Editing Ted Williams (section)

===Major leagues (1939–1942, 1946–1960)===

====1939–1940====
[[File:1939 Ted Williams.png|thumb|upright=0.7|Williams during his rookie season]]

Williams came to spring training three days late in 1939, thanks to Williams driving from California to Florida, as well as respiratory problems, the latter of which would plague Williams for the rest of his career.<ref name="Montville56-57">[[#Montville|Montville]], pp. 56–57.</ref> In the winter, the Red Sox traded right fielder [[Ben Chapman (baseball)|Ben Chapman]] to the [[Cleveland Indians]] to make room for Williams on the roster, even though Chapman had hit .340 in the previous season.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 57; [[#Montville|Montville]], p. 57.</ref> This led ''[[The Boston Globe|Boston Globe]]'' [[Sports journalism|sports journalist]] Gerry Moore to quip, "Not since [[Joe DiMaggio]] broke in with the Yankees by "five for five" in St. Petersburg in 1936 has any baseball rookie received the nationwide publicity that has been accorded this spring to Theodore Francis{{sic}} Williams".<ref name="Montville56-57"/> Williams inherited Chapman's number 9 on his uniform as opposed to Williams' number 5 in the previous spring training. He made his [[Major League Baseball|major league]] debut against the New York Yankees on April 20, going 1-for-4 against Yankee pitcher [[Red Ruffing]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 20, 1939 |title=Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees Box Score: April 20, 1939 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA193904200.shtml |access-date=December 26, 2024 |website=[[Baseball Reference]] |language=en}}</ref> This was the only game which featured both Williams and [[Lou Gehrig]] playing against one another.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 61.</ref> 

In his first series at [[Fenway Park]], Williams hit a [[double (baseball)|double]], a home run, and a [[triple (baseball)|triple]], the first two against [[Cotton Pippen]], who gave Williams his first strikeout as a professional while Williams had been in San Diego.<ref name="Williams62">[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 62.</ref> By July, Williams was hitting just .280, but leading the league in RBI.<ref name="Williams62"/> Johnny Orlando, now Williams' friend, then gave Williams a quick pep talk, telling Williams that he should hit .335 with 35 home runs and he would drive in 150 runs. Williams said he would buy Orlando a [[Cadillac]] if this all came true.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 61.</ref> In 149 games, Williams batted .327 with 31 home runs and 145 RBI,<ref name="baseball reference">{{cite web |title=Ted Williams Career Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/willite01.shtml |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> leading the league in the latter category, the first rookie to lead the league in RBIs and finishing fourth in MVP voting.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 63; [[#Montville|Montville]], p. 62.</ref> He also led the AL in walks, with 107, a rookie record. Even though there was not a [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year]] award yet in 1939, Babe Ruth declared Williams to be the Rookie of the Year, which Williams later said was "good enough for me".<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 65.</ref>

Williams' pay doubled in 1940, going from $5,000 to $10,000.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 73.</ref> A new bullpen was added in right field of [[Fenway Park]], reducing the distance from home plate from 400 feet to 380 feet and earning the nickname "Williamsburg" for being "obviously designed for Williams".<ref name="Montville63">[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 63.</ref> Williams was then switched from right field to [[left fielder|left field]], as there would be less sun in his eyes, and it would give [[Dom DiMaggio]] a chance to play center. Finally, Williams was flip-flopped in the order with the great slugger [[Jimmie Foxx]], with the idea that Williams would get more pitches to hit.<ref name="Montville63"/> Pitchers, though, proved willing to [[walk (baseball)|pitch around]] the eagle-eyed Williams in favor of facing the 32-year-old Foxx, the reigning AL home run champion, followed by the still highly productive 33-year-old [[Joe Cronin]], the [[player-manager (baseball)|player-manager]].<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 64.</ref> Williams also made his first of 16 [[All-Star Game]] appearances in 1940, going 0-for-2.<ref name="allstar">{{cite web |title=Ted Williams All-Star Stats |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/playerpost.php?p=willite01&ps=asg |website=[[Baseball Almanac]]}}</ref> Although Williams hit .344, his power and runs batted in were down from the previous season, with 23 home runs and 113 RBI in 144 games played.<ref name="baseball reference"/> Williams also caused a controversy in mid-August when he called his salary "peanuts", along with saying he hated the city of Boston and reporters, leading reporters to lash back at him, saying that he should be traded.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], pp. 66–67.</ref> Williams said that the "only real fun" he had in 1940 was being able to pitch once on August 24, when he pitched the last two innings in a 12–1 loss to the [[Detroit Tigers]], allowing one earned run on three hits, while striking out one batter, [[Rudy York]].<ref>{{cite web |date=August 24, 1940 |title=Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox Box Score: August 24, 1940 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS194008241.shtml |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref><ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 82.</ref>

====1941====
[[File:Ted Williams 1940 Play Ball.jpeg|thumb|upright=0.75|Williams' 1940 ''Play Ball'' [[baseball card]]]]
In the second week of spring training in 1941, Williams broke a bone in his right ankle, limiting him to [[pinch hitter|pinch hitting]] for the first two weeks of the season.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 84.</ref> Bobby Doerr later claimed that the injury would be the foundation of Williams' season, as it forced him to put less pressure on his right foot for the rest of the season.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 80.</ref> Against the [[Chicago White Sox]] on May 7, in [[extra innings]], Williams told the Red Sox pitcher, [[Charlie Wagner]], to hold the White Sox, since he was going to hit a home run. In the 11th inning, Williams' prediction came true, as he hit a big blast to help the Red Sox win.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 7, 1941 |title=Boston Red Sox vs Chicago White Sox Box Score: May 7, 1941 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA194105070.shtml |access-date=December 26, 2024 |website=[[Baseball Reference]] |language=en}}</ref>

The home run is still considered to be the longest home run ever hit in the old [[Comiskey Park]], some saying that it went {{convert|600|ft}}.<ref>[[#Reis|Reis]], p. 26.</ref> Williams' average slowly climbed in the first half of May, and on May 15, he started a 22-game hitting streak. From May 17 to June 1, Williams batted .536, with his season average going above .400 on May 25 and then continuing up to .430.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], pp. 82–83.</ref> By the All-Star break, Williams was hitting .406 with 16 home runs and 62 RBI.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 84.</ref>

In the [[1941 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1941 All-Star Game]], Williams batted fourth behind [[Joe DiMaggio]], who was in the midst of his record-breaking hitting streak, having hit safely in 48 consecutive games.<ref name="Montville85">[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 85.</ref> In the fourth inning Williams doubled to drive in a run.<ref name="Williams88"/> With the National League (NL) leading 5–2 in the eighth inning, Williams struck out in the middle of an American League (AL) rally.<ref name="Montville85"/> In the ninth inning the AL still trailed 5–3; [[Ken Keltner]] and [[Joe Gordon]] singled, and [[Cecil Travis]] [[Walk (baseball)|walked]] to load the bases.<ref name="Williams88">[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 88.</ref> DiMaggio grounded to the infield and [[Billy Herman]], attempting to complete a [[double play]], threw wide of first base, allowing Keltner to score. With the score 5–4 and runners on first and third, Williams homered with his eyes closed to secure a 7–5 AL win. Williams later said that that game-winning home run "remains to this day the most thrilling hit of my life".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lancaster |first1=Marc |title=July 8, 1941: Ted Williams hits 'most thrilling' home run to win All-Star Game in Detroit |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-8-1941-ted-williams-hits-most-thrilling-home-run-to-win-all-star-game-in-detroit/ |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref>

In late August, Williams was hitting .402.<ref name="Williams87">[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 87.</ref> Williams said that "just about everybody was rooting for me" to hit .400 in the season, including Yankee fans, who gave pitcher [[Lefty Gomez]] a "hell of a boo" after walking Williams with the bases loaded after Williams had gotten three straight hits one game in September.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 86.</ref> In mid-September, Williams was hitting .413, but dropped a point a game from then on.<ref name="Williams87"/> Before the final two games on September 28, a [[doubleheader (baseball)|doubleheader]] against the [[Philadelphia Athletics]], he was batting .39955, which would have been officially rounded up to .400.<ref name="Williams87"/> Red Sox manager [[Joe Cronin]] offered him the chance to sit out the final day, but he declined. "If I'm going to be a .400 hitter", he said at the time, "I want more than my toenails on the line." Williams went 6-for-8 on the day, finishing the season at .406.<ref name = "NYT.406">{{cite news |last=Pennington |first=Bill |date=September 11, 2011 |title=Ted Williams' .406 Is More Than a Number |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/sports/baseball/ted-williamss-406-average-is-more-than-a-number.html?_r=0 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> (Sacrifice flies were counted as at-bats in 1941; under today's rules, Williams would have hit between .411 and .419, based on contemporaneous game accounts.<ref name = "NYT.406"/>) Philadelphia fans ran out on the field to surround Williams after the game, forcing him to protect his hat from being stolen; he was helped into the clubhouse by his teammates.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 94.</ref> Along with his .406 average, Williams also hit 37 [[home run]]s and recorded 120 RBI in 143 games, missing the Triple Crown by five RBI.<ref name="baseball reference"/>

Williams' 1941 season is often considered to be the best offensive season of all time, though the MVP award would go to DiMaggio. The .406 batting average—his first of six batting championships—is still the highest single-season average in [[Red Sox]] history and the highest batting average in the major leagues since 1924, and the last time any major league player has hit over .400 for a season after averaging at least 3.1 plate appearances per game. ("If I had known hitting .400 was going to be such a big deal", he quipped in 1991, "I would have done it again."<ref name = "NYT.406"/>) Williams' [[on-base percentage]] of .553 and [[slugging percentage]] of .735 that season are both also the highest single-season averages in Red Sox history. The .553 OBP stood as a major league record until it was broken by [[Barry Bonds]] in 2002 and his .735 slugging percentage was the highest mark in the major leagues between 1932 and 1994. His [[On-base plus slugging|OPS]] of 1.287 that year, a Red Sox record, was the highest in the major leagues between 1923 and 2001. Despite playing in only 143 games that year, Williams led the league with 135 runs scored and 37 home runs, and he finished third with 335 total bases, the most home runs, runs scored, and total bases by a Red Sox player since [[Jimmie Foxx]]'s in 1938.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ted Williams 1941 Batting Game Log |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=willite01&t=b&year=1941 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> Williams placed second in MVP voting; DiMaggio won, 291 votes to 254,<ref>[[#Linn|Linn]], p. 168.</ref> on the strength of his record-breaking [[Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak|56-game hitting streak]] and league-leading 125 RBI.<ref name="Williams96">[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 96.</ref>

====1942–1945====
====U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps====
In January 1942,<ref name="Williams97">[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 97; [[#Reis|Reis]], p. 36.</ref> Williams was [[conscription|drafted]] into the military, being put into [[Class 1-A]]. A friend of Williams suggested that Williams see the advisor of the governor's Selective Service Appeal Agent, since Williams was the sole support of his mother, arguing that Williams should not have been placed in Class 1-A, and said Williams should be reclassified to [[Class 1-A|Class 3-A]].<ref name="Williams97"/> Williams was reclassified to 3-A ten days later.<ref name="Williams98">[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 98.</ref> Afterwards, the public reaction was extremely negative,<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 101.</ref> even though the baseball book ''Season of '42'' states only four All-Stars and one first-line pitcher entered military service during the 1942 season. (Many more MLB players would enter service during the 1943 season.)<ref>{{cite book |last=Cavanaugh |first=Jack |url=https://archive.org/details/seasonof42joedte0000cava/page/6/mode/2up |title=Season of '42: Joe D, Teddy Ballgame, and Baseball's Fight to Survive a Turbulent First Year of War |publisher=[[Skyhorse Publishing]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-1616087401 |page=7 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

[[Quaker Oats]] stopped sponsoring Williams, and Williams, who previously had eaten Quaker products "all the time", never "[ate] one since" the company stopped sponsoring him.<ref name="Williams98"/> Despite the trouble with the draft board, Williams had a new salary of $30,000 in 1942.<ref name="Williams98"/> In the season, Williams won the Triple Crown,<ref name="Williams96"/> with a .356 batting average, 36 home runs, and 137 RBI in 150 games.<ref name="baseball reference"/> On May 21, Williams also hit his 100th career home run.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ted Williams 1942 Batting Game Logs |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=willite01&t=b&year=1942 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> He was the third Red Sox player to hit 100 home runs with the team, following teammates [[Jimmie Foxx]] and [[Joe Cronin]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Player Batting Season & Career Stats Finder - Baseball |url=https://stathead.com/baseball/player-batting-season-finder.cgi?request=1&match=player_season_combined&year_max=1942&ccomp%5B1%5D=gt&cval%5B1%5D=100&cstat%5B1%5D=b_hr&team_id=BOS |website=[[Stathead]]}}</ref> Despite winning the Triple Crown, Williams came in second in the MVP voting, losing to [[Joe Gordon]] of the Yankees. Williams felt that he should have gotten a "little more consideration" because of winning the Triple Crown, and he thought that "the reason I didn't get more consideration was because of the trouble I had with the draft [boards]".<ref name="Williams96"/>

Williams joined the [[United States Navy Reserve|Navy Reserve]] on May 22, 1942, went on active duty in 1943, and was [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned]] a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[United States Marine Corps]] as a [[United States Naval Aviator|naval aviator]] on May 2, 1944. Williams also played on the baseball team in [[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]], along with his Red Sox teammate [[Johnny Pesky]] in pre-flight training, after eight weeks in [[Amherst, Massachusetts]], and the Civilian Pilot Training Course.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 108.</ref> While on the baseball team, Williams was sent back to Fenway Park on July 12, 1943, to play on an All-Star team managed by Babe Ruth. The newspapers reported that Ruth said when finally meeting Williams, "Hiya, kid. You remind me a lot of myself. I love to hit. You're one of the most natural ballplayers I've ever seen. And if my record is broken, I hope you're the one to do it".<ref name="Montville110">[[#Montville|Montville]] p. 110.</ref> Williams later said he was "flabbergasted" by the incident, as "after all, it was Babe Ruth".<ref name="Montville110"/> In the game, Williams hit a 425-foot home run to help give the American League All-Stars a 9–8 win.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], p. 111.</ref>

====Service baseball====
On September 2, 1945, when the war ended, Lt. Williams was in [[Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]] awaiting orders as a replacement pilot. While in Pearl Harbor, Williams played baseball in the Navy League. Also in that eight-team league were [[Joe DiMaggio]], [[Joe Gordon]], and [[Stan Musial]]. The Service [[World Series]] with the Army versus the Navy attracted crowds of 40,000 for each game. The players said it was even better than the actual World Series being played between the [[Detroit Tigers]] and [[Chicago Cubs]] that year.<ref>[[#Montville|Montville]], pp. 117–118.</ref>

====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>

====1950–1955====
[[File:Ted Williams 1954 Bowman.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|1954 baseball card]]

In 1950, Williams was playing in his eighth All-Star Game. In the first inning, Williams caught a line drive by [[Ralph Kiner]], slamming into the Comiskey Park scoreboard and breaking his left arm.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rogers III |first1=C. Paul |title=July 11, 1950: Red Schoendienst's 14th-inning homer gives NL a dramatic All-Star win |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-11-1950-red-schoendiensts-extra-inning-homer-gives-national-league-dramatic-win/ |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref> Williams played the rest of the game, and he even singled in a run to give the American League the lead in the fifth inning,<ref name=allstar/> but by that time Williams' arm was a "balloon" and he was in great pain, so he left the game.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 167.</ref> Both of the doctors who X-rayed Williams held little hope for a full recovery. The doctors operated on Williams for two hours.<ref>[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 168.</ref> When Williams took his cast off, he could only extend the arm to within four inches of his right arm.<ref name="Williams169">[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 169.</ref> Williams only played 89 games in 1950, but managed to hit .317 with 28 home runs and 97 RBI.<ref name="baseball reference"/> After the baseball season, Williams' elbow hurt so much he considered retirement, since he thought he would never be able to hit again. [[Tom Yawkey]], the Red Sox owner, then sent Jack Fadden to Williams' Florida home to talk to Williams. Williams later thanked Fadden for saving his career.<ref>[[#Linn|Linn]], p. 241.</ref>

In 1951, Williams "struggled", hiting .318, with his elbow still hurting.<ref name="Williams172">[[#Williams|Williams & Underwood]], p. 172.</ref> Despite this, he played in 148 games, 60 more than in the previous season, while hitting 30 home runs, two more than in 1950, and 126 RBI, 29 more than 1950.<ref name="baseball reference" /> Despite his lower-than-usual production at bat, Williams made the All-Star team.<ref name=allstar/> On May 15, 1951, Williams became the 11th player in major league history to hit 300 career home runs. On May 21, Williams passed [[Chuck Klein]] for 10th place, on May 25 Williams passed Hornsby for ninth place, and on July 5 Williams passed [[Al Simmons]] for eighth place [[List of lifetime home run leaders in Major League Baseball|all-time in career home runs]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Ted Williams 1951 Batting Game Logs |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=willite01&t=b&year=1951 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> After the season, manager [[Steve O'Neill]] was fired, with [[Lou Boudreau]] replacing him. Boudreau's first announcement as manager was that all Red Sox players were "expendable", including Williams.<ref name="Williams172"/>