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Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) left fielder, and later manager. Williams played his entire 19-year major league career for the Boston Red Sox from 1939–1942 and 1946–1960. Nicknamed "The Kid", "The Splendid Splinter", "Teddy Ballgame", "The Thumper" and "The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived", Williams is regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. Williams was an All-Star〔Sportsdata. Midsummer Classics: Celebrating MLB's All-Star Game, 1959–62, "all players who were named to the AL or NL roster were credited with one appearance per season." Retrieved July 17, 2013 ()〕 for seventeen seasons, an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player two seasons, an AL batting champion for six seasons, and a Triple Crown winner two seasons. He finished his playing career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and a .482 on-base percentage, the highest of all time. His batting average is the highest of any MLB player with 302 or more home runs. Born and raised in San Diego, Williams played baseball throughout his youth. Joining the Red Sox in 1939, he immediately emerged as one of the sport's best hitters. In 1941, Williams posted a .406 batting average, making him the last MLB player to bat over .400 in a season. He followed this up by winning his first Triple Crown in 1942. Williams interrupted his baseball career in 1943 to serve three years in the US Navy and US Marine Corps during World War II. Upon returning to MLB in 1946, Williams won his first AL MVP Award and played in his only World Series. In 1947, he won his second Triple Crown. Williams was returned to active military duty for portions of the 1952 and 1953 seasons to serve as a Marine combat aviator in the Korean War. In 1957 and 1958 at the ages of 39 and 40, respectively, he was the AL batting champion for the fifth and sixth time. Williams retired from playing in 1960. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, in his first year of eligibility.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Ted Williams at the Baseball Hall of Fame )〕 Williams managed the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers franchise from 1969 to 1972. An avid sport fisherman, he hosted a television program about fishing, and was inducted into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=IGFA Hall of Fame Inductees )〕 Williams' involvement in the Jimmy Fund helped raise millions in dollars for cancer care and research. In 1991 President George H. W. Bush presented Williams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States government. He was selected for the Major League Baseball All-Time Team in 1997 and the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. ==Early life== Ted Williams was born in San Diego, California,〔Seidel, p. 1〕 as Teddy Samuel Williams, named after his father, Samuel Stuart Williams, and former president, Teddy Roosevelt.〔Montville, p. 19〕 Williams claimed that his middle name stemmed from one of his mother's brothers (in truth, her dead brother was Daniel Venzor) who had been killed in World War I.〔Williams & Underwood, p. 31〕 At some point Williams changed his name on his birth certificate to Theodore.〔 His father was a soldier, sheriff, and photographer from New York,〔Williams & Underwood, p. 30〕 while his mother, May Venzor, a Mexican-American from El Paso, Texas, was an evangelist and lifelong soldier in the Salvation Army.〔 Williams resented his mother's long hours working in the Salvation Army,〔Seidel, p. 4〕 and Williams and his brother cringed when she took them to the Army's street-corner revivals.〔Montville, p. 21〕 Williams' paternal ancestors were a mix of Welsh and Irish. The maternal, Mexican side of Williams' family was quite diverse, having Spanish (Basque), Russian, and American Indian roots.〔Nowlin, p. 324〕 Of his Mexican ancestry he said that "If I had my mother's name, there is no doubt I would have run into problems in those days, () the prejudices people had in Southern California".〔Williams & Underwood, p. 28〕 Williams lived in San Diego's North Park neighborhood (4121 Utah Street).〔Montville, p. 20〕 At the age of eight, he was taught how to throw a baseball by his uncle, Saul Venzor. Saul was one of his mother's four brothers, as well as a former semi-professional baseball player who had pitched against Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe Gordon in an exhibition game.〔Nowlin & Price, p. 31〕〔Montville, p. 22〕 As a child, Williams' heroes were Pepper Martin of the St. Louis Cardinals and Bill Terry of the New York Giants.〔McCormack, p. 14〕 Williams graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in San Diego, where he played baseball as a pitcher and was the star of the team.〔Montville, p. 26〕 Though he had offers from the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees while he was still in high school,〔Nowlin, p. 118〕 his mother thought he was too young to leave home, so he signed up with the local minor league club, the San Diego Padres. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ted Williams」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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