Customer Reviews

Ted Williams: My Life in Pictures

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The definitive book on the complete life of Ted Williams. This is not simply a re-hashing of every picture of Ted that you see time after time. It's a fresh look through his own words and some magnificent photos that must have been sitting in his attic. You really get the feeling that you are sitting around Ted's kitchen table going through an old photo album as he comments on everything from the biggest fish he caught to what a "[bad] haircut" he had.

This book will be ideal for those who know relatively little about Ted Williams, yet are Red Sox fans. The combination of over 250 photographs and recent reminiscences make you feel like you are sitting around the kitchen table with Mr. Williams swapping stories about his life while you enjoy a cool beverage. The anecdotes have a crisp conversational tone that seems to have often emerged with little editing from a tape recorder. That makes the book more spontaneous than if it were dressed up to be a formal autobiography.

Some of my favorite stories in the book include:

Choosing not to sit out the doubleheader at the end of the 1941 season when he already had batted .400. He went 6 for 8 that day, and increased his average to the league-leading .407.

His frequent heroics in All-Star games (including hitting the eephus pitch for a home run while going 4/4 in 1946).

Crash landing his plane after being hit by small arms fire and starting to burn while flying a mission over North Korea during the Korean War.

His many accidents and injuries.

His batting performance after other teams began using the shift on him.

Hitting a home run in his last at-bat in Fenway Park.

The strength of the book comes in the photographs. Surprisingly, many of these are very blurred and don't quite meet the standard that you will expect in a pictoral autobiography. The first photograph with Bobby Doerr when both were just starting with the Red Sox is an example.

People who are interested in his swing will enjoy the sequence with his shirt off that appeared in Life magazine. "The key was the right swing, studying the pitchers, studying the situations, waiting to get your pitch, and just plain working like hell at it."

The book isn't only about baseball. You will also learn about his mother's hard work on behalf of the Salvation Army, his hunting and fishing, and meeting sports and political celebrities.

Mr. Williams had a reputation as a player for being uncooperative with the press and the fans. To his credit, he shares his side of these events pretty candidly. The famous spitting incident is well covered.

One of the most telling exhibits is an advertisement for cigarettes. Mr. Williams was not a smoker, and clearly admits to having done it for the money. He always intended to make a donation for cancer research to return the money, but indicates that he never did. I admired him for including this event, which he clearly now views as a mistake.

He also is candid about not being excited about serving in both World War II and the Korean War. This service cost him 5 major league seasons during his prime years. He was only one of two major leaguers to do this.

After you finish enjoying this book, think about how Mr. Williams turned his talent to other areas outside of baseball. Have you turned your hand to as many other areas as you would benefit from trying? After all, we only have so many days on Earth to make our contribution. Make the most of them!

I am co-author (with Jim Prime) of TED WILLIAMS: A TRIBUTE (1997), which was another large-format book on Ted with a lot of photographs. There are quite a few books on Ted. When I heard this book was in the works, I wondered what more there was to show and what more there was to say.

I was pleased to be able to proofread this book in its advance state and I hope I helped correct a very few minor errors. I hadn't seen the photographs or layout at that stage. When I saw the final book, I was blown away.

This is a wonderful new addition, and Ted's voice comes through loud and clear here. David Pietrusza has done a wonderful job here and this is a book I will myself treasure.

--Bill Nowlin, Cambridge MA

Fun! More than a satisfying number and variety of photographs. Even for those who are not baseball fanatics, Ted appeals with stories of his larger-than life life in a manner that is truly unique. Beautifully put together.

The picture of the cover that Amazon shows does not do this book any justice. This book has a glossy cover with a nice crisp picture of the Splendid Splinter, Ted. The pages of this book have tons of other pictures that chronicle Ted's life from a child to the Red Sox to the Marines and back to baseball. The pictures of Ted in his Marine uniform are great, young Ted is smiling and relaxed with his buddies. The pictures span his whole career. There is also the story that goes along with it. He did a great job putting this book together. You will be very happy with it. It is perfect for a gift. It is well worth the money!!!

I found the above negative review of this book far more disturbing than anything about the book itself.

What's the writer's problem with "ghostwriting"? It's no secret. It's not as if David Pietrusza (the co-author) isn't listed. It's obviously a book of pictures with comments from Ted, edited into decent copy by Pietrusza. That's what a co-author on a celebrity book does.

It's very much Ted Williams in the comments -- maybe even to an uncomfortable extent. He rambles on about the press, about politics, and about hunting and fishing, and none of his views are what could even be possibly construed as "politically correct." But I find it interesting that after all this time, he's still his own man -- frustrating and inspiring at the same time.

The photos are largely terrific. The layout is good. The text is interesting. And it's the best photo book on Ted Williams out there. That sounds like a recommendation to me.

Best Book written to date on my Father.

For one, this is a picture book with captions allegedly written by Ted Williams but certainly ghostwritten. Two, although there are a few new Williams photos that appear to come from his own private collection, Williams himself has stated that he lost almost everything of this nature in a hurricane years ago - most of the photos in this book have appeared in one or more of the illustrated Williams books that have already appeared. Three, the reprint quality of many of the pictures is sub-par; better versions appear in other books. Four, given Williams' recent debilitating illness, there is something a little weird about bringing out a book like this at this time. That being said, if you absolutely have to have everything that has Ted Williams' name on it, get this book,but only if you already have everything else. Otherwise, start your collection elsewhere.