The Dominance of Ted Williams

   I don’t think there is any debate on who the greatest hitter that ever lived was; his name is Ted Williams. No player in the history of baseball knew aspects of hitting better than Ted Williams; having the perfect eye at the plate, he got base by walking so much that his lifetime On Base Percentage of .482 is the highest of all-time. When Williams didn’t get a good pitch to hit, he took his Walks and rarely swung and missed, leading to a high OBP. Based on his on-base percentage, Williams had a few seasons in which he had the advantage over the pitcher, getting on base over 50% of the time. Not to go on and on about Williams, but he won six Batting Titles and twelve On-base titles, slugged over 30-100 HR-RBI multiple times, and won 2 MVPs. Despite missing the better part of five years due to WWII and the Korean War, Williams hit .344 lifetime, over 500 Home Runs, and almost 2,000 RBIs. 

Why did Williams lose out on the MVP numerous times?

   Well there are two factors that led to Williams missing out on the MVP numerous times. First, he missed the better part of five years due to WWII and the Korean War, missing his age 24-26 seasons serving in WWII right in the middle of the prime of his career. Between 1952-53, he only appeared in 43 games, serving his country again in the Korean War. When Williams went to serve and paused his career, he was by far the best hitter in the game. Second, his relationship with the fans and reporters was sometimes very negative, with Williams being known for not being the nicest of people when talking to the press. As a result, the people who voted for who’d win the MVP weren’t kind to Williams for some years. If you look at his year-by-year statistics, Williams had at least a dozen MVP-caliber seasons, I’m not saying he should have a dozen MVP awards. But I went through each year that Williams didn’t win the MVP and compared his numbers to the MVP of that year, and for my money, Williams got robbed of the MVP three times by the writers, in which he finished 2nd in the voting.

Years Writer’s Screwed Williams:

1941: .406 BA 185 HITS 37 HR 120 RBI .553 OBP 135 RUNS (143 Games)

*lost to Joe DiMaggio

1942: .356 BA 186 HITS 36 HR 137 RBI .499 OBP 141 RUNS (150 Games)

*lost to Joe Gordon

1947: .343 BA 181 HITS 32 HR 114 RBI .499 OBP 125 RUNS (156 Games)

*lost to Joe DiMaggio

1941:

   I understand Joe DiMaggio had his famous 56 consecutive-game hitting streak, and the Yankees won the World Series that year. However, not only did Williams hit over .400, which no one has done since, but he hit more Home Runs, scored more Runs, and had an OBP .113 higher than DiMaggio. Also, while Williams didn’t have the hit streak as DiMaggio did, from May 15th-July 16th, the span of DiMaggio’s hit streak. Williams outhit DiMaggio during that time, a .412 AVG to DiMaggio’s .408.

Joe Dimaggio (1941):

.357 BA 193 HITS 30 HR 125 RBI .440 OBP 122 RUNS (139 Games)

1942 & 1947:

   In 1942 and 1947, Williams came in 2nd behind Joe Gordon and Joe DiMaggio. No disrespect, in 1942, Gordon had an exceptional year, as did DiMaggio in 1947. But in both years, Williams won the TRIPLE CROWN and led in Runs and OBP. If you are a hitter who wins the Triple Crown playing in 150-plus games, you should automatically win the MVP award. 

Joe Gordon (1942): 

.322 BA 173 HITS 18 HR 103 RBI .409 OBP 88 RUNS (147 Games)

Joe DiMaggio (1947):

.315 BA 168 HITS 20 HR 97 RBI .391 OBP 97 RUNS (141 Games)

How many MVPs should Williams have won?

   So, to me, Williams got robbed of the MVP award three times by the writers in 1941, 1942 & 1947. So that adds to 5 MVPs, factoring in the other two he won. Now, let’s take into the account that Williams missed five years due to War, his age 24-26 and 33-34 seasons. Had Williams not missed those years, he would’ve had five more Williams-like years based on his age and the level of production he was giving. I’m not saying Williams would’ve won the MVP in all five years, but I think it’s fair to say that Williams could’ve walked away with two more MVPs. So add that together, Williams should’ve won seven MVP awards, which would be the most won by any player, along with Barry Bonds. 

References:

  1. Ted Williams Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/willite01.shtml
  2. 1941 Awards Voting via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1941.shtml#all_AL_MVP_voting
  3. 1942 Awards Voting via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1942.shtml
  4. 1947 Awards Voting via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1947.shtml
  5. Miller, Sam. The Three Streaks Of Joe, Ted and Bob: https://pebblehunting.substack.com/p/the-three-streaks-of-joe-ted-and