Childhood
Ted Williams was born August 30th, 1918 in San Diego, California. His parents were Sam and May Williams. Sam Williams was never around much when Ted was a child because of his job. Sam owned a photo shop in San Diego. Before Sam married May he was a Rough Rider with Teddy Roosevelt. This is where Ted received his name. May worked for the Salvation Army in San Diego. She would stand on street corners to raise money for the people in Mexico. Two years after Ted was born his little brother Danny was born. During their younger days both Ted and Danny were pretty much on their own because of their parents jobs. Sometimes neither parent would make it home before dark. Because of this the boys would go on two different paths. Ted would fall in love with baseball and Danny would fall in love with the bad crowd. Although, the neighborhood that they lived in kept a watch out for the boys when the parents were not around.
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While attending Garfield Grammar School Ted would discover the sport of Baseball. Ted was hooked from the beginning and picked the game up very fast. Ted could not get enough of it, the more he learned the more he wanted to play and learn more. Ted was naturally right handed but when he picked up a baseball bat he swung it left handed. Ted would play baseball all day if he did not have to go to school. To get around this Ted would go to school early to hit. Sometimes he would even bribe kids with his lunch money to pitch to him. At lunch he would race home and eat and then race back to the park to hit some more before the bell sounded. When school got out he would race back to North Park and play baseball until it got dark.
Ted's passion for the game caught everybody's attention young and old. No one could understand how a skinny little kid could hit the ball so far so often. Ted's first real coach was Rod Luscomb who was the playground director at North Park. Luscomb would play with Ted for hours mostly pitching to him so Ted could hit. Ted quickly passed up all his peers and began to play with older men whenever he could. During his childhood Ted would find his second favorite thing in the world, fishing. Ted's neighbor Chick Rotert took Ted bass fishing and instantly Ted was hooked. As Ted became a better and better baseball player he used the fishing as a way to escape the pressure of being Ted Williams.
When Ted entered High School he would meat his best friend Del Ballinger. Ted and Del became friends quickly because they both loved baseball. Del was the batboy for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League when he lived in Monterey. The two boys love for baseball formed a strong friendship. Del would usually shag while Ted would hit. Ted rarely ever had to shag because everyone loved to see him hit.
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When it was time for Ted to enter high school he attended the newly established Hoover High instead of the baseball powerhouse at the time, San Diego High. Hoover High School home page. This did not bother Ted, or much of his teammates, because in his first year he would hit .588 with seven homeruns and twenty-two RBIs. The Ted Williams led Hoover High Cardinals would also beat San Diego High. Ted would continue to excel at hitting but also was the teams leading pitcher. The Cardinals would go onto beat a lot of older teams including San Diego State with Ted leading the way pitching and hitting. Ted became such a great hitter teams would walk him with the bases loaded instead of pitch to him. This would make Ted very upset and make him contemplate not playing anymore. Thank goodness his coach would always talk him out of hit.
The word got out quickly on Ted Williams and by his Senior year a lot of pro scouts were coming to see him play. At this time Ted's father reentered the picture and acted like Ted's agent. Sam Williams wanted to make sure that they cashed in on Ted's baseball skills. After talking with teams such as the Yankees and Cardinals Ted decided to sign with the Pacific Coast League Padres. Ted would sign for 150 dollars a month and his mom was assured he would not be traded until he was twenty-one. Ted signed his contract June 26, 1936 and began one of the greatest baseball careers ever.