{"id":94724,"date":"2025-01-28T13:47:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T18:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=94724"},"modified":"2025-01-28T13:47:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T18:47:08","slug":"pirates-almost-had-ted-williams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/01\/28\/pirates-almost-had-ted-williams\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates History Lookback: Dispute Over Light Bill Cost Pittsburgh Ted Williams"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Pirates made an offer to acquire perhaps the greatest hitter who ever lived, Ted Williams<\/a>, in 1937. They may have gotten \u201cThe Splendid Splinter,\u201d too, were it not for a dispute over a light bill. So said Pie Traynor<\/a> to Jimmy Jordan of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/em> in 1958.<\/p>\n

Pirates History Lookback: Dispute Over Light Bill Cost Pittsburgh Ted Williams<\/h2>\n

To say Williams could hit is like saying Caruso could sing. For his career, all with the Boston Red Sox, Williams hit .344\/.482\/.634, 521 HR, and 1,839 RBI. Read that OBP again. It\u2019s an all-time career record. For 19 years, he reached base almost half the time he stepped into the batter\u2019s box. He had a 191 OPS+ and was worth 121.8 WAR<\/a>. He was worth two wars to his country, too. Williams played from 1939-60, interrupting his career to fight in World War II from 1943-45 and the Korean War from 1952-53. Otherwise, he may have broken Babe Ruth<\/a>\u2019s career home run record before<\/a> Henry Aaron<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Williams won six American League batting titles and was the last player to hit .400 in a season when he hit .406 in 1941. He finished second in the AL Most Valuable Player Award voting that year to Joe DiMaggio<\/a>. That was the year DiMaggio captivated the nation with his 56-game hitting streak. During his famous streak, DiMaggio hit .408\/.463\/.718. Even during that period, however, Williams was the better hitter, hitting .412\/.540\/.685. Williams received MVP consideration every year (winning the award in 1946 and 1949) except 1952. He was named to the AL All-Star team every year save for 1939 and 1952. Of course, he appeared in just six games in 1952.<\/p>\n

Traynor was the Pirates third baseman from 1920-35 and manager from 1934-39. In his day, only Honus Wagner<\/a> was a bigger star in the Pittsburgh sports world. Although he was born in Farmington, Massachusetts, Traynor remained in Pittsburgh when his baseball career was over. He was a familiar face on local TV\u2019s popular Studio Wrestling<\/em><\/a> during the 1960s, doing live commercials for American Heating. (\u201cWho can? Ameri-can!\u201d)
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