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A few years later, the Hall of Fame “opened its doors to Negro Leagues players. “This was an incredibly progressive political act-he felt no one should be denied” this honor, and was “always driven by competition,” Davis said. One of the major surprises Davis uncovered researching Williams came in the speech he delivered in 1966 when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, in which he suggested Negro Leagues players should be inducted into the hall also. He had a deep rage, some say shame, about his childhood, and it drove him, propelled him to succeed.”ĭavis also said Williams’ personality “shines through in every frame” of the documentary’s interview with his daughter, Claudia Williams, whom he had with his third wife and is his only surviving child. He refused to acknowledge his Mexican heritage. His father was never around, and his mother was never home, she worked for the Salvation Army and was out all night.
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“I was struck by his approach to baseball, he was years ahead of his time studying opposing pitchers in the ways others didn’t,” he added.ĭavis-who interned with Ken Burns on Burns’ 1994 series on baseball-said that at an early age, Williams, whose mother was Mexican-American, had to learn “how to be a survivor. This is a great project that really looked at his whole life and I’m proud to be a part of it.”ĭavis, who began making the film with Tapper in late 2015, said that Williams’ “level of determination, focus, passion, single-minded pursuit of his goal make him relevant today. Williams is such a part of baseball and Boston even today. Ortiz, the recently retired Boston Red Sox 10-time All-Star and executive producer for Big Papi Productions, said, “Ted Williams was a fascinating, complicated man and this film really covers all the issues he was dealing with on top of baseball. Tapper Productions co-produced the documentary with “American Masters,” in association with Major League Baseball David Ortiz’ Big Papi Productions and Nick Davis Productions. Lesser-known topics explored in the film include Williams’ Mexican-American background, his experiences serving during World War II and the Korean War, and his deep rage over his mother’s virtual abandonment of him and his younger brother.Īlbert M. Through never-before-seen archival footage and in-depth interviews with those who knew and studied him, including his daughter, Claudia Williams, and Ben Bradlee, Jr., author of The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, the documentary demonstrates the power of the heroic myth-making culture in which Williams flourished. In the film, former players including Baseball Hall of Famers Willie McCovey and Wade Boggs three-time All-Star Jim Kaat and current Cincinnati Reds first baseman and former National League MVP Joey Votto discuss how Williams’ philosophy, commitment to greatness and approach to hitting influenced them.ĭuring his career with the Red Sox, Ted Williams earned many nicknames-“The Kid,” “The Splendid Splinter” and “Teddy Ballgame”-but he said the only nickname he ever wanted was “the greatest hitter who ever lived.” In that pursuit, he combined his preternatural gifts with a fierce work ethic to become widely regarded as one of the greatest ever to play the game of baseball, and in the process elevated the science of hitting in ways still emulated today. Narrated by award-winning actor Jon Hamm, the documentary features never-before-seen footage of Williams' final game on September 28, 1960, as well as new interviews with award-winning broadcasters Bob Costas and the late Dick Enberg, and with 97-year-old New Yorker baseball writer Roger Angell.