When Pastor Rich suggested this 1957 Ted Williams card for this Monday’s column, I did a search to make sure I hadn’t featured it before. Nope. Not yet. I’ve done quite a few but not this one. Here is his 1955 card and there was the 1941 card, of course. Plus, Ted Williams has the distinction of being the first official Monster Card Monday with his limited but very powerful 1953 card.
I never saw Williams play but I remember as a kid falling in love with his stats. Poring over an edition of the Baseball Encyclopedia, I was amazed at his numbers. I also remember buying baseball cards from the store that featured famous players of the past. Does anyone remember those? Williams’ was one of my favorites.
By 1957, Williams was 38 years old. Those who know the Splendid Splinter’s career, you know he aged gracefully. It’s interesting that in 1957, he led in hitting (.388), slugging (.731), and OBP (an amazing .527) but didn’t pace the AL in any other categories. I guess part of the reason is that he did miss some time (only 132 games). Regardless, he still hit 38 homers and walked 119 times.
He came in second in the AL MVP to, you guessed it, a Yankee. This time, it was Mickey Mantle who probably had better stats than the Kid.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 Totals | 132 | 547 | 420 | 96 | 163 | 28 | 1 | 38 | 87 | 0 | 120 | 44 | .388 | .527 | .731 |
Eight 14s for Williams. That’s the first thing I look for on any Ted Williams APBA card. How many 14s does he have? In all, he has 16 on-base chances against an A pitcher not even counting his 53-17.
Even with his 14s, his hit numbers are phenomenal. In all, he has 1-1-5-6-7-7-7-7-8-8-9-9. There just aren’t a lot of out numbers on his card.
By 1957, APBA saw fit to give Ted Williams a Slow baserunning rating. Though I do wonder why he wasn’t given two 31s?
Fun numbers: 25-7, 24-14, 21-14
Williams wasn’t done after the 1957 season. At age 39 in 1958, he won the batting title with a .328 average. He ended his career in 1960 still hitting .316 for the Red Sox.
thanks, Rich!
