Ted Williams Was Robbed of Baseball's GOAT Status 

I will forever argue that Joe DiMaggio’s mainstream popularity hurt Ted Williams’s career when Ted was CLEARLY the superior baseball player.

In addition to being in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Ted Williams is also in the Fly Fishing Hall of Fame. Can't leave that detail out.

Ted Williams may have had his issues with the media, but his response to the farting question was absolutely spot on.

He was hitting.3999 going into the last day of the 1941 season. He refused to sit out the end of the season, and raised his avg to .406. And during his "lost" seasons, he was a fighter pilot! He once landed a jet on fire! Ted WAS the hero John Wayne always played in the movies.

Just looking at his stats. He only had one year hitting under .300, having under a 1.000 OPS, under a .400 OBP and under a .500 Slugging. All in the second to last year of his career. That is absolutely mind blowing.

When I was 8 years old and in 2nd grade, we had a project where we had to dress up like our favorite historical person and give a quick presentation and speech to the class. Being a little baseball stat nerd, and reading books about the legends, naturally, Teddy Ball Game was my favorite. The class looked at me cluelessly and bored as I rattled off some of his accomplishments on and off the field. I wasn't even voted in the top 3 best presentations, despite my cool baseball uniform. Now, 33 years later, I can rest easy, and am vindicated by this wonferful video, knowing I chose wisely. And to anyone wondering, NO, I did not tip my cap to the class nor the teacher. I think Ted would be proud.

It is worth noting that much of the reason Williams struggled so much in the 1946 World Series was because he got hit in the elbow by a pitch in an exhibition game before the World Series. It was mentioned in a Ted Williams documentary in 2009 or 2010 I think.

he'll make a comeback in the near future and get back those prime years missed

One thing that isn’t talked about often enough is how discriminated against Ted Williams was. His mother was Spanish-Mexican-American and he said something along the lines of “if I had her last name they wouldn’t have even let me play.” I assume it plays some role in his relationship with the media.

When I played little league in the early 90's, we had a hitting instructor who was taught by Ted Williams. Taught me to try and line up my finger knuckles instead of my hand knuckles and right away, I started hitting the ball so much farther til I went from back up to all-star that season. Just that one little adjustment that came from Ted Williams teaching changed how good I was at batting. My dad was old school and born in the 30's and had been trying to teach me the same thing on Williams grip but I was stubborn. He died before the year I made all-stars. You was right Dad. Ted Williams grip was perfect!

That 99 All Star pre-game was such a moment, I'm so glad I was able to witness it as it happened. Still gives me goosebumps.

Dude sacrificed 30 war to fight in a war what a chad

Teddy was not a jerk. Ted Williams is a great man and war hero. He donated his time to the kids and the jimmy fund that supports children with medical needs. Ted was a fine fly fisherman and has many records in saltwater fishing. ❤ this man

my favorite baseball stat is that ted williams is one of only two players to win two triple crowns, in 1942 and 47. he lost the mvp award vote both of those years. since, no triple crown winner has ever lost an mvp race. unbelievable.

Mike Trout has never had a single season OPS as high as Ted's career OPS. That's nuts.

One of the things I appreciate about Williams's career over a lot of the early greats is that he has sufficient post-integration numbers to make a judgment on how he performed in that environment, and the answer is "he still raked."

“All I want out of life is that when I walk down the street folks will say, ‘there goes the greatest hitter who ever lived’”

I've been waiting for someone to make a video like this but man you did this in such a way that I was crying at the end. Ted is truly the GOAT of Baseball

Totally agree. I will note that Boudreau in 1948 was also a player-manager. That wasn't supposed to count in MVP voting, but it did sometimes (see also Mickey Cochrane 1934).

He also holds the record for consecutive games reaching base safely (hit, walk and hit by pitch) with 84 in 1948. Error dropped 3rd strike and fielder's choice don't count).

Ted was such a talented pilot that much to his chagrin the military kept him training pilots for most of WWII. He’s also in like two separate fishing hall of fames. He was a super talented person.

Ted Williams was to baseball what David Pearson was to NASCAR. Neither were the GOATs, but both consistently whooped them, and were only limited by their lack of starts.

Babe Ruth pitched had and 94 wins with back to back seasons with 23 and 24 wins and career era was 2.28 with 488 strike out....he also hit the ball well too :) When I was 7 y/o I went with my friends father fishing in the Marmichi River in New Brunswick with some tall old guy....who ended up being Ted Williams....who was also pretty good

Cloudbuster Nine is a fantastic book about Ted’s time in the military during WWII. Great read, I highly recommend.

0:29 "Baseball doesn't have a guy they put on a pedestal".......you serious?🤔🤣

He has always been the greatest hitter ever in my book. No one ever reports on it but he was even harder as a manager. He thought all pitchers were stupid etc.😂

When asked what he wants to be remembered for Ted answered: When I walk down the street, I want people to see me and say “there goes the greatest hitter to ever live” He was. He is. If he hadn’t _also_ been one of the greatest fighter pilots of his era (facts, look it up) while fighting in TWO wars IN HIS PRIME, he’d have record on top of record. Ted was inhuman.

Wasn't his wingman in Korea someone famous too? Like a famous astronaut or something????

He is now one of my fav players. Thank you for this

I didn't realize he won Triple Crown sandwiched around his military service. this right there just goes to show how diabolical he was. In his 1941 season he was hitting .39957 or something like that and the Red Sox had a doubleheader on the last day and went 7-8 I believe to get to .406. he would not sit on his laurels to round up to .400. he wanted to actually hit .400 or better without rounding this might be the greatest documentary I have seen on a player. you hit on everything and even somethings that people do not mention.

My grandmother's favorite baseball player. He chose to serve over baseball and that alone is worthy of respect

Great video. The 3 greatest hitters all lost significant time for different reasons. Ruth was a pitcher his first 3 full seasons. Gehrig lost his last 5 years to tragedy. Williams lost 5 prime years to war. Williams would also be the all time leader by a large margin in runs and RBI's with around 2,500 each.

I might be wrong, I don't think Williams said he was the greatest player of all time. He said greates hitter

holy crap, two of my favorite things ever in one video! wrasslin' and pre-dodgers-leave-brooklyn era (mostly since he played for like 40 years) baseball.

Thanks for putting up this video..i had a replica ted williams card. thats as close as i can come to one..i was 14 at the time. Good times...id love for you to do mickey mantle or pete rose next! im subscribing takes me back to the old days im 42 now

Amazing video! Would you be able to make a video rewarding MVPs throughout history to their rightful players? I think we need a new perspective on MVP awards

My grandfather played tennis with Ted regularly in Florida during the 70s He also took my dad to see his final game, HR.

If Ted played in Yankee Stadium as a home venue, he probably would've had 700+ HRs, even with his military service.

You also failed to mention the reason he was so good. His eyesight was so good it went beyond their ability to measure it at the time. So he could see the ball better than anyone else.

He IS the GOAT

Great job on this video. My dad would tell me how great Ted was when I was growing up. I had the pleasure of watching Carl Yastrzemski (no slouch either). But you covered all the bases here (no pun intended).

There's no doubt in my mind that Babe Ruth was the greatest player ever, and I don't think it's close. He might have made the Hall of Fame as a pitcher if his hitting hadn't been so outstanding that he moved to the outfield. In his official rookie year, Babe led the AL in winning percentage, and in the following season, won 23 games, led the league in ERA, and set a record for consecutive scoreless innings in World Series play that stood for 45 years. A couple of years later his hitting started to dominate...

I am a Canadian who grew up reading about all the greats in books; but I'm not immersed in the culture. As a result I had no idea he was such an ass to the media; I already had him with Nolan Ryan as my GOATS, this makes me like him more.

and also the best Mexican-American hitter ever as his father was of Hispanic origin.

The splendid splinter was one of the best to ever step foot on a baseball field he was also an amazing pilot too

He was also a fighter ace and flew 37 combat missions in Korea

Also his book: The Science of Hitting is a solid read for anyone who wants to play baseball in.

Williams during WWII was an instructor and didn’t see active duty during the war. So all of his active duty combat missions came in Korea, where his life was very much on the line. He even got shot down on his first combat mission.

And there goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived

100% you can argue Ted to be the goat. He went and fought in the war and came back. A true American hero

If we put together all the years Ted Williams won MVP, got snubbed of MVP, would have won MVP but didn’t qualify because of injury, and years he lost in both World War II and the Korean War which were his prime so he should have been just as good if not better, Williams would have won 15 MVP awards in a row from 1941 to 1955. This is a stretch but it’s still insane.

One thing about Ted Williams was that he was partially Mexican from his maternal side. Considering the time he played, it wasn't something he actively advertised. I'd also highly recommend watching his interview with Ted Gwynn. It's crazy how far ahead of his time he was.

U say Ted Williams disliked the media and then show a clip of “stuttering John” from Howard stern asking him aboot farting in a catchers face?! The media is awful, was awful, has only gotten worse and worse and worse over the decades and generally writers should never vote for anything that actually matters or has relevance. Stuttering John from Howard stern when Ted Williams was how old?! Nice one ☝🏾

Never forget, Ted played in a game with an infamous spitballer. When asked after the game how his teammates went hitless but he went 3/5 he replied with “yeah, he throws a nasty spitball but I hit the dry side”

This is an excellent video I'm so glad that younger people ( I'm 55) still keep the old heros from yesteryear still relevant to this dsy. I love how you understand some of the issues Ted did have, like with the media, for instance, how he treated the fans and such. So this piece is not all glad handing the viewership. You bring stats to the forefront but also discuss the intangibles, and I loved Pete Weber inserted into the discussion. Now only 1 thing that I differ in this awsome video has nothing to do with Ted Williams, it's everything to do with the modern term "GOAT" I may agree to most of the choices you cited except for one. Tom Brady is not the GOAT. He may be the best qb of all time due to the length of service and his enormous numbers tops on virtually all qb stats. Yet players like Montana, Unitas, Bradshaw , Staubach etc etc all played a different numerical amount of seasons. So Brady, who played for 20 years or more, most likely would have theae kind-of numbers. Ted missed 5 plus seasons, and your analysis proves thst he could have shattered Ruth's home run record, for instance. So alit of non stat fans and the media coin Brady the GOAT based on the fact that he won 7 Superbowls and lost 3. Ten superbowl appearances, and he won 7 in his entire career. That's the most in the SuperBowl era in professional football. In a league that has 32 teams and plays a 16 game schedule , now 17 game.... So here comes the name that challenges the Brady argument.. Otto Graham.... Thus, the guy entered into professional football for the All American Football Conference for the Cleveland Browns. So before the stats come to play, I just want to state that if anyone thinks this is an inferior league, I say this. The NFL had only a handful of teams. The AFCC had a handful of teams. You're a professional football player making money. Thus, you represent the best in the world. Back then, even Canadian Football had some great players that moved over to the NFL. So even with all three leagues in place, they still don't add up to 32 teams. So what I'm saying is back when Graham played no matter whatnkeague you played in you still are the best inbthe world and if those players were taken and applied to today's teams in numbers all three leagues coukd be accommodated a d fit within the 32 team format. So I don't want to take away from the Wiliams video, but maybe you could do something like this for Otto Graham. Now the proof. Otto Graham played only ten seasons. He played qb in all ten of those seasons. While in the AAFC, his team appeared in the championship game every year for 4 years, and his team won all 4 of them. 4 championship appearances 4 wins. So the league then defaulted, and the NFL absorbed the Cleveland Browns among a few others. Now, he is actually in the consensus biggest league. He comes out and the Cleveland Browns with the championship. 5 championship appearances in a row and 5 wins. In fact, that 5th win he ran for 99yards passed for 295 and had 4 touchdowns. Numbers that rival qb's of today. The Browns appeared in the next three NFal championships and lost three in a row. It's hard, and I mean really hard tonhavebthe best record in season yet win the final. So, 8 years in a row at this level a championship game in every season he played. Then, in the next two years, the Browns made it to the final, and they won both of them. Graham was named MVP in his last season. A ten year career. Ten championship appearances Seven championship trophies A titalnrecord of 7 and 3, which is identical to that of Tom Brady in half the seasons played. Identical! Brady needed to win 8 to be the GOAT in my book. Sorry Tom, you probably would have gotten it during that undefeated season only to lose to Eli Manning led Giants. But as I said before, it's hard to win the final each and every time. But even harder to appear in 10 in a row. Cheer up, Buffalo and Minnesota. someday you'll get yours... I rest my case, your honor.....

“Think about sports…” is not a question.

Every story i hear about people meeting Ted or interacting with Ted they all say he was a really nice or good guy

There were no sac flies in MLB in 1941. Had there been, Ted Williams' batting average in 1941 would have been .413.

Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio... all considered kings when I was growing up. Ted Williams? In the conversation sometimes, my step dad's favorite player, but generally snubbed. And yeah, that is crazy.

Babe was always THE GUY.

In baseball history, Ted Williams is the biggest What If. The potential MVPs aside, think of the personal stats he could have had if he had not missed seasons to the wars. He grew up wanting to be known as the greatest hitter of all time and he is pretty much the greatest hitter of all time.

Ted Williams is pretty GOATy. And we are also grateful for his service.

This raises an interesting question. If you made another video for Babe Ruth, arguing that he should have had more MVP's in the same way you made the case here for TW, I wonder if the stats would justify leaning back towards the Babe as GOAT.

Was that a “one beer” instrumental in the background? 🔥

Absolutely phenomenal presention!

Outstanding video !!

Never forget what the europoors took from you

Once upon a time I crunched the numbers in a spreadsheet, approximating the stats Ted lost serving in the military and adding them back in to his career totals. Very basic and un-scientific but I became convinced if Ted had not missed all that time due to wars then when he retired he would have owned virtually every major all time batting record including Runs Scored, RBI, Doubles and maybe even HR. In addition to OBP, which I believe he already owns and a couple of others.That's before elevating his WAR and all the other SABR type numbers of today.

No rings I'm a Boston man, but Ted Williams didn't bring home the title.

ah......babe...RUTH?!

He hit .200 in his only world series appearance back when it's only the AL and NL pennant winners go in. Has there been a wild card the Red Sox would been in during the 1941, 1949 seasons. Was not good with the media and the fans. Yet to me he's the greatest hitter to ever play baseball. That swing was pure and a very tough out.

One of the low key biggest accomplishments a hitter can achieve is to have an OPS of 1.250 for a whole season. Three players have combined to do it 12 times in MLB history; Babe Ruth did it six times (1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1927), roid-aided Barry Bonds did it four times (2001-04), and Ted Williams did it the other two (1941 and 1957). If anything screams one of the best baseball players ever, that is it.

As a native San Diegan I can say without any bias that Ted is the greatest player of all time

He was .399+(which would have given him a .400 Avg for the 1941 season)going into the final game(a doubleheader)he refused to sit,and went 6 for 8 giving him .406 was incredible.

I often wonder he would have done if he didnt spend some of his prime years in the military. I read an article he did analyzing hitting. I never looked at it thst way until i read that article. I just like hitting a ball.

Finally someone says it & does it with A Great video . Most definitely Thee 🐐 Missed over 4 of His PRIME ⚾️ Seasons His #’s are Stupid sick

Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, and Albert Pujols are my GOATs. If we include leagues outside of the MLB I'd include Ichiro and Josh Gibson. A few guys currently playing have a shot, but they have to finish out their careers doing crazy shit to make it, like Trout, Ohtani, Judge, Soto, and a few more

I had the great pleasure to watch Ted Williams play at Fenway Park. There is no doubt that he was the greatest hitter of all time. This video proves the case that this is so. But the greatest baseball player of all time is Babe Ruth. Why? World Series ERA. There is a kid playing today who could challenge those kinds of numbers. But he has a long way to go and it remains to be seen if he will continue as a pitcher. The only number higher than The Babe's or Teddy Ballgames stats are the number of times I cried watching this. LOL

The dude driving straight down the fairway at 0:53 triggered my golf etiquette OCD in ways I can’t begin to explain.

Willie Mays is the GOAT 660 Home Runs best centre fielder of all time and should have won 9 MVP if writers had access to modern day stats

I read Ted Williams book on hitting, I believed he proved and uppercut swing was best, but most coaches I know teach a level swing.

Great video!

It's actually a fair question to suggest whether Ted Williams was a better baseball player than Tris Speaker Another Red Sox legend!

Crazy: He lost his age 24 to 26 plus 34 to 35 seasons to service. Add about 160 HRs and 600+ RBIs to his career to get an idea of his greatness.

Can you please do a video about Albert The Machine Pujols legendary St Louis Cardinals era

What made Ted Williams the GOAT in baseball, also made him possibly the GOAT at something else no one talks about, as a fighter pilot. His combination of perception, perfection and reflexes. Oh, don't forget sport fishing as well! Do you have any Sears Ted Williams fishing equipment? I just wonder what else no one talks about that he was great at. Obviously one of the great competitors of all time.

I know it's common in sports to describe the MVP as given to the best player on the best team nowadays, rather than the best player overall. But the emphasis on team success was even greater back in Ted's day. Back then there would be multiple instances of players with merely good statistics winning mvp solely for being on a pennant winning team. The worst example was Marty Marion winning it in 1944, despite not even being the most valuable player on his own team, let alone the league. Back then if you tried to make an argument about how one player's supporting cast was way better than the other, it would have been immediately dismissed as whining and excuse making. While it still exists today, it was even more common back then to see the argument that despite having lesser stats, the pennant and mvp winning player was more of a leader and winning player and the other guy just put up empty stats and didn't do much to help their team win.

Finally somebody gave Ted the recognition he deserves, I've been saying he was the best hitter in baseball history forever. But im also a red sox fan so I'm kind of biased

Besides all those valid arguments the Red Sox management failed to take advantage of the availability of Negro players who could provide speed, defense and pitching. The Yankees had Elston Howard (who couldn't run, as Casey used to whine about but was an MVP) while it wasn't until 1959, Williams next to last season, when they signed Pumpsie Green, who was not a Willie Mays. Also, the stuborness of the Red Sox trying incessantly to find right handed hitters who could demolish the Green Monster hurt the team more than it helped. Even with those failures the team remained a contender during most of Williams career. Thanks for this great video, completely agree with you, Ted should have won more MVPs. Blessings from San Juan, PR 🇵🇷.

Bro. Love Ted Williams. Probably greatest hitter ever. But Babe's the unquestioned GOAT. He won over 90 games as a pitcher.

Everybody was worrying about Dimaggio

Just, war sucks.

"The only player better than Ted in [insert category] was Babe Ruth." Oh, and Babe Ruth was also one of the best pitchers ever. Can we please....PLEASE.....stop acting like Babe Ruth wasn't head and shoulders above EVERY other MLB player? Including Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Shohei Ohtani, etc.?

Ted williams and tony gwynn make me proud to be a San Diegan, they're both amazing baseball players and even better men

0:00 - 2:26 Am I the only one singing along to the background music, waiting for the drum fill?

Well, I’m convinced. Great video!

Basketball you have arguments for Russell, Wilt, Magic, Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, and my personal choice, Larry Bird. Personally I think Ted was the greatest hitter of all time with the possible exception of Barry Bonds. But I think I have to rate Babe Ruth as a better *player* given his pitching ability. Shohei is the first to challenge Ruth for total contribution in both sides of the ball, although if Ichiro had been given more opportunities to pitch or at least play Center Field I could see him having a case. My favorite stat about Ted Williams is he had a 84-game on base streak, the MLB record. Second is Joe Dimaggio, who had 70-something, including his 56-game hitting streak. Third is... Ted Williams again, with 66 I think it was. Nobody else has more than 60 and only a couple even have 50.

Ted might have gotten 700 homeruns if his military service hadn't interfered

What an absolute legend.

Williams out hit DiMaggio during the 56 game hitting streak. Goat