all time. he's never been friendly with the media and as a result, the media hasn't been kind to him when it comes to mvp voting.
Joe Dimaggio was good but the MVP should have gone to Ted Williams.
I remember something about Ted Williams, in a test of reflexes, as I recall, he had the fastest reactions of any Marine pilot in World War II. And in the Korea War, he came up from the Marine Reserve and served as a jet pilot in combat. Typically, a full time Marine pilot would be paired with a Marine pilot brought up from the Reserve. They must have thought highly of him because he often flew as John Glenn's wingman.
Ted was my favorite player. I saw his 400th homer at Fenway Park. How exciting that was for me just visiting Boston that week.
If MLB had the sac fly rule in 1941 Williams would have batted .413.
Actually .417...I'm a nerd
@@gregtaylor113 In 1941 Williams had 456 at bats, with 185 hits, for a .405701 average. He had 8 RBI fly-outs. If those 8 RBI fly-outs did not count as at-bats, he would have had 185 hits in 448 at-bats, for a .412946 average.
That's a great point that I had forgotten about. He's the only .400 hitter in a year without the Sac Fly rule.
If he was hitting these days with the shift rule currently in effect; he would have hit for over ,600@@steverenom.299
@@billcuddyer7015 Lol. It would have been something to see, that's for sure.
Mind-boggling, to win two Triple Crowns (1942, 1947), but no MVP Award for either season.
And Williams came so close to winning a THIRD Triple Crown in 1949! He won the Home Run and RBI titles, but missed the batting title (to George Kell)- by only .0002.
Truly the greatest hitter of all time.
The definition of the award for in those days was “the player who contributed the most to his team’s success.”
In the era of two leagues who produced a single team to go to the World Series, that generally meant a player on the winning team.
The award, specifically, does not require the team of the MVP to win the Championship or even make the playoffs. But, if one wants to play that game, there is a stat whose very purpose is to gauge the value of a player to his team.
1941: WAR
Williams 10.4
Dimaggio 9.3
Soooo, not only did Williams have better stats, he contributed 1 extra win to the Red Sox compared to Dimaggio's contribution to the Yankees.
@@bauerj3398 I’m sure his WAR was a little higher, although, not that much.
Which is irrelevant, since the only war anyone was talking about involved Germany.
But I was explaining the thinking of the time.
You’re the one playing “the game” of applying modern logic and practices to something that happened over 80 years ago.
@@tomdeangelo7792 I am confused. You say that it was higher, but not that much. Those are the exact numbers. And the point of those numbers is to dismiss the notion that Dimaggio provided more value to his team simply because his team was better.
@@bauerj3398 you’re talking about a 1.1 difference in a stat that didn’t exist at the time.
The Yankees finished 17 games ahead of Boston, with the Yankees jumping from 4th to 1st during the streak, a lead they never relinquished.
Why is it so difficult for you to understand their way of thinking? Success was determined by wins vs losses, and finishing 1st.
You don’t have to agree with it.
@@tomdeangelo7792 I am talking about a stat with a 12% difference that specifically measures what we are talking about. And the most important thing? We are not just talking WAR. We are talking about who had the best season, and that was Williams. So, Williams had the better season, and the only rationalization that they come up with is the 'most valuable to the team' and now that is shown to be B.S. by Williams having a significantly higher WAR.
I understand their way of thinking. I know exactly why Dimaggio won. Why is it so difficult for you to understand that their 'way of thinking' had no basis in fact or even un-biased judgement?
Ted Williams 406 season batting average and Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak are 2 MLB records that will never be broken in my opinion!
The 56 game hitting streak is a record,the .406 isn't a record, just the last time to be achieved in the majors.
You’re right, my mistake. Hugh Duffy holds the record with 440.
With today's rules, Ted Williams would of hit .415
Back then the sacrifice fly rule was not in effect.
Best pure hitter of all time. Imagine if he could have played those 5 & 1/2 seasons he lost in his prime by serving his country at war. Imagine his stats!
I'm actually ok with Dimagio winning it in '41. It could've went either way and I'd be like ok. BUT,in '42? Come on!! Not even close. Led league in, BA, HR, R.B.I, BB,SLG, OBP, OBPS!! Like how does he NOT in it that year? I understand the Yankee lore, and all that, but, has anyone EVER led the league in ALL of those categories in the same season? Like before or since? I'd be shocked if they have. I'd be willing to bet half of everything I'm worth to bet I'm right about this.
I checked baseball reference because I was curious, and Babe Ruth never did it because of his average, and Barry Bonds never did it because of his RBI's. Technically you're wrong though. After a systematic check of triple crown winners, there was one other instance where a player led the league in all those categories... In 1947... Ted Williams did it again, and again lost the MVP to Joe Dimagio.
Just another reason why people have despised NY and the Yankees for decades. I'm not ok with DiMaggio winning in '41. He had a nice year, hit .357, Williams at .406. Ted's OBP was .553, more than 10 points higher than Joe's. .553!!! That's insane! Half his hits were probably balls outa the strike zone. One was in NY, married actresses, was mentioned in song, was a media darling. The other, not so much.
Judge very nearly led in all those categories 2 years ago. His average dropped in the last 2 weeks while chasing the AL home run record and he finished 2nd in BA.
And it took a season like that to beat Ohtani performing to his expectation. Because that's how good Ohtani is.
@@peteshallcross787 DiMaggio had a *nice year* ?? Well, if THAT isn't the understatement of the last 200 years. A year in which Joe D. had a 56 game hitting streak , a record that likely will never be broken.
Williams played in a bandbox of a ballpark (Fenway), whereas, DiMaggio played in a massive Yankee Stadium, death to RH power hitters. This was the OLD Yankee Stadium, before the '73/'74 renovations, yet still Joe hit 30 HR's/125 RBI's. The edge goes to Williams in OBP and the power stats, however, DiMaggio played a more difficult position (CF vs LF), had better speed, was a better baserunner and was clearly better in the field. The Yankee Clipper would have won gold gloves had they been awarded in the 1940's. Not the case with Williams. These are good reasons why DiMaggio was MVP.
@@jamesanthony5681 Well, Joltin Joe married actresses and his name is mentioned in songs, lol. Williams was a lefthanded pull hitter so the green monster had no advantage. Probably half his hits were out of the strike zone cuz pitchers could pitch around him, unlike DiMaggio. They both had records that year that will never be touched. I agree on the fielding end as a southpaw I played CF and RF for a long time. Yep, Joe had a great year but let's face it, one was a media darling, the other not so much. Kinda like Biden and Trump, hahaha! I still give Teddy the edge and I enjoy arguing with Yankee fans who are knowledgeable baseball fans. Cheers from the beer state, James!
Being a Yankee fan there was no love lost with the Red Sox and Ted Williams. Having said that, no one was a better hitter than Williams. He came so close to .400 at age 39. Had he not been a war hero in two different wars his stats would have been even more unbelievable. Imagine what he would have done as a Yankee playing in the Stadium with its short right field porch, especially with the preponderance of right handed pitchers. Too bad he had such a bad relationship with the press...seems they down-played a lot of his accomplishments but were sure to point out any time he had a bad game or left the winning runs on base (did not happen too often). I probably liked him more than most of his Boston fans. That said, DiMaggio was more of an all-around player-he could hit, he could run, he could catch, and he could throw. Ted...well he could hit. I was lucky enough to grow up with Williams, DiMaggio, the debate about the best center fielder in NYC-Mantle, Snider, or Mays-plus some of the best pitchers like Ford, Koufax, Spahn, Gibson, Seaver, Ryan, Palmer, et al. Pitchers now only go 6 or 7 innings vs the old days when you kept count of complete games and hitting .300 wouldn't even get a mention in the top 10 BA. Now anything above .330 is considered a rarity.
Won't even bother to discuss the salary differentials other than the fact that most players held down another job during the off-season to make ends meet. Thanks to the likes of Scott Boros that is no longer the case; even marginal players are making seven figure salaries plus endorsements.
TV money came into play.
The Splendid Splinter and Joltin' Joe (The Yankee Clipper), these gentlemen possessed qualities rarely seen in the famous today: pride in duty and LOVE of country. BTW--Joe's brother Dom was Ted's Red Sox teammate.
Nice choice of background music.
Vivaldi, super genius!
Be blessed, go Phil-boys!
He was able to hit for some much power as a lanky guy because of his lead arm dominant swing. Jaime Cevallos talks about it constantly.
If he had not missed those seasons due to WW2 and the Korean War he may hold several records .
More than several lol
Williams was a combat fighter pilot. Nor in the re
Williams was a fighter pilot in combat. Not in the rear with the gear or in a PR position.
@@daveprietojazz Wingman to the "MiG-mad Marine", John H Glenn. Yes, THAT John Glenn.
Willie Mays also missed time for the Korean War.
I've known this since I was a kid. It was a joke! The writers hated and stopped him from winning the MVP - twice! If I was Joe DiMaggio I would have given Williams the MVP Award. Writers voting for Awards was a travesty and they proved it!
I played in theFla instructional league in the Senators org. and privileged to meet Mr. Williams in 1969.He was a true gentleman.
Talking to my father and uncles it seems that most fans in the 40s believed that Williams was the best hitter in baseball, but DiMaggio was the more valuable player, a better fielder, base runner. Williams didn't seem too interested in the other aspects of the game., By 41 DiMaggio had become the team leader of the most successful team in baseball. Teddy was most of a loner..Overall I think DiMaggio was the more valuable player.
The way I see it.. DiMaggio’s feat was simply amazing! That being said, you can technically get at least 4 plate appearances per game and have 1 hit per game, thus hitting.250.
Ted Williams was amazing for a full season!
I’d like to add of course that DiMaggio was nowhere near a .250 hitter… he was an all time Great!!
Ted Williams doesn’t get much love in the GOAT conversation, which is a crime
The announcer said Williams played in 139 games in his rookie season, but the graphic shows 149. See, I was paying attention to the audio.
He will always be the greatest in my estimation
And your estimation is correct.
Interesting facts.
The Red Sox won the 1918 World Series September 11 1918. Ted Williams was born August 30 1918.
The Red Sox didn't win another World Series until 2004, Ted Williams died in 2002.
Well made video. Thanks!
17 games behind Yankees had something to do with this. sure he STILL deserved MVP but it was probably assumed someone would hit .400 again. Bill Terry did it 1930 11 years before and then in the 20's Hornsby, Cobb, Sisler
And, in Korea his wingman was... John Glenn.
If I remember correctly, John Glenn was the senior guy. He got the privilege of choosing his wingman. It says a lot about Ted Willliams abilities as a pilot that he would get chosen by Glenn to back up Glenn.
@@hrclyde7483 I suspect that Williams flew as good as he could hit. Eyesight, reflexes and hard work are rewarding in both disciplines.
Another reason why awards are not the true measure of the greatness of a player. In fact, they're a waste of time. I don't need a committee to tell me who's great.
The same is true in politics..
"Hey Ted - who is the very best hitter you have ever seen? / "Tony Gwynn" - Yep!!!
You could justify Dimaggio being more valuable in '41 because he was an elite center fielder while Williams was a mediocre left fielder. But the '42 snub was a travesty.
Ahhh, not really. And what about Marilyn?
@@peteshallcross787 How can you say "not really"? It has long been accepted that if two players put up similar stats, the more valuable one is the one who plays the more defensively-demanding position especially if he plays it well.
@@GeraldM_inNC Hey Gerald, love NC, my bro lives there. Joe had a nice year, to say he was a streaky hitter is an understatement. True, he had a more demanding fielding position but the batting stats are ridiculously in favor of Ted. Williams was 50 points higher than DiMaggio and Ted's OBP was .553, over 100 points higher than Joe's. .553!!! Always pitching around Ted. I wonder how many hits he had from balls out of the strike zone. The Yanks were so stacked they probably would have been champs without DiMaggio. One was a media darling, the other, not so much. Just another reason why people for decades despise NY and the Yankees . Cheers!
@@peteshallcross787 Williams never had a lineup around him comparable to any Yankee lineup. He didn't have all that much to drive in before him and never had anyone suitable behind him to protect the other team from pitching around him. Take Williams out of those lineups and they were mediocre.
@@GeraldM_inNC Agreed Gerald, more evidence how outstanding Ted was. The best hitter ever, imo. The greatest player ever imo was my boyhood idle who we lost this week. He's running in the outfield heavens right now I believe. RIP #24
The press like DiMaggio much more than Williams and the press does the voting. It helped that the Yankees went to the World Series. Ted also won the triple crown one year and lost the MVP to, I think, Joe Gordon.
The hitting streak is a fun stat, but in terms of winning games all it means is you are getting a lot of hits. Williams got a lot of hits, as in substantially more than DiMaggio.
Williams was head and shoulders above DiMaggio that year in terms of batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage (and by extension OPS), runs, home runs, etc. DiMaggio had a slight edge in RBI, but when that goes to the guy with lower batting and slugging, we're clearly seeing the influence of his World Series winning teammates getting on base.
Great video. The music was a little distracting, but otherwise I enjoyed it.
I'll take "the 56-game hitting streak captivated the nation, nobody thought at the time it would never happen again since the last was 11 years removed, and the Yankees won the pennant by 17 games that year" for 100, Alex.
The truth is, the '41 Yankees did not need DiMaggio to win the pennant. They won it by 17 games in a non-competitive league. DiMaggio had a 9.3 WAR that season. Now do the math . . .
DiMaggio was a right-handed hitter who played in Yankee stadium. Now do the math...
@@wmg5852 You're right -- DiMaggio played in a great ballpark for a line-drive hitter like him. And Williams played in a great ballpark for his skills set as well. Both played major roles in their success but should have had no effect on the MVP vote. #DoTheHomework
@@RayManzarekRocks Are you kidding me? You do realize Yankee stadium was a graveyard for righty power hitters. Joe hit .334 lifetime on the road with 213 Homers, at home he hit just .315 with 148. Just being a right-handed hitter in and of itself is a disadvantage. And Joe had it all over Ted in intangibles; if Williams played in the DH era, he would've been one. Ted was big on walking though; he did that great. Guess it won a lot of games for the Sox when he walked with 2 out and a man on second.
@@wmg5852 The worse the competition (.372 versus sub-.500 teams), the better DiMaggio was in '41. While Joe D. fattened up on cream puffs, Teddy Ballgame produced an insane .423/.556/.708 slash line versus opponents with .500-or-better records.
@@RayManzarekRocksAgain, are you kidding me??? The Yankees were the only team Williams faced that had a winning record!!! He hit damned good against them that year but so what, the Red Sox still had a losing record against the Yanks (I believe it was 9-13.) I notice you do not rebut anything I write, but trot out your own spin.
I’ve been a Yankee since I was old enough to remember anything. I always admired the Red Sox, my favorite players were Jim Rice followed by the Yaz Followed by Dwight Evans. I live in Florida now and I was finally able to go to Fenway Park and it was like going to church. I wish I would’ve seen Williams play, but it was way before my time. A lot of the best redsox players end up as Yankees.
Yeah. Even Luis Tiant went to the Yankees.
As a too-old Yankee fan who realizes the distinct advantage that left-handed hitters have, I am always amazed at the inability of people who think they know baseball, who do not take this simple fact into consideration when they're looking at stats. During his career, Ted Williams faced an inordinate amount of right-handed pitching, even more than Ruth and Gehrig. Look, Ted was great, one of the best, but to say that facing 75-80% right-handed pitching didn't help 'up' his stats, is just not true. It helped Cobb, Ruth, and Gehrig, and it helped Ted too. Joe DiMaggio was a great hitter too, who just happened to be right-handed; he also happened to play his home games in Yankee stadium, which was notoriously tough on right-handed power hitters. his lifetime BA was .325, but his lifetime BA in road games was .334, and he also hit 213 of his 361 Homers on the road. If he had hit left-handed, he would've been a complete monster in the old Yankee stadium. In 1939, he hit .381, and I may be wrong, but I don't think any right-handed hitter has approached it since. And let's not compare Ted and Joe when it comes to the intangibles (like fielding or base running), because we all know who was better.
77% of William's at bats were against righthanders. He hit .350 vs them, compared to .312 vs lefthanders. 71% of Dimaggio's at bats were against righthanders, who he hit .314 against, compared to .342 against lefthanders.
Ted Williams is among the two greatest players with what-ifs attached to their records. The other is Mickey. The reasons are slightly different, though; Ted's was honorable, whereas Mickey's was just sad.
Look at the time Williams missed doing military service. Imagine what is all time numbers might have been.
A ton of players lost 3 years to WW2 (yes, I know Williams served in Korea too), but everybody can play the what-if game with a lot of players. 'What if' Gehrig doesn't contract ALS, what if Babe Ruth didn't spend his first 5 years as a pitcher? So many players' careers are cut short by injury as well. Koufax retired at 30, and I'm sure he didn't want to.
Could it be that Williams was not liked by media as to why he did not win the MVP?
Ima new baseball fan just taking a ride down history lane getting to know the greats.
why does the camera have to ascend on every still frame. its completely maddening!
he hit .388 16 years later in 1957 and beat out my guy mickey for the batting title. imagine hitting .365 like mantle did and loose the title by 23 points!
At 4:49, it doesn't seem like the OPS is correct.
1059
Ted could see the stitches on a baseball.
Statistical proof shows that the Yankees would have won the typically lame American League by eight games with an average center fielder. DiMaggio won because of a 56-game batting streak, played in a big market and had the national media in his corner. BTW, Williams had comparable slash line(.412/12/50-408/15/55) during those 56 games with an OPS that was 43 points higher.
Damn Yankees! Williams also excelled as a pilot in the military and was recognized as an outstanding fly fisherman. Freeze him! DiMaggio was a jerk, stated by Mantle who Joey was jealous of. And what about Marilyn, lol?
Ted Williams was actually a real life John Wayne movie hero.
Stated by Mantle??? Cite your sources. Mantle was a fall-down drunk with 'questionable morals' (and that's a euphemism.)
Not on topic but I always admired Ted William's looks. Handsome guy
MVP is often awarded to the most valuable player on the pennant-winning team, or (in modern times) a contender in the postseason. That's not what the award should be, but that's the reality. The Yankees won most of the pennants in the 1940s and therefore most of the MVP awards. In Williams' era, there were no divisional playoffs, so your team either won the pennant in the regular season, or they tried again next year. Despite having a stellar career, he only played in one World Series (1946). Having the sportswriters make the selection was supposed to bring a level of objective analysis, but to a large extent the awards went to media favorites, a problem that continues to this day.
Light had been invented lol Jesus! They started installing lights in MLB parks as early as 1939, but not all parks had them yet. Wrigley Feild didn't have lights until 1988. I watched the game when they turned them on!
Ted would have gotten MVP during almost any season other than Joltin"Joes hit streak !
Williams may have been a grump, but Williams was an authentic hero, not just a baseball hero.
We're all aware of Williams' missing out because of his strained relationship w/ the press but DiMaggio's WAR (the stat that has a lot of weight with the stat nerds now) was 9.3 which was 2nd behind Williams and his team was 17 games ahead of the 2nd Place Red Sox that year (who went 9-13 against the Yankees and were 37-40 on the road vs. 47-30 at Fenway.)
So it's not like Steve Stone winning the Cy Young in 1980 over a vastly superior Mike Norris or something.
I once heard that he had 20/10 vision and could see the rotation of the ⚾ from the pitcher's hand.
If you think sports lournalism is crap today, you wouldn't believe how bad those baseball writers were. Thank God they no longer get to set the all star lineup.
Fans voting is no better.
My dad was a minor league player way back then. I am named for Ted.
Triple crown winner and no MVP? what a joke...
1:40 I hear 139 games played but the numbers display has 149.
IMO, the best hitter ever.
Even to this day, MVP is usually awarded to the best player on the first place team. For most of Williams' career, the first place team was the Yankees. If Williams hit 100 HR in a season, it would not have mattered. One notable exception to the unwritten MVP rule was Alex Rodriguez winning MVP in 2003, not only playing for a last-place team, but his contract was the main reason why his team finished last because they could not afford pitching. In some ways, the MVP was the LVP.
That's a bald-faced lie. First place is not a requirement for the award. Never has been.
@@RayManzarekRocks Then it's just an incredible coincidence that the MVP is usually from the first place team. I'm not saying that's the way it should be, but more often than not, that's the way it is. Go look it up and prove yourself wrong.
@@djcavanaugh That's a lie. There have never been a BBWWA HOF guideline that stipulates any candidate must be a member of a first-place team. In fact, MORE THAN 20 PLAYERS WON THE AWARD WHILE ON TEAMS THAT FINISHED LOWER THAN SECOND PLACE. Two Cubs players accomplished this with teams that were fifth (Banks twice) and sixth (Dawson).
@@RayManzarekRocks And Maury Wills in 1962. Willie Mays had arguably a much better season, and was a five-tool player, and still got snubbed.
@@selfdoMays was the real MVP that season. The problem was that the vote took place days before the World Series and. the Dodgers led the NL from July 7 until the final game of the best-of-three playoff series. Wills generated great support for the award because of his leadership and stolen base record (104), which helped change the game.
Tony Gwinn came close hitting .372 in the 80s. His eyesight was 15 15
There's some debate over whether Williams missing those 727 games cost him statistically. He might have had a shorter career due to injuries and normal wear and tear on his body. An athlete only has so many games that his body can endure.
I love Teddy Baseball. Perhaps the greatest hitter of all time. However, nobody knew at the time that he would be the last person to hit over 400. As great an achievement as that was, Bill Terry of the NY Giants had done it in 1930. And there were quite a few 400 hitters before him. However, only one person in the entire history of the game has ever had a hit in over 50 consecutive games. Let alone in 56. That was Joe DiMaggio. Plus DiMaggio was one of the greatest fielders and base runners of his time with a cannon for an arm. So, even though a very strong argument could be made that Ted Williams deserved the MVP, hitting in 56 consecutive games is a greater achievement than hitting over 400. Not to mention the other half of the game that needs to be played. DiMaggio deserved the MVP in in 1941.
Joe's average during that fabled 56-game hitting streak was still considerably lower than that of Williams, never mind the huge difference between the two in OPS. While a hitting streak captures the imagination, in the end, what does it actually CONTRIBUTE to the objective of any player being in the lineup, which DiMaggio himself would have endorsed (along with the Mr. Coffee machines), as versus overall batting average, and, combined with slugging percentage, the OPS? And in the much-ballyhooded "WAR" stat, although Joe's was indeed a gaudy 9.3, he was considerably bested by "Teddy Ballgame's" 10.4. That sez the "Dead Sox" would have been a LOSING team w/o him, whereas the Yankees could likely have won the AL pennant w/o DiMaggio (although it'd not been so memorable). Any objective analysis reveals that Williams got SCREWED by the BBWAA, and not just in 1941. The snub was even more egregious the following year, as Williams won his first (but not LAST) Triple Crown. Part of the reason was that, of course, over the off-season, Pearl Harbor had happened, and Williams, who'd thanks to being the sole support of his mother, had been, like anyone in his situation, classified 3A in the Draft, found himself reclassified to "1A", as were all men thus categorized. He went to his draft board to protest the re-classification, as he'd not yet signed a new contract with the Red Sox (they held back, wanting to see if there'd be baseball at all, and if he'd be drafted or not), and since SGLI wasn't a thing in 1942, he desired to purchase a life insurance policy (probably a pre-paid single term) that'd take care of his mother should he be killed in combat. His San Diego-based Draft Board reviewed his case, and I believe one of its members was the largest stockholder of the PCL San Diego Padres, who Williams had played for even as a high school senior, and granted him being restored to the '3A' status, which rendered him practically immune to the Draft in the short run. Williams was excoriated in the press as a draft dodger and coward, although hundreds of thousands of men in similar situations had likewise applied with their respective draft boards and most were granted reclassification and/or deferments. In particular, a rather rabid and unpleasant reporter named Dave Egan, self-styled as "The Colonel", made it his personal mission to hound Williams for looking out for his family's interests, and can be said to be the main reason Williams was snubbed in his Triple Crown seasons. FWIW, once Williams had signed with the Red Sox and negotiated a substantial advance so he could purchase the life insurance policy that'd take care of his mother, he enlisted in the Navy and was granted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the USMC, becoming an aviator. Williams would remain stateside as an instructor (so would DiMaggio, although younger brother Dominic, who, like Ted, also enlisted in the Navy, did serve overseas, and attained the rank of CPO (E-7) ). Joe enlisted in the Army, being assigned to the Army Air Force as a PE instructor, and also remained stateside, although he requested a combat assignment. In 1952, with the Korean War dragging on, the Navy recalled many, who, like Williams, were in the inactive reserve, and he went back into the USMC as a Captain (O-3), trained on the F9 Panther, and flew combat missions in Korea, being the "wingman" of Major John H. Glenn...yes, THAT John Glenn, then known as the "MiG-mad Marine", long before his Mercury astronaut exploits.
@@selfdo Thank you for your response. It was interesting, informative and well thought out. But, you're preaching to choir. As I said previously, I love Teddy Baseball. He deserves to be on the Mt. Rushmore of all time great hitters. Also, as you noted, he was a decorated war hero and great American. And just so you know, I'm from NH and a Red Sox Fan. With that being said, and even with all of his incredible stats, how many players have won an MVP when their team came in third, 11 games out of first place? His hitting stats are absolutely gaudy, but again, how were his fielding and base running? Playing center field in the cavernous Yankeed stadium of 1941 was a difficult position. The Yankee Clipper was an all around great player. He made the players around him better. Especially the pitchers. In fact, he was named the greatest living player while he and Williams were both still alive. Just saying.
@@johnnh8646 Sports writers' favoritism doesn't overcome the stats. Sure, Joe had greater speed, there was actually a proposed trade after the 1948 season to bring Williams to the Yankees, and DiMaggio to the Red Sox, but the Yankees wanted Dominic to come to them as well, and were willing to pay handsomely for it, as Williams simply wasn't a center fielder in ANY ballpark. The Red Sox wouldn't go for it, they planned to have Joe alternate between left and right field, depending on who was pitching, and keep his brother in center.
Yes, the habit was to award the MVP to who was considered the best player on the PENNANT winner, but there was already precedent to do otherwise. Williams was simply a much better hitter, although there's nothing about Joe's 1941 and 1947 seasons that said outright he didn't deserve consideration for the MVP...it's just that "Teddy Ballgame" was better. But not good enough to single-handedly carry the BoSox to an AL pennant; no one is consistently THAT good.
And there are numerous examples of great hitters on terrible teams, at least the RedSox were usually competitive during the Splendid Splinter's tenure. They almost never get the "lo ve", and not even from their own front office. Look no further than Pirate slugger Ralph Kiner, who led the NL in HRs from his rookie season through his seventh. In that 1952 campaign, Kiner led the league not only in dingers but also free passes (110), a nod to how terrible the Pirates were that year at the plate, finishing 42-112, one of the seasons noted in the book on baseball futility, "ON A Clear Day, They Could See Seventh Place." After that year, Kiner was called into Pirate GM Branch Rickey's office, and Rickey cut his salary by $5K. Angered and disappointed, Kiner pointed out how great a year he'd had, but Rickey's (in)famous response was:
"We finished last WITH you. We could finish last WITHOUT you."
Williams didn't help his cause by feuding with sports writers and fans, even in his home town, but that simply shows how these awards tend to be more a popularity contest than an objective evaluation.
@@selfdo The Splendid Splinter would be proud of you. You’re a great advocate. Thanks for sharing the Kiner story. Too bad those guys didn’t have free agency.
Granted DiMaggio did not participate in real combat like Ted Williams did, but he did miss 3 years due to the war. 3 of his better years age 28,29,30.
He probably would have batted closer to .330 lifetime and had another 90 Home Runs. Along with his CF defense being regarded as the best in MLB, which isnt even discussed here as to how he was an MVP.
Great video
George Brett is one of two players to hit in the .390s for a season. During his 1980 season, Brett was over .400 in September that year. He missed 44 games due to injury, but won the American league MVP. Tony Gwynn hit .394 in 1994.
All accounts I've heard about DiMaggio were negative. He was self-centered, arrogant, and quick tempered. He didn't want to serve in the military and yet claimed to be patriotic. It's fair to label him as a narcissist and a hypocrite.
Hmmm, if Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto were alive, I'd love to hear (or see) their response to this 'labeling.'
Let's have a hall of fame baseball draft.
your mic has some kind of scratchy metallic distortion
Didn't notice as I was listening at low volume, but you're right. It cuts out pretty frequently as well.
Ruth wasn't traded he was SOLD. That's a big difference. If he was traded who did they get back for him?
Great point. What did they get back.
He was sold so the owner could finance a Broadway play
He wasn't a Yankee. The end.
THANK GOD....Yankees suck...
He is the greatest hitter who ever lived and there is no real coherent argument against it.
First of all, awesome vid. I love your stuff. I will say this though. I don't mean to be so pedantic, but when you showed Williams in a Senators jersey, that's the one that became the Texas Rangers, not the one that was the Nationals and became the Twins. Just sayin'.
Good job. Are the current Athletics descendants of the old American League Philadelphia Athletics? I lost track of all that.
@@steverenom.299 Yep. Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City, then to Oakland.
@@SleapeeHed Thanks again. Can I bug you some more? Are the old Houston Colt 45's the same team as the
current Houston Astros?
@@steverenom.299 Yes! They came into the National League in 1962 as the Colt 45s. Changed it to Astros in 1965. In 2013 they went from the National League to the American League.
@@SleapeeHed Thanks. You're better than "Alexa". Lol.
He was a Demi god of baseball. Greatest hitter of all time.
The 1930's Yankees should have traded a cheesecake and some 10 year old bourbon for Williams. He would've won many MVP awards and championships.
Our Tigers had the game in the bag but, it required walking Theodore. Ball four got a tad to close and Ted sent it over the wall. Williams was the best hitter ever and, he usually caught practice fly balls behind his back. Dom Dimagio may have been the best fielder ever. Mickey Mantle a close second on fielding.
In 1941 there should have been two MVP’S Williams for his .406 BA and Joe DiMaggio for his 56 game hitting streak I firmly believe this was the right thing to do, and it should have been done
Keep in mind that due to less foul territory and an easy green monster target, Fenway is an easier park to hit in.
Williams hardly ever sent a ball towards the Green Monster.
It was unfortunate that 2 great baseball players had one of the best years ever the same year. Joe DiMaggio was also a great fielder, Ted Willaims was not so this along with the fact that the Yankees won the pennant that year probably made the difference.
Several years ago a sports reporter in Boston said this---- you have to realize that some of these reporters and talking heads think they are bigger than the game. Isn`t that the truth.
Very good question. Because the baseball writers hated Ted Williams.
The greatest hitter that ever lived period. Somewhere in an alternate universe, WW2 and korea doesn’t happen and Ted is better than babe Ruth for ages. But in this universe, the media treated him so poorly.
The 56-game hitting streak was a cheap pretense to snub Ted Williams in 1941. But then they snubbed him in 1942 without a pretense because Ted won the triple crown and not the MVP.
Ted also reached base in 85 consecutive games... mlb record
A somewhat similar situation decided by NYY bias will come up with Dustin Pedroia’s HoF candidacy. If Phil Rizutto is in, Dustin deserves to be in - twice. Beats him overwhelmingly in nearly every category.