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Title: Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero by Leigh Montville ISBN: 0-385-50748-8 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 13 April, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.73 (11 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Great biography, depressing ending
Comment: This is a fascinating and illuminating book about a talented baseball player, a military hero, and a cantankerous curmudgeon - Ted Williams. Montville does a terrific job of encapsulating the Splendid Splinter's eventful 83 years into a fascinating 500-page book, complete with nearly a hundred black-and-white photographs, many never before seen. If you're looking for a biography of Ted Williams this is probably the one to get; it covers his entire life, something that his 1969 autobiography doesn't do (obviously).
Montville doesn't shine much new light onto the Public Ted - any true baseball fan is already familiar with his battles with the media, his 406 average in 1941, his weak performance in the 1946 World Series, the two military interruptions to his baseball career, his storybook home run in his final at-bat, etc. We already knew that stuff. Where the book truly shines is in illuminating the Private Ted...
The selfish Ted, who'd drag uninterested wives along with him on fishing trips, and who'd rather be alone in a boat somewhere than be present for his children's births; his lustful enjoyment of his hobbies was more important than his family. The angry and blasphemous Ted, who'd spit at fans and frequently (and colorfully) take the Lord's name in vain with a smattering of the f-word and his favorite modifier, "syphilitic." The lonely Ted, who married three beautiful trophy wives, had teammates and friends all over the country, yet still lacked the unconditional love he desperately needed. Somehow Montville manages to paint Williams as sympathetic, lovable, and even heroic, while still telling the story of a bitter and cranky man.
Thankfully, there were at least a few caring people in Ted's life to help diffuse his negativity and give him unconditional love: Louise Kaufman, the grandmotherly woman who became Ted's longtime companion after his three failed marriages to younger women, and the male nurses who took care of him during his final decade on Earth.
Sadly, the book (like Williams's life) ends on an unavoidable down-note. Montville frightens us with the awful tale of Ted's money-grubbing son, John-Henry. Here the author fairly throws objectivity aside, painting the younger Williams in tones reminiscent of Shakespeare's Iago. John-Henry's underhanded machinations and obvious treatment of Ted as a meal ticket rather than a beloved father left me feeling sad and depressed at the story's end. Junior was more concerned with his progenitor's ability to sign and sell valuable autographs than his comfort and welfare during his declining years. The demon seed of Ted Williams kept his father's friends and loved ones from calling and visiting, and then - in an act which violated Ted's wish for cremation, as per his will - John-Henry had his father cryogenically frozen after his death. Thus began the fighting and infinite court proceedings between Ted's offspring - an embarrassing and surreal coda to a life otherwise lived with integrity and dignity.
A great book about a great man. As sports biographies go, it's surely one of the best - just like Ted.
(News update: John-Henry Williams, 35, died of leukemia in March 2004. Perhaps now the legal maneuvering will stop; perhaps Ted can at last be cremated and have his ashes spread across the waters of Florida, just as he wanted. Meanwhile, thanks to John-Henry, the decapitated head of Ted Williams remains in a frozen vat in Arizona.)
Rating: 4
Summary: The Complete Biography
Comment: I enjoyed the book and would buy it again. Having said that the book only rates 4 stars because the author spends too much time - in my opinion - on non baseball issues after Ted Williams had retired.
Here is my rational. This is a detailed biography written by the former Boston Globe sports columnist Leigh Montville using a combination of many interviews and lots of background research. He puts it all together with a nice selection of photos to produce a detailed and comprehensive biography of Ted Williams. It is about 500 pages long and remarkably fair. Although the book is 500 pages long the author dedicates only about 175 pages or 1/3 to his actual playing career. The rest covers a lot of detail on some crazy subjects such as the "Refrigeration" and his other marriages or many fishing trips. I think the book would have been better with more baseball and less post baseball, but that is my opinion that it deserves just 4 stars for him as a player but maybe 5 stars as a "personal" biography covering his whole life. But I bought the book as a baseball fan so as a baseball book it gets 4 stars.
I have read and posted reviews on other baseball books from David Cone to Pete Rose, Babe Ruth and DiMaggio, and on the Oakland A's, Cooperstown, and the Cal Ripkin's book on baseball skills recently published. This book is similar in quality and scope of the DiMaggio book "The Hero's Life" - a book that I thought was excellent and sparked controversy about DiMaggio's personal life - and interestingly covers the same time period including that famous 1941 season when Williams broke 400 in Boston while DiMaggio had the 56 game streak with the Yankees.
The book is somewhat similar to the DiMaggio book - in that it gives a fairly well researched and informative picture on and off the field. There is much to discuss about the book such as his exhibition game with Babe Ruth, the 1946 world series, his days in the marines air corps, Korea, etc. But again, the book covers a lot more than baseball. It is 500 pages long and by page 260 the vote is in and he is on his way to Cooperstown, so it covers him to the end of his life in detail with about half on his post playing career. His actual MLB playing is covered in about one third of the book and for myself those sections where he is playing for Boston are the most interesting parts of the book, and I skipped a couple of late chapters, I had read enough, and did not need to read 35 pages on the "Refrigeration" episode at the end of the book and similar stories about fishing or other marriages.
In comparing him to DiMaggio it is clear that Williams was more of a loner on the field than even the reserved DiMaggio, no matter what either did off the field. Williams has a complex and thin skinned personality. He takes time to help many young fans and sick children and for that he is loved and admired. He is bigger than life. Unfortunately, and even though in some ways Williams is likeable in the book, Williams reminds me of some modern players that are often surly around the press, sometimes poison in the dressing room, and seem more interested in their personal contract than the win loss record of their own team. We are told in the book that sometimes it was clear that team's winning came second to his personal performance in determining his post game mood in the clubhouse. But taking that to the next step and saying that is why they never won a World Series is not 100% clear since Boston did not seem to have the player roster depth of other teams like the Yankees, and Williams had an elbow injury during the 46 World Series - the best Boston shot of winning that championship when he played - and when he had his so called "choke". So it is impossible to make a definitive conclusion from the book. In any case, he is one of the best hitters to have ever played, and if he had been a Yankee I am sure he would have been on many winning teams.
Quite good and I learned a lot about Ted Williams and baseball, but I skipped most of the last half, the personal trivia.
Jack in Toronto
Rating: 5
Summary: Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero
Comment: In 1941, Ted Williams became the last major league baseball player to hit .400 for a season. Over his career, he hit for average (.344 lifetime). He hit for power (521 home runs, a figure that might have nudged close to Hank Aaron's all time record of 755 had he not lost significant time to service in two wars). And he hit with flair (6 for 8 in the final doubleheader of 1941 to wrap up his .406 season, a 1946 All Star Game home run off Rip Sewell's trick "eephus" pitch, and a home run in his last career trip to the plate in 1960). All the while, he feuded with demanding Boston sportswriters and fans. He fought with three wives and his three children, who in turn fought among themselves. After his death in 2002, he was the center of a public outcry and more family feuding over his son John-Henry's decision to have his body cryogenically preserved. With material like this, Sports Illustrated veteran Montville could hardly fail to produce this winner. Recommended for all public libraries.
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