Editing Ted Williams (section)

===Minor leagues (1936–1938)===
Williams played back-up behind [[Vince DiMaggio]] and [[Ivey Shiver]] on the (then) [[Pacific Coast League]]'s [[San Diego Padres (PCL)|San Diego Padres]]. While in the Pacific Coast League in 1936, Williams met future teammates and friends [[Dom DiMaggio]] and [[Bobby Doerr]], who were on the Pacific Coast League's [[San Francisco Seals (baseball)|San Francisco Seals]].<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 32.</ref> When Shiver announced he was quitting to become a high school football coach in [[Savannah, Georgia]], the job, by default, was open for Williams.<ref name="Montville33-34">[[#Montville|Montville]], pp. 33–34.</ref> Williams posted a .271 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] and 11 [[Run batted in|runs batted in]] (RBI) on 107 [[at bat]]s in 42 games for the Padres in 1936.<ref name="Montville33-34"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Ted Williams Minor Leagues Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=willia002the |access-date=December 26, 2024 |website=[[Baseball Reference]] |language=en}}</ref> Unknown to Williams, he had caught the eye of the Boston Red Sox's general manager, [[Eddie Collins]], while Collins was scouting Doerr and the [[shortstop]] [[George Myatt]] in August 1936.<ref name="Montville33-34"/><ref>[[#Nowlin|Nowlin]], p. 98.</ref>

Collins later explained, "It wasn't hard to find Ted Williams. He stood out like a brown cow in a field of white cows."<ref name="Montville33-34"/> In the 1937 season, after graduating from Hoover High in the winter, Williams finally broke into the lineup on June 22, when he hit an [[inside-the-park home run]] to help the Padres win 3–2. The Padres ended up winning the PCL title, while Williams ended up hitting .291 with 23 home runs and 98 RBI in 138 games.<ref name="Montville33-34"/><ref name=":0" /> Meanwhile, Collins kept in touch with Padres general manager Bill Lane, calling him two times throughout the season. In December 1937, during the [[winter meetings]], the deal was made between Lane and Collins, sending Williams to the [[Boston Red Sox]] and giving Lane $35,000 and two major leaguers, Dom D'Allessandro and [[Al Niemiec]], and two other minor leaguers.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 43; [[#Nowlin|Nowlin]], p. 100.</ref>

In 1938, the 19-year-old Williams was 10 days late to [[spring training]] camp in [[Sarasota, Florida]], because of a flood in California that blocked the railroads. Williams had to borrow $200 from a bank to make the trip from San Diego to Sarasota.<ref name="Williams45">[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 45.</ref> Also during spring training Williams was nicknamed "the Kid" by Red Sox equipment manager Johnny Orlando, who after Williams arrived to Sarasota for the first time, said, "{{'}}The Kid' has arrived". Orlando still called Williams "the Kid" 20 years later,<ref name="Williams45"/> and the nickname stuck with Williams the rest of his life.<ref>[[#Reis|Reis]], p. 14.</ref> Williams remained in major league spring training for about a week.<ref name="Williams45"/> Williams was then sent to the [[Double-A (baseball)|Double-A]]-league [[Minneapolis Millers]].<ref name="Montville46">[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 46.</ref> While in the Millers training camp for the springtime, Williams met [[Rogers Hornsby]], who had hit over .400 three times, including a .424 average in 1924.<ref name="Montville45">[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 45.</ref> Hornsby, who was a coach for the Millers that spring,<ref name="Montville45"/> gave Williams useful advice, including how to "get a good pitch to hit".<ref name="Montville46"/> Talking with the game's greats would become a pattern for Williams, who also talked with [[Hugh Duffy]], who hit .438 in 1894, [[Bill Terry]] who hit .401 in 1930, and [[Ty Cobb]] with whom he would argue that a [[batter (baseball)|batter]] should hit up on the ball, opposed to Cobb's view that a batter should hit down on the ball.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 47.</ref>

While in Minnesota, Williams quickly became the team's star.<ref name="Montville48-49">[[#Montville|Montville]], pp. 48–49.</ref> He collected his first hit in the Millers' first game of the season, as well as his first and second home runs during his third game. Both were inside-the-park [[home run]]s, with the second traveling an estimated {{convert|500|ft}} on the fly to a {{convert|512|ft|adj=on}} [[center fielder|center field fence]].<ref name="Montville48-49"/> Williams later had a 22 game [[hitting streak]] that lasted from Memorial Day through mid-June.<ref name="Montville48-49"/> While the Millers ended up sixth place in an eight-team race,<ref name="Montville48-49"/> Williams ended up hitting .366 with 46 home runs and 142 RBI in 148 games.<ref name=":0" /> He received the [[American Association (20th century)|American Association]]'s [[Major League Baseball Triple Crown|Triple Crown]] and finished second in the voting for [[Most Valuable Player]].<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 53.</ref>