Editing Ted Williams (section)

====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>