Well-read, An Exclusive Excerpt From “The Kid” By Ben Bradlee, Jr.
Well-read, an exclusive excerpt from “The Kid” by Ben Bradlee, Jr.
A voracious consumer of his own press, Ted ignored all the positive coverage and focused only on the negative. “There were 49 million newspapers in Boston, from the Globe to the Brookline Something-or-Other, all ready to jump us…” he whined in his autobiography, My Turn at Bat. He was particularly sensitive about any stories that he felt delved unnecessarily into his private life, stories that accused him of failing to hit in the clutch, or suggested that he was more interested in his own performance than that of the team.
It was natural for writers to despise Williams, and fear him, because he treated them like dirt. But they also knew Ted was great copy, and if they could get him to talk, he was usually a terrific interview because he spoke with unvarnished candor. He was not above stirring the pot with reporters to give him something to be mad at if he felt he was losing his edge. He often said he hit better if he was mad. “He nurtured his rage,” as the writer Roger Kahn once put it.
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The Red Sox-Cardinals World Series starting tonight in Boston is the fourth time the two teams have played for Major League Baseball’s championship. The first Series, in 1946, was a low point in the otherwise stellar career of Ted Williams.
Williams did not get one extra base hit in the seven-game Series won by the Cardinals, managed just five singles and struck out five times for a .200 batting average. He did reach base five more times through walks. And a combination of good defense and the shift took away several potential extra base hits on balls that Ted hit on the nose. But that was part of Cardinals Manager Eddie Dyer’s plan.
When it was all over, Ted gave St. Louis its due, singling out pitcher Harry “The Cat’’ Brecheen as the Series hero for winning two of the games. “I think his mere presence on the field inspired the Cardinals,’’ Ted said. “I had hoped my bat would do the talking for me in the Series, but it was tongue-tied by some great Cardinal pitching.”
When the writers and photographers were allowed in the clubhouse, Williams sat woefully on the bench in front of his locker, hunched over, staring at the floor, disconsolate. Pitcher Mickey Harris sat next to him and struck a similar pose, and the two were pictured in a bleak tableau in the next day’s Boston Globe.
Ted was the last player to dress and the last to leave the clubhouse. Outside the locker room door, scores of Cardinal fans were lying in wait for him, hurling invective inside. “Where’s Williams?” they screamed. “Where’s Superman?” When he finally came out, the fans had formed two raging lines on either side of the door, forcing Ted to run the gauntlet of abuse. Police stood by, watching only to make sure he was not assaulted.
Williams took the insults impassively, yearning now only for the train, and the privacy of his own compartment for the long ride back to Boston. When the team finally reached the train, Ted made his way to his room, shut the door and wept. After a time, when he looked out the window, he saw scores of people gawking at him, a mix of glee and malice in their eyes.
(Photo: Ted Williams during the 1946 World Series. Brearley Collection.)
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That blip is Alan Cumming at #bea14 breakfast with Martin Short, Lena Dunham, and Colm Toibin. Martin Short called Alan "the breathtakingly pale Alan Cumming" and said that even "Don Sterling would tell him to get some color." #beahappy2read
Best day ever? @menageriebwy matinee and then off to Midtown Comics and The Strand.
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Just some musings and electronic gatherings of an ink-stained wretch turned social media junkie. As JADAL says: No trees were destroyed in the sending of this organic message. I do concede, however, a significant number of electrons may have been inconvenienced.
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