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What Did Baseball Legend Ted Williams Feel About His Rival Joe DiMaggio?
The superstar of the Boston Red Sox had an incredible amount of respect for his counterpart on the New York Yankees
With overlapping careers playing for teams that were bitter rivals, Hall of Fame outfielders Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio have often been pitted against each other in the media and spirited debate over the years. There is no reasonable argument against both players being among the greatest to ever step on a baseball diamond, but what did the famously prickly Williams think about his talented peer?
The left-handed hitting Williams, also known as the “Splendid Splinter,” was the definition of a pure hitter. Spending his entire 19-year big league career (1939–1960- he was in military service during the entirety of 1943–45) with the Boston Red Sox, he batted a combined .344 with 521 home runs and 1,849 RBIs. The five-time batting champ was the last man to bat .400 (.406 in 1941) and was a 19-time All Star. Despite being considered an indifferent fielder in left field, his bat was so transcendent that nothing else mattered. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.
A center fielder by trade, DiMaggio was in many ways Williams’ opposite. He batted right-handed and was a swift…
