Ted Williams: My Life In Pictures Book

In October 2000, just weeks before he entered the hospital for heart surgery, Ted Williams sat down at his kitchen table in Hernando, Fla., with award-winning author and baseball historian David Pietrusza, and reviewed hundreds of photographs. Many of the photos were drawn from the Williams family collection by his son John-Henry, including images dating back to Ted's childhood.

Ted currently is recovering from the surgery in San Diego, and Total Sports Publishing has published the result of those kitchen-table sessions. ``Ted Williams: My Life in Pictures'' by Ted Williams with David Pietrusza is the definitive pictorial autobiography of the greatest living baseball player.

Featuring more than 250 images, many of them never before published, ``Ted Williams: My Life in Pictures'' is the story of a true American hero. The earthy timbre of Williams's voice rings true on every page as he recounts his remarkable life. The book progresses from his boyhood years in San Diego, through his unparalleled major league career-twice interrupted by military service—to his eventful years after his retirement from baseball, including his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a managerial stint with the Washington Senators, and a well-earned reputation as one of the world's finest fisherman.

For example:

* On hitting: "The idea is pretty simple: get your pitch-and when it arrives swing at it. Certain areas, certain choices, make you a .400 hitter, a .350 hitter. Other areas, it's the pitcher's game. So when you have a choice-on that first pitch, or when you're ahead 1-and-0, 2-and-0, 3-and-0, lay off the pitches you can't hit well, where the oddsaren't in your favor."

* On being inducted into the Hall of Fame: "I can't say it was a surprise I was elected. No, I did deserve it, and there was no way the writers could ignore my numbers—what I had accomplished, what I had worked to accomplish. But there was the question back then if you'd go in first ballot or not. DiMaggio took three ballots. DiMaggio! Hank Greenberg, Jimmie Foxx—not first ballot! So even though I wasn't really surprised, I've got to say I was still moved. How can you not be moved?"

* On tipping his cap to the Boston fans on Ted Williams Day in 1991: "I thought I'd give the fans a little surprise. I hid a Red Sox cap in my pocket and reached in and tipped it to the fans. I did it, as I said [then], so they can never write, ever again that I was hard-headed, so they can never write again that I never tipped my hat to the crowd, today I tip my hat. I tip my hat to all the people in New England, the greatest sports fans on earth."

In words and pictures, ``Ted Williams: My Life in Pictures'' uniquely captures the man behind the legend, and is a fitting tribute to baseball greatest living player.