Editing Ted Williams (section)

====1946–1949====
[[File:1948 Leaf Ted Williams.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.75|1948 baseball card]]
Williams was discharged by the Marine Corps on January 28, 1946, in time to begin preparations for the upcoming pro baseball season.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 119.</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">[[#Mersky|Mersky]], p. 189.</ref> He joined the Red Sox again in 1946, signing a $37,500 contract.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 122.</ref> On July 14, after Williams hit three home runs and eight RBI in the first game of a doubleheader, [[Lou Boudreau]], inspired by Williams' consistent pull hitting to right field, created what would later be known as the [[Infield shift|Boudreau shift]] (also [[Infield shift|Williams shift]]) against Williams, having only one player on the left side of second base (the left fielder). Ignoring the shift, Williams walked twice, doubled, and grounded out to the shortstop, who was positioned in between first and second base.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 107.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Paine |first=Neil |date=October 13, 2016 |title=Why Baseball Revived a 60-Year-Old Strategy Designed to Stop Ted Williams |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/ahead-of-their-time-why-baseball-revived-a-60-year-old-strategy-designed-to-stop-ted-williams/ |work=[[FiveThirtyEight]]}}</ref> Also during 1946, the [[1946 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] was held in Fenway Park. In the game, Williams homered in the fourth inning against [[Kirby Higbe]], singled in a run in the fifth inning, singled in the seventh inning, and hit a three-run home run against [[Rip Sewell]]'s "[[eephus pitch]]" in the eighth inning to help the American League win 12–0.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nowlin |first1=Bill |title=July 9, 1946: Ted Williams, American League dominant in first All-Star Game after World War II |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-9-1946-ted-williams-american-league-dominant-in-first-all-star-game-after-world-war-ii/ |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref>

For the 1946 season, Williams hit .342 with 38 home runs and 123 RBI in 150 games,<ref name="baseball reference"/> helping the Red Sox win the pennant on September 13, in a 1–0 win over Cleveland; Williams hit the only inside-the-park home run in his Major League career for the only run of the game.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nowlin |first=Bill |title=September 13, 1946: Ted Williams' inside-the-park home run clinches AL pennant for Red Sox |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/september-13-1946-ted-williamss-inside-the-park-home-run-clinches-al-pennant-for-red-sox/ |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref> On June 9, he hit what is considered to be the longest home run in Fenway Park history, at {{convert|502|ft|m}} and subsequently marked with a [[Fenway Park#The Lone Red Seat|lone red seat]] in the Fenway bleachers.<ref>{{cite web |last=Huber |first=Mike |title=June 9, 1946: Ted Williams hits 502-foot 'red seat' home run at Fenway Park |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/june-9-1946-ted-williams-hits-502-foot-red-seat-home-run-at-fenway-park-2/ |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref> Williams ran away as the winner in the MVP voting.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 125.</ref> During an exhibition game in Fenway Park against an All-Star team during early October, Williams was hit on the elbow by a [[curveball]] by the Washington Senators' pitcher [[Mickey Haefner]]. Williams was immediately taken out of the game, and X-rays of his arm showed no damage, but his arm was "swelled up like a boiled egg", according to Williams.<ref name="Montville126">[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 126.</ref> Williams could not swing a bat again until four days later, one day before the World Series, when he reported the arm as "sore".<ref name="Montville126"/> During the series, Williams batted .200 (5-for-25) with no home runs and just one RBI. The Red Sox lost in seven games.<ref>{{cite book |author=Schoor |first=Gene |author-link=Gene Schoor |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofworld00scho/page/204/mode/2up |title=The History of the World Series: The Complete Chronology of America's Greatest Sports Tradition |publisher=[[William Morrow and Company]] |year=1990 |isbn=0-688-07995-4 |pages=204–207 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Fifty years later when asked what one thing he would have done different in his life, Williams replied, "I'd have done better in the '46 World Series. God, I would".<ref name="Montville126"/> The [[1946 World Series]] was the only World Series Williams ever appeared in.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 105.</ref>

Williams signed a $70,000 contract in 1947.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 122.</ref> Williams was also almost traded for Joe DiMaggio in 1947. In late April, Red Sox owner [[Tom Yawkey]] and Yankees owner [[Dan Topping]] agreed to swap the players, but a day later canceled the deal when Yawkey requested that [[Yogi Berra]] come with DiMaggio.<ref>{{cite web |last=Merron |first=Jeff |title=Baseball's biggest rumors |url=https://www.espn.com/page2/s/list/baseballrumors.html |website=[[ESPN]]}}</ref> In May, Williams was hitting .337.<ref>[[#Seidel|Seidel]], p. 177.</ref> Williams won the Triple Crown in 1947, but lost the MVP award to Joe DiMaggio, 202 points to 201 points. One writer left Williams off his ballot. Williams said he thought it was Mel Webb, whom Williams called a "grouchy old guy",<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 124.</ref> although it now appears it was not Webb, and three writers left DiMaggio off of their ballots.<ref name=1947ballot/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Best |first=Jason |title=Melville Webb |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/melville-webb/ |access-date= |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Williams was the third major league player to have had at least four 30-home run and 100-RBI seasons in their first five years, joining [[Chuck Klein]] and [[Joe DiMaggio]], and followed by [[Ralph Kiner]], [[Mark Teixeira]], [[Albert Pujols]], and [[Ryan Braun]] through 2011.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schlueter |first=Roger |date=September 17, 2011 |title=Fascinating facts from Friday's games |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110917&content_id=24822414&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107084948/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110917&content_id=24822414&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |website=[[MLB.com]] |publisher=[[MLB Advanced Media]]}}</ref>

In 1948, under their new manager, the ex-New York Yankee great skipper [[Joe McCarthy (manager)|Joe McCarthy]],<ref name="Montville133">[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 133.</ref> Williams hit a league-leading .369 with 25 home runs and 127 RBIs, and was third in MVP voting.<ref name="baseball reference"/> On April 29, Williams hit his 200th career home run. He became just the second player to hit 200 home runs in a Red Sox uniform, joining his former teammate Jimmie Foxx.<ref name="baseball reference"/> On October 2, against the Yankees, Williams hit his 222nd career home run, tying Foxx for the Red Sox all-time record.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ted Williams 1948 Batting Game Log |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=willite01&t=b&year=1948 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> In the Red Sox' final two games of the regular schedule, they beat the Yankees (to force a [[1948 American League tie-breaker game|one-game playoff]] against the Cleveland Indians) and Williams got on base eight times out of ten plate appearances.<ref name="Montville133"/> In the playoff, Williams went 1-for-4, with the Red Sox losing 8–3.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 4, 1948 |title=Cleveland Indians vs Boston Red Sox Box Score: October 4, 1948 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS194810040.shtml |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref>

In 1949, Williams received a new salary of $100,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|100000|1949|r=-3}}}} in current dollar terms).<ref name="Montville, p. 134">[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 134.</ref> He hit .343 (losing the AL batting title by just .0002 to the Tigers' [[George Kell]], thus missing the Triple Crown that year), hitting 43 home runs, his career high, and driving in 159 runs, tied for highest in the league, and at one point, he got on base in 84 straight games, an MLB record that still stands today, helping him win the MVP trophy.<ref name="baseball reference"/><ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 135.</ref> On April 28, Williams hit his 223rd career home run, breaking the record for most home runs in a Red Sox uniform, passing Jimmie Foxx.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ted Williams 1949 Batting Game Logs |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=willite01&t=b&year=1949 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> Williams is still the Red Sox career home run leader. However, despite being ahead of the Yankees by one game just before a two-game series against them (last regular-season games for both teams),<ref name="Montville133"/> the Red Sox lost both of those games and the Yankees won the pennant.<ref>{{cite web |title=1949 American League Standings |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1949-standings.shtml |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> They went on to win the first of what would be five straight World Series titles, beginning with 1949. For the rest of Williams' career, the Yankees won nine pennants and six World Series titles, while the Red Sox never finished better than third place.<ref>{{cite web |title=MLB Team History – New York Yankees Season Results |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/history/teams/_/team/NYY |website=[[ESPN]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MLB Team History – Boston Red Sox Season Results |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/history/teams/_/team/Bos |website=[[ESPN]]}}</ref>