Ted Williams’ Last Game

(Brearley Collection Photo from Opening Day 1947)

By Lew Freedman | Staff Historian

He refused to tip his cap to the fans after the last majestic hit of his wondrous 21-year Major League career with the Boston Red Sox. He refused to step out of the dugout to acknowledge the cheers filling the air at Fenway Park in the last game of his professional life. And that was so Ted.

The ballplayer who said his only ambition in life was to have people see him walk down the street and say, “There goes the best hitter there ever was,” achieved his goal and slipped away from his sport on his own terms.

Ted Williams may well have been the best hitter in baseball history, although some can argue statistics for Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby or Babe Ruth, those who like Williams are in the penthouse of the Hall of Fame.

It is 52 years since Williams retired his Boston Red Sox spikes on September 28, 1960, as was true throughout most of his career, they were going nowhere but home as the regular-season ended. Williams saw too few Octobers in his career with the Red Sox.

Putting a Bow on the Red Sox/Dodgers Trade

(REUTERS/Danny Moloshok)

By Ben Wertz | @RangersExaminer

The Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers completed a trade over the weekend that might go down as the biggest blockbuster trade in baseball history. On one side, you have the Red Sox beginning the process of revamping their team by cutting a ton of salary. On the other side, you have the Dodgers looking to win now with new ownership that has money to burn.

When you look at the trade on paper, it’s amazing it even got done with the big names that were involved and the salaries that were exchanged. The Red Sox sent Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to Los Angeles in exchange for James Loney and a package of minor leaguers. In total, there were nine players involved and over $250 million in salaries taken on by the Dodgers.