SamSaid!

THE SPLENDID SPLINTER

     Last week, Ted Williams died. To many it may have been a non-event or at least a semi-event. To me it was a major event.

     I was raised around baseball. My Dad was a good player and in his later years managed the Town Team. I was a batboy at 6 and learned basic math by keeping the box scores, and calculating batting averages and earned run averages. Skill-wise, I was a lot longer on desire than I was on talent but still had a few memorable occasions as a player.

     Best of all, I had the oportunity to watch the great ones play  –  Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Dizzy Dean, Bob Feller, Jackie Robinson  –  to name a few  –  and was fortunate enough to attend All-star games and the World Series. In recent years my interest in baseball has waned due to the Player's Union, agents, strikes, free agency, big bucks and player behavior. Last week, I didn't even see a pitch in the all-star game. Not interested.

      Williams was really something special. It was worth the price of admission just to watch him hit 4 times. His running fued with the Press in Boston was more a matter of irresponsible journalists than an individualistic super talent. He was his own man and set many good examples for others to follow. It's OK to be outspoken when speaking from a position of authority  –  and he was all of that.

     It is not appropriate to grant him fame for all of his being. Let's just say that he was the very best at a special skill  –  hitting a baseball. I hated to see him go. He will always be my selection of the best in a great era of sport  –  baseball, football, track, golf, tennis, skiing, skating, boxing, etc. Now I will have a lot of time to see who I would put in second place. So long to the Splendid Splinter!