This Day in Aviation History — The Boys of October

As we approach the end of the regular baseball season and the “Boys of October” (the title of a book by Doug Hornig) , it’s appropriate to remember Ted Williams, one of the greatest of all professional baseball players and a USMC pilot in WWII and Korea.

According to History.com, “On September 28, 1941, the last day of Major League Baseball’s regular season, the Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams gets six hits in eight at-bats during a doubleheader in Philadelphia, boosting his average to .406. He becomes the first player since 1930 to hit .400. ‘I guess I’ll be satisfied with that thrill out there today,’ he tells the Boston Globe about hitting .400. ‘… I never wanted anything harder in my life.’

“In addition to his .406 batting average—no major league player since Williams has hit .400—the left fielder led the big leagues with 37 homers, 135 runs and a slugging average of .735.

“Williams, nicknamed ‘Teddy Ballgame’, ‘the Kid’, ‘The Splendid Splinter’ and ‘The Thumper,’ began his big-league career with the Red Sox in 1939. In 1942, Williams won the American League Triple Crown, for highest batting average and most RBIs and home runs. He won the Triple Crown again in 1947.

Williams’ 1940 Play Ball baseball card.  Public domain.

“In 1946 and 1949, Williams was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player, and in June 1960, he became the fourth player in major league history to hit 500 homers. He was selected to the All-Star team 17 times.

“Williams, who spent his entire career with the Red Sox, played his final game on September 28, 1960, at Boston’s Fenway Park. He homered in his final at-bat, giving him 521 for his career.

“Williams retired with a lifetime batting average of .344, a .483 career on-base percentage and 2,654 hits. His achievements were all the more impressive because his career was interrupted twice for military service: Williams was a Marine Corps pilot during World War II and the Korean War and as a result missed nearly five MLB seasons.

According Wikipedia, he was a flight instructor during WWII at NAS Pensacola teaching students to fly the F-4U Corsair.  “Williams also flew 39 combat missions in Korea, earning the Air Medal with two Gold Stars representing second and third awards, before being withdrawn from flight status in June 1953 after a hospitalization for pneumonia. This resulted in the discovery of an inner ear infection that disqualified him from flight status.  Future astronaut and fellow USMC pilot, John Glenn, described Williams as one of the best pilots he knew. In the last half of his missions, Williams was flying as Glenn’s wingman.”

Ted Williams (right) while flight training at the Turners Falls Airport during World War II, circa 1942

Photo by Ronald M. Zschau from Wikimedia Commons

“Williams is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date to have appeared in Major League games in four different decades.”

Williams’ 1954 baseball card.  Public domain.

“Williams”, again according to History.com, “was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. He managed the Washington Senators (renamed the Texas Rangers in 1972) from 1969-1972. In 1984, the Boston Red Sox retired his No. 9 uniform number.

“Williams died of cardiac arrest at age 83 on July 5, 2002, in Florida. In a controversial move, his son sent his father’s body to be frozen at a cryonics laboratory.”

Onward and upward!

Sources: History.com, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons.