One of baseball's all-time great hitters ranks his 25 best hitters of all time, along with naming the almost-made-its and the should-have-beens. Using statistics and his personal expertise, Williams provides insight not only into the actual facts of these players' careers but their discipline and devotion to the game. Photos.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
When the master speaks, the prudent listen. Arguably the greatest hitter since Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, never one to couch opinions, creates a system for ranking the best hitters of all time in this gregarious volume that is ripe with personal anecdote, observation, and bias. Not only is the list itself enticing and convincingly argued--Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, and Joe DiMaggio form the heart of his order--so are most of the shots he takes at some pretty big names. Given Williams's position on defense, a few of his convictions may seem out of left field, but if the gospel according to Ted deems Carl Yastrzemski, George Brett, Pete Rose, and Reggie Jackson underachievers, so be it. And his analyses of current artists with a bat such as Frank Thomas, Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn, and Mike Piazza are as solid as line drives up the middle.
From Publishers Weekly
No one is better qualified to choose baseball's greatest batters than Williams, the last major leaguer to hit over .400. With freelance writer Prime, he presents his list of the top 20, with also-rans and potential future candidates. He begins by repeating his often-quoted assertion that "Hitting a baseball is the single most difficult thing to do in sport" and then presents his views on the five attributes needed to become a great hitter: intelligence, courage, eyesight, power and timing. To him the ultimate statistic is production, according to which Williams ranks second only to Babe Ruth in the history of the game. The list itself contains few surprises, and there seems little to argue with in his choices, although fans of Reggie Jackson and Rod Carew will be disappointed. Photos.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Teddy Ballgame's Top Hitters List,
By A Customer
This review is from: Ted Williams' Hit List (Paperback)
You may or may not agree with the Splinter's hitters list (Dante Bichette?!?) but it is an interesting read. Ted himself was the best overall and lost too many years to two wars. As opinionated as the man himself and a good analysis without getting too wrapped up in convoluted statistics.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The greatest reviews the best of the rest,
By Chris Strangeman (cstrange@indiana.edu) (Bloomington, Indiana) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ted Williams' Hit List (Hardcover)
Despite Ted Williams' personal choice of Babe Ruth as the greatest hitter of all time, followed by Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, and Rogers Hornsby, this reviewer will never be convinced that Williams is anything but the greatest himself. Although I agree with the placement of almost all of his picks, though I do question Chuck Klein's inclusion in this list instead of such notables as Napoleon Lajoie and Honus Wagner, Williams falls short in making the argument that baseball must be looked on as a continuum so that all statistics should be looked at as comparable. With this argument, the gaudy averages and totals of the mid and late 1920s and 1930s will always come out on top, and, hence, Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, and Hornsby will too. Al Simmons will also be given a ranking. With due respect to these players, who do deserve their reputations as all-time greats, in my opinion, league dominance should be rated more highly than sheer numbers. With this rating, players like Wagner and Lajoie would hold a greater chance of making this list, despite poor power numbers in comparison to later-day players. Other than this problem with his argument, fans of baseball and baseball statistics should be able to relax and enjoy Williams' _Hit List_ before adding it to their arsenal in the on-going battle of who was the greatest hitter ever.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique Perspective On Hitters,
By
This review is from: The Ted Williams' Hit List (Hardcover)
Ted's pick of the Babe as the Top all time Hitter is right on the mark. However, Joe Jackson in the Top 10 seems a stretch, and Ted seems to overlook many of the more modern players, after his time. Still, the writing is fine, witty, and humorous, and it's hard to dispute the man who is probably the #2 hitter of them all, (after the Babe). A great book , and amusing as well!...PS- Ted modestly does not include himself!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
