Ted Williams: he mastered the strike zone: Hall of Famer trained himself at a young age never to go after a bad pitch, and as a result became one of the greatest batters of all time - A Hitting Legend

Baseball Digest, March, 2002 by Dan Schlossberg

IN THE 125-YEAR HISTORY OF MAJOR LEAGUE baseball, nobody has ever hit five home runs in a game, pitched three no-hitters in a season, or won more than two Triple Crowns.

Winning the baseball trifecta is tough enough to win once: the last man to win it was Carl Yastrzemski of the 1967 Boston Red Sox, while the last National League winner was Joe Medwick of the 1937 St. Louis Cardinals. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine never found such a vast black hole.

The top three home run hitters of baseball history--Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays--had Triple Crown potential that never materialized. Aaron and Ruth both won batting and RBI titles to go with their multiple home run crowns but never put together all three legs in one year. And Mays, amazingly enough, never led the National League in runs batted in.

Even when a Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, or Carlos Delgado boosts his batting average into title contention, a Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn, or Rod Carew proves contact can be more potent than power. Carew even won a batting crown without hitting a home run.

Putting together all three legs of the Triple Crown is like winning 49 states in a presidential election. Doing it twice is like winning four terms to the White House.

Only two men, one in each league, have been in the right place at the right time twice.

Rogers Hornsby won the National League's Triple Crown in 1922 and 1925 while Ted Williams commandeered the A.L.'s trifecta in 1942 and 1947.

Hornsby had an easier path: One of the N.L.'s first sluggers in the Lively Ball Era that began in 1920, he had little competition in the power departments. Only two other National Leaguers hit more than 17 home runs and nobody else hit more than 27 during the 1922 campaign. Three years later, runner-up Gabby Hartnett finished 15 homers behind Hornsby's 39 and was one of only a half-dozen (including Hornsby) who topped 20.

The American League, powered by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, cultivated the home run much more quickly, nurturing it into a virtual art form.

Though World War II had depleted the ranks of the sluggers by 1942, Williams still faced competition from Joe DiMaggio, Rudy York, Charlie Keller and Chet Laabs.

The lanky left-handed hitter nearly won in 1941, when he led the American League with 37 home runs, 145 walks, a .735 slugging percentage, and that memorable .406 batting average--the last entry in the .400 Club. Drawing so many bases on ball cost the Boston left fielder, whose 120 RBI were five behind DiMaggio, the league leadership. The Yankee Clipper drew only 76 walks, virtually half the total doled out to Williams.

Oddly enough, pitchers issued another 145 walks to Williams in 1942. But he wasted few opportunities to produce with men on base, finishing with 137 RBI, third-best total of his career.

Coupled with his 36 home runs and .356 batting average, Williams became the American League's first Triple Crown winner since Lou Gehrig in 1934. Just for good measure, he also led the A.L. in slugging with a .648 mark.

With war clouds darkening, Ted traded his thundering bat for Navy pilot's wings. But he was up to his old tricks when he returned to the diamond in 1946. With 38 homers, 123 RBI, and a .342 average, his numbers were good enough to win a Triple Crown in most other seasons. But he led only in slugging (.667) as Hank Greenberg won the home run and RBI titles, with 44 and 127 respectively, and Mickey Vernon's .353 average was best in the American League.

Because the Bosox won the pennant, Williams won the consolation prize: his first MVP Award.

A year later, the aging Greenberg had been traded across league lines to Pittsburgh and a rookie named Jackie Robinson was stealing most of the baseball headlines. That created an American League vacuum Williams raced to fill.

Though his power production fell, the 28-year-old Williams combined a .343 average with 32 home runs, 114 RBI, and a .634 slugging percentage, all league highs. He also drew 162 walks, cementing his impeccable reputation as a man who refused to swing at pitches out of the strike zone.

It wasn't his fault the Red Sox finished third, 14 games from the top. But the baseball writers, reacting to his team's performance, gave the Most Valuable Player Award to a member of the winning Yankees just as they had done during Williams' first Triple Crown season.

In 1942, Joe Gordon was the American League MVP. In 1947, with one writer omitting the Boston star from any of the 10 spots listed, the honor went to Joe DiMaggio by a single point. Had that writer placed Williams even as low as 10th, the results would have been different.

A stormy relationship between the Boston star and members of the media, which mirrored the relationship of Williams and the fans, created considerable animosity toward Williams at the ballot box.

Even those who disliked him, however, had to concede that his baseball skills were unchallenged.

Only a fraction of a percentage point separated the Splendid Splinter from an unprecedented third Triple Crown in 1949. He led the league in home runs and RBI but was a bridesmaid in batting, finishing at .3427 to George Kell's .3429.