Remarkable statistics tell part of the story of Ted Williams's remarkable
career
521 Career home runs, including one, in 1960, on his final at bat, placing
Williams 12th on the major league list (along with Willie McCovey). His total
ranks sixth in the American League, eighth among outfielders, fourth among
lefthanded batters (also with McCovey), second among leftfielders and No. 1
among Red Sox players.
1,839 Career runs batted in, good for 12th on the alltime list. Williams led
his league in RBIs four times and had a career-high 159 in 1949, the second
of his two MVP seasons.
2,654 Career hits. Although he never had 200 hits in a season, Williams is
one of only three major leaguers (the others: Babe Ruth and Rickey Henderson) to
get 2,500 hits and 2,000 walks, finishing with 2,019 bases on balls.
11 Years in which Williams drew at least 100 walks. Only Ruth accomplished this
feat more times (13). Williams is one of only three men to walk 160 times in a
season and the only one to have done it
twice.
.483 Career on-base percentage, highest in history. Williams led his league
in this stat 12 times, including in 1941, when he set the major league
single-season record of .551. In '57, at age 39, he had the fifth best on-base
percentage ever
(.526).
.634 Career slugging percentage, second only to Ruth's .690. Williams led
his league nine times in this
category.
801 Career games missed while in military service. During 1952 and '53, Marine
captain Williams flew 39 missions in Korea, including one that ended in a crash
landing of his jet. Earlier he had missed the '43, '44 and '45 seasons while
serving as a pilot in World War II.
2,909 Career games that Williams might have played had he not lost those nearly
five seasons to military service. Assuming average performance, he would have
ended up with 2,332 RBIs and 2,583 walks -- both records -- 657 home runs
and 3,383
hits.
60 Full seasons since Williams batted .406 -- the last time anyone has batted
.400 or better over a full season. His career .344 average ranks
eighth. -- David
Sabino
Issue date: July 15, 2002
For more on Ted Williams see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, July 10. Click here to subscribe to SI.
