Self
Ted Williams: “The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived” explores not only the Baseball Hall of Famer’s remarkable on-field accomplishments but also his complicated relationships with family, teammates, press, fans and himself. The film is narrated by Emmy-winning actor Jon Hamm and includes never-before-seen archival footage and in-depth interviews with those who knew and studied Williams, including his daughter Claudia Williams, author/journalist Ben Bradlee, Jr., veteran baseball writer Roger Angell and award-winning broadcasters Bob Costas and the late Dick Enberg. The program demonstrates the power of the heroic myth-making culture in which Williams flourished. Lesser-known topics explored in the film include Williams’ Mexican-American background, his experiences serving during World War II and the Korean War, and his deep rage over his mother’s virtual abandonment of him and his younger brother.
Herself
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.
