PHOTO: Ted Williams picks out his lumber at Louisville Slugger

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In his autobiography “My Turn At Bat,” Ted Williams wrote:

“A man has to have goals—for a day, for a lifetime—and that was mine, to have people say, ‘There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.”

One could argue that he achieved that goal. Williams is in a tight circle of players who can be legitimately considered the greatest hitter of all-time. He batted .344 in a 19-year career that included six batting titles, the first when he was 22, the last when he was 39.

Williams couldn’t have set the records he did without a good piece of wood. He famously only used bats made by Louisville Slugger, and insisted on choosing the lumber for his bats.

In this great photo from the 1940s, Williams is at the Louisville Slugger factory looking over the wood and inspecting a pile of Ted Williams model bats.

Ted Williams at the Louisville Slugger factory, circa 1946

MORE ABOUT TED WILLIAMS:

The Boston Red Sox All-Time Team >
The 100 Greatest Left Fielders of All-Time >
The 20 Greatest Red Sox of All-Time >

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Dan Holmes

Dan Holmes

Dan Holmes is the author of three books about baseball, including Ty Cobb: A Biography. He previously worked for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and Major League Baseball Advanced Media. He lives in Michigan where he writes, runs, and enjoys a good orange soda now and again.

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