MVP Profile: Ted Williams, 1949

Outfielder, Boston Red Sox

Age:  31 (Aug. 30)

8^th season with Red Sox

Bats – Left, Throws – Right

Height: 6’3”    Weight: 205 

Prior to 1949:

A San Diego native, Williams played youth baseball prior to excelling as a hitter and pitcher at Herbert Hoover High School. While still in high school he signed with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League in 1936. Used exclusively as an outfielder, he batted .271 in 42 games. Still with the Padres in 1937, he improved his average to .291 with 23 home runs. He signed with the Red Sox and was assigned to the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association in 1938. Brash and cocky as well as talented, Williams hit .366 with 43 home runs and 142 RBIs to win the league Triple Crown. The player called “The Kid” at that time was promoted to the Red Sox in 1939, where he was a highly publicized phenom with his picture-perfect swing that generated power and average. Playing in right field as a rookie, “The Splendid Splinter” batted .327 with 44 doubles, 11 triples, and 31 home runs and led the AL with 145 RBIs and 344 total bases. He finished fourth in league MVP voting. Shifted to left field in 1940, Williams hit .344 with 23 home runs and 113 RBIs while leading the circuit in runs scored (134) and on-base percentage (.442), aided by his 96 walks to go along with 193 hits. He was an All-Star for the first time. But he began to feud with reporters and fans that he perceived as being too fickle. Williams would stand in the outfield and swing an imaginary bat rather than concentrate on fielding, which drew criticism. Quick-tempered, arrogant, and argumentative, he also refused to abide by norms of standard attire for formal occasions, which further raised questions as to his maturity and judgment. He had a superb season in 1941 when he became the last .400 hitter (to date), batting .406 and leading the league in runs scored (135), home runs (37), walks drawn (147), OBP (.553), and slugging percentage (.735). He finished second in league MVP voting, likely not helped by his unpopularity with the baseball writers (as opposed to the winner, Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees, whose 56-game hitting streak overshadowed “Teddy Ballgame’s” .406 average). The situation was similar in 1942 as Williams won the AL Triple Crown, batting .356 with 36 home runs and 137 RBIs. He also topped the circuit in runs scored (141), walks drawn (145), OBP (.499), slugging (.648), and total bases (338). He again placed second in MVP balloting to another Yankee (Joe Gordon). He then joined the Navy to train as a pilot during World War II, where his superior eyesight and reflexes also served him well. He spent the remainder of the war as a Navy and Marine Corps pilot. With the war over, he returned to the Red Sox in 1946. The result was an MVP season in which Williams topped the AL in runs scored (142), walks drawn (156), OBP (.497), slugging (.667), and total bases (343) while also batting .342 with 38 home runs and 123 RBIs. The Red Sox won the pennant but lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, in which Williams, hindered by an elbow injury, and facing a defensive shift (as manager Lou Boudreau of Cleveland had employed during the regular season) was held to a .200 batting average with one RBI. “The Thumper” (he was known by several nicknames) followed up with his second Triple Crown-winning season in 1947, batting .343 with 32 home runs and 114 RBIs. Williams also topped the circuit in runs scored (125), walks drawn (162), OBP (.499), slugging (.634), and total bases (335). Just as in 1941, he placed second to DiMaggio in MVP voting. He hit a league-leading .369 in 1948, a season in which the Red Sox barely missed out on another pennant, to go along with 25 home runs and 127 RBIs. He further paced the AL in doubles (44), walks drawn (126), OBP (.497), and slugging (.615) and placed third in league MVP balloting.

1949 Season Summary

Appeared in 155 games

LF – 155

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 730 [1]

At Bats – 566 [11]

Runs – 150 [1]

Hits – 194 [2]

Doubles – 39 [1]

Triples – 3

Home Runs – 43 [1]

RBI – 159 [1, tied with Vern Stephens]

Bases on Balls – 162 [1]

Int. BB – 11 [2]

Strikeouts – 48 [20, tied with Sam Mele]

Stolen Bases – 1

Caught Stealing – 1

Average - .343 [2]

OBP - .490 [1]

Slugging Pct. - .650 [1]

Total Bases – 368 [1]

GDP – 22 [4]

Hit by Pitches – 2

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading plate appearances were +17 ahead of runner-up Johnny Pesky

League-leading runs scored were +22 ahead of runner-up Eddie Joost

League-leading doubles were +1 ahead of runner-up George Kell

League-leading home runs were +4 ahead of runner-up Vern Stephens

League-leading bases on balls drawn were +13 ahead of runner-up Eddie Joost

League-leading OBP was +.051 ahead of runner-up Luke Appling

League-leading slugging pct was +.111 ahead of runner-up Vern Stephens

League-leading total bases were +39 ahead of runner-up Vern Stephens

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 24, HR - 20, RBI - 85, AVG - .325, SLG - .623

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) at Phila. A’s 8/17 – 10 innings

Longest hitting streak – 12 games

HR at home – 23

HR on road – 20

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 5 AB) vs. St. Louis Browns 6/24, (in 5 AB) at Chi. White Sox 8/26, (in 5 AB) at Chi. White Sox 8/27, (in 4 AB) vs. Chi. White Sox 9/18

Multi-HR games – 4

Most RBIs, game – 7 vs. St. Louis Browns 6/24

Pinch-hitting – No appearances

Fielding

Chances – 355

Put Outs – 337

Assists – 12

Errors – 6

DP – 3

Pct. - .983

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: BBWAA

MLB Player of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star (Started for AL in LF)

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

Ted Williams, BosRS.: 272 points – 13 of 24 first place votes, 81% share

Phil Rizzuto, NYY: 175 points – 5 first place votes, 52% share

Joe Page, NYY: 166 points – 3 first place votes, 49% share

Mel Parnell, BosRS.: 151 points – 1 first place vote, 45% share

Ellis Kinder, BosRS.: 122 points – 36% share

(1 first place vote apiece for Tommy Henrich, NYY., who ranked sixth & Vern Stephens, BosRS, who ranked seventh)

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Red Sox went 96-58 to finish second in the AL, one game behind the pennant-winning New York Yankees while leading the league in runs scored (896), hits (1500), doubles (272), home runs (131), RBIs (835), batting (.282), bases on balls drawn (835), on-base percentage (.381), slugging (.420), and total bases (2237). The hard-hitting Red Sox used two 7-game winning streaks and an 11-game streak to overcome a 12-game deficit in the last three months and pass the Yankees in late September. Having lost one of three games at Washington, they traveled to Yankee Stadium for the season’s last two games, lost both and ended up second to the Yankees. Williams also lost the AL batting title to Detroit’s George Kell by the narrowest of margins.

Aftermath of ‘49:

On his way to another outstanding year in 1950, Williams severely injured his elbow when he crashed into the wall during the All-Star Game and ended up being limited to 89 games in which he hit .317 with 28 home runs and 97 RBIs. Returning to action in 1951, Williams batted .318 with 30 home runs and 126 RBIs while leading the AL in walks drawn (144), OBP (.464), slugging (.556), and total bases (295). He was limited to six games in 1952 when he was called back to active military duty during the Korean War. Trained to fly jets, he saw action in the same Marine squadron as future astronaut John Glenn. Having encountered problems with ear infections in 1953, he was mustered out of the service and returned to the Red Sox during the second half of the season and hit .407 in 37 games with 13 home runs and 34 RBIs. Williams suffered a broken collar bone during spring training in 1954 and was further limited to 117 games by a bout with pneumonia and fell short of another batting title due to the criteria in use at that time, hitting .345 with 29 home runs, 89 RBIs, a .513 OBP, .635 slugging percentage, and league-leading 136 walks drawn. He still placed seventh in league MVP voting. “The Splendid Splinter” said he was retiring in 1955 but returned to action in late May and went on to hit .356 in 98 games with 28 home runs and 83 RBIs, finishing fourth in AL MVP balloting. Williams was still a force in 1956 as he led the league with a .479 on-base percentage. “The Splendid Splinter” turned 39 during the 1957 season and topped the AL in batting (.388), OBP (.526), and slugging (.731). He won one last batting championship in 1958, hitting .328 along with 26 home runs and 85 RBIs. Williams dropped off badly in 1959 to .254 with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs while appearing in just 103 games. Taking a cut in pay from his high of around $125,000, he returned for one last season in 1960, in which he batted .316 with 29 home runs and 72 RBIs. After homering in his last at bat, Williams retired. For his career, spent entirely with the Red Sox, he batted .344 with 2654 hits that included 525 doubles, 71 triples, and 521 home runs. He further scored 1798 runs, compiled 1839 RBIs, and drew 2021 walks. His career OBP was .482 and he had a .634 slugging percentage. Williams won six batting championships and two Triple Crowns. The 1946 World Series was his only postseason appearance. A 19-time All-Star, the Red Sox retired his #9 and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. Following his retirement as a player, he returned to the game in 1969 as manager of the Washington Senators. He stayed on until 1972, the club’s first year as the Texas Rangers, and compiled a 273-364 managerial record. Boisterous and opinionated, Williams was always a contentious and controversial figure who engendered strong opinions in return. Few players in the game’s history have approached his performance as a hitter.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.