In 1994, Ted Williams opened his Hitters Hall of Fame in Hernando, Florida. He celebrated the event by inviting hundreds of former ballplayers and one current player — Tony Gwynn.
Williams enshrined the top twenty all-time hitters using his own "secret formula" which he stated was a combination of on base percentage and slugging average. Here are the top twenty hitters chosen by The Splended Splinter as the first members of the Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame.
"If there was ever a man born to be a hitter, it was me." - Ted Williams
Top 20 Hittersby Ted Williams (1994) |
|
Rank | Name |
20. | Ralph Kiner |
19. | Mike Schmidt |
18. | Frank Robinson |
17. | Harry Heilmann |
16. | Mel Ott |
15. | Johnny Mize |
14. | Al Simmons |
13. | Tris Speaker |
12. | Mickey Mantle |
11. | Hank Greenberg |
10. | Willie Mays |
9. | Hank Aaron |
8. | Joe Jackson |
7. | Stan Musial |
6. | Ty Cobb |
5. | Joe DiMaggio |
4. | Rogers Hornsby |
3. | Jimmie Foxx |
2. | Lou Gehrig |
1. | Babe Ruth |
Top 20 Hitters by Ted Williams |
Ted Williams hitting stats speak for themselves — .344 batting average, 1,798 runs, 521 homers, 2,019 walks and slugging average of .634.
Ted Williams could have sat out the final game in 1941 and finish with a .400 batting average, but he chose to play in a doubleheader and went four-for-five in game one and two-for-three in game two raising his batting average to .406.
Did you know that Ted Williams hit a home run in the last at-bat of his career? Do you know which other batters have accomplished that unique feat?