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Reviewed by:
  • Ted Williams, The Biography of an American Hero
  • Dave Fitzsimmons (bio)
Leigh Montville. Ted Williams, The Biography of an American Hero. New York: Doubleday, 2004. Cloth, $26.95.

This is the baseball biography against which all others should be measured. The most compelling reason for such stature is the amount of new material Leigh Montville provides to even a contemporary fan of American League baseball in the 1940s and 1950s. There are other qualities, notably the more than 400 sources Montville found, applied with skill, and acknowledged carefully. The 490-plus pages are not only beautifully written but thoughtfully indexed both by individuals mentioned and by the topic subsections into which Ted's life can be divided. You'll want to own this book for its qualities as reference material.

Examples of the material found to be newsworthy must begin with the generous, loving treatment Ted extended to cousins, nephews, teammates, business associates, fishing buddies, and children with cancer. In return he was much idolized, less loved. There was some sadness in Ted's struggles to reach out to those he lived with in contrast to the easy rapport he had with those in the corners of his life. "The Thumper" was both gentle and profane. Montville balances these qualities into a portrait that will increase both your fondness for and understanding of Ted Williams.

Other examples of fresh material include the impact of Ted's 1938 season as a Minneapolis Miller on his private life later on, the steps taken to obtain his deferment in 1942, both his naval air service hitches and where they took place, and his Sears & Roebuck Advisory Staff position and how it grew. We learn much about Ted's three marriages, his three children, and the two women who were his late-in-life caregivers. But none of these private matters are peered at through a keyhole of the author's imaginary design. Montville never embarrasses Ted or us. We do learn how fascinating and complex were the quality materials built onto the superstructure of the "Splendid Splinter."

The point of emphasis throughout is the full picture of Ted that emerges. The reader will feel far less nostalgia than admiration for the craft of author and subject. Ted and those he loved may have checked their emotional swings, but Montville asks us to remember Ted as the hitter who got a good pitch to hit. He quotes Stan Musial observing "Teddy Ballgame" for two decades and saying, "You know, he was the only hitter I've never seen check his swing. Not once."

Dave Fitzsimmons

Dave Fitzsimmons teaches American social history at Wright State University, in Dayton, Ohio.

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