Ted Williams

Red Sox legend Ted Williams grew up in front of America during baseball’s golden age. He served his country as an ace fighter pilot in Korea and was the last man to ever hit over .400 for a season. This story isn’t about how he lived, but about the mystery surrounding his world after his death. Williams’s head (yes, his head) is preserved in cryostasis in a facility in Arizona. How this came to be remains a mystery shrouded in claims that his children mistreated him and wrapped in a notorious dirty cocktail napkin.

Broadcaster Joe Garagiola narrates the greatest games of baseball's golden era in this nostalgia-packed documentary. Its unique focus is legendary ball games the way most of America witnessed them . . . in the movie newsreels. The venues are America's grand old ball parks: the original Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Brooklyn's Ebbets Field; the Polo Grounds, Tiger Stadium and other baseball landmarks that may be gone, but come to life again in this DVD. Witness Babe Ruth at bat; Lou Gehrig's ""luckiest man"" speech; Roger Maris breaking the Babe's home-run record; Pete Gray, the St. Louis Brown's one-armed outfielder; Ted William's final at-bat when he went out in grand style, ending his career with a home run, and other classic moments in baseball history.

Born in 1918 in San Diego, Williams was a latchkey child from a broken home, raised by a mother more dedicated to the Salvation Army than to her two sons, and by a father who spent more time away from home than in it. Williams found salvation by doing the one thing he loved most: hitting baseballs. In his rookie season with the Red Sox, where he would spend his entire career as a player, Williams batted .327, socked 31 homers and led the league with 145 RBI. Over the next 21 years, despite losing five seasons of his prime to active service as a U.S. Marine Corps pilot, Williams hit 521 home runs, twice captured the Triple Crown, and became the oldest man ever to win a batting title. He finished his career with a .344 lifetime batting average, was the last man to hit over .400 in a full season, batting .406 in 1941, and was a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

...the electricity of opening day ...a kid's awe at his first big-league game ...the close-up presence of heroes, heroes and more heroes. It's all here in GRAND SLAM!, an exciting new and original tribute to baseball and 37 of its greatest living legends. Join them, guest star Billy Crystal and host Dick Schapp, ABC-TV national sports correspondent, as they share insights, opinions and surprising revelations, interwoven with some of the most amazing baseball action footage you'll ever see! Plus a superb soundtrack of original songs composed by award-winner Bill Conti ("Rocky," "The Karate Kid,") with vocals by Roberta Flack, Isaac Hayes, Little Richard and Ashford & Simpson. It's that rare kind of program that will make you want to see it over and over again!