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Splendid birthday Williams heads home after 10-week hospital stay
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Ted Williams celebrated his 83rd birthday Thursday by returning home after a 10-week stay in a hospital. Recovering from open-heart surgery in January, the Hall of Famer was moved from Shands Hospital at the University of Florida to his house in Hernando, about 50 miles away. Neither Williams nor family members gave interviews. "A tremendous team has been working with him trying to improve his strength and prepare him to go home," Dr. A. Joseph Layon said in a statement. "The entire treatment team, including nurses, physical therapists, rehabilitation therapists and his family, all helped Ted during his rehabilitation." Last November, the Hall of Famer was admitted to Shands and a pacemaker was placed in his chest to regulate his heartbeat. The problems continued, however, and Williams had open-heart surgery in January. A month later, he was moved to a hospital in San Diego to rehabilitate. He had several setbacks after the surgery, including kidney failure, infections and the need to return to a respirator. In June, he took a cross-country flight in a medical airplane so he could continue his rehabilitation closer to home. "After the heart surgery, Ted did reasonably well, but because of his age and other previous conditions, his recovery was slow," Dr. Richard A. Kerensky said. "However, he has improved a lot and now it is time for him to move to the next stage and continue progress at home." The Splendid Splinter has lived in Florida since retiring from the Boston Red Sox. He played his entire 19-year career with the Red Sox, and was the last man to bat over .400 for a season, hitting .406 in 1941.
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