Rating: 
Summary: THE Williams biography
Review: The problem with most sports books is that they come off as one long box score, with just the most basic personal information, usually written at the Jr. High School level.
Leigh Montville has a home run(pardon the pun)with this book. A real, complete, mature biography. Williams from birth to death bed, in a fair and balanced fashion--what a biography is supposed to be. It is too easy to either idolize the subject of a biography, or to tear them down by airing all their diry laundry. To his credit, Montville does neither. Ted Williams comes off as an amazing athlete, pilot and fisherman. A perfectionist man's man, who often jumped to the aid of the sick and down and out. A lousy father and poor husband. A cranky individualist who didn't always like people around, but who nevertheless would be there for you in a second if times were bad.
In short, a human being, a man. Telling that life story is what a biography is all about.
With the people who knew Ted in his prime growing old, this will probably turn out to be the definitive Ted Williams book. Thanks to Leigh Montville for getting it right.
Rating: 
Summary: A must read for Williams fans...
Review: This book is a must read for Williams fans, Red Sox fans and baseball fans in general. I felt this book was one of the most balanced books I have read aboout Williams. Not only does it pay tribute to his success on the field and in the air during WW II and Korea, but also decribes his many faults. I have always been a fan of Montville and this book, simply put, is a great one.
Rating:
Summary: Great biography, depressing ending
Review: This is a fascinating and illuminating book about a talented baseball player, a military hero, and a cantankerous curmudgeon - Ted Williams. Montville does a terrific job of encapsulating the Splendid Splinter's eventful 83 years into a fascinating 500-page book, complete with nearly a hundred black-and-white photographs, many never before seen. If you're looking for a biography of Ted Williams this is probably the one to get; it covers his entire life, something that his 1969 autobiography doesn't do (obviously).Montville doesn't shine much new light onto the Public Ted - any true baseball fan is already familiar with his battles with the media, his 406 average in 1941, his weak performance in the 1946 World Series, the two military interruptions to his baseball career, his storybook home run in his final at-bat, etc. We already knew that stuff. Where the book truly shines is in illuminating the Private Ted... The selfish Ted, who'd drag uninterested wives along with him on fishing trips, and who'd rather be alone in a boat somewhere than be present for his children's births; his lustful enjoyment of his hobbies was more important than his family. The angry and blasphemous Ted, who'd spit at fans and frequently (and colorfully) take the Lord's name in vain with a smattering of the f-word and his favorite modifier, "syphilitic." The lonely Ted, who married three beautiful trophy wives, had teammates and friends all over the country, yet still lacked the unconditional love he desperately needed. Somehow Montville manages to paint Williams as sympathetic, lovable, and even heroic, while still telling the story of a bitter and cranky man. Thankfully, there were at least a few caring people in Ted's life to help diffuse his negativity and give him unconditional love: Louise Kaufman, the grandmotherly woman who became Ted's longtime companion after his three failed marriages to younger women, and the male nurses who took care of him during his final decade on Earth. Sadly, the book (like Williams's life) ends on an unavoidable down-note. Montville frightens us with the awful tale of Ted's money-grubbing son, John-Henry. Here the author fairly throws objectivity aside, painting the younger Williams in tones reminiscent of Shakespeare's Iago. John-Henry's underhanded machinations and obvious treatment of Ted as a meal ticket rather than a beloved father left me feeling sad and depressed at the story's end. Junior was more concerned with his progenitor's ability to sign and sell valuable autographs than his comfort and welfare during his declining years. The demon seed of Ted Williams kept his father's friends and loved ones from calling and visiting, and then - in an act which violated Ted's wish for cremation, as per his will - John-Henry had his father cryogenically frozen after his death. Thus began the fighting and infinite court proceedings between Ted's offspring - an embarrassing and surreal coda to a life otherwise lived with integrity and dignity. A great book about a great man. As sports biographies go, it's surely one of the best - just like Ted. (News update: John-Henry Williams, 35, died of leukemia in March 2004. Perhaps now the legal maneuvering will stop; perhaps Ted can at last be cremated and have his ashes spread across the waters of Florida, just as he wanted. Meanwhile, thanks to John-Henry, the decapitated head of Ted Williams remains in a frozen vat in Arizona.)
Rating:
Summary: Complex Life
Review: Throughout Ted Williams' baseball career, he was a magnet for criticism from local Boston fans and press. Perhaps no better player was criticized more in the history of baseball. "Teddy F'ing Ballgame," as he referred to himself, would reciprocate the negative affection back, leading to ugly incidents that did not help his public image. However, after he retired from playing, he was not subject to as much criticism and as a result, his public demeanor softened and he became more likable by many. This all culminated to the 1999 All-Star game when he was given a deafening ovation by the Fenway faithful as he rode a golf cart to the mound to throw out the first pitch. Players surrounded him, just to be in the presence of greatness, delaying the game, even after the PA announcer asked for the players to return to the dugout. And in this moment, there was no question how Ted Williams would be remembered, how his legacy would be carried on. It would simply be as the greatest hitter there ever was.
Leigh Montville's biography, "Ted Williams: Biography of an American Hero," tackles the complex life of Ted Williams. From his difficult upbringing in San Diego, to his bizarre after-death ordeal, Montville sorts through the many stages of Williams' life, giving perspective and explanation. Williams was often misunderstood, and his stubborn demeanor furthered the belief he was uncompassionate, selfish, and simply a jerk.
It is both a testament to Williams and Montville that roughly half of the book is dedicated to Williams' life after he retired from playing after the 1960 season. Williams lived a fulfilling life after retiring, fishing the Keys and Canada, running a baseball camp for children, endlessly fundraise for cancer patients, being the spokesman for Sears, and even returning to baseball to manage a historically horrendous franchise.
Montville could have taken the road well traveled, focusing on Williams playing days. Surely famed seasons like 1941, when he hit .406, were more than enough to fill a book or two. Montville's book gives ample coverage to Williams' baseball career, but he does not allow that to define this book. Instead, he focuses on Ted Williams the man. Montville could have written about the accomplishments of Williams, but instead he wrote about what made Williams the man that he was.
Ted Williams is revered by the greatest generation that watched him give up five years of his prime to defend our country in two wars. Baby boomers remember an aging star that still had the determination to play well after most of his peers had retired. Even younger generations read stat lines and watch documentaries of baseball's golden years.
Montville reinforces the memories of the greatest generation, makes baby boomers wish they could have seen just a few more years of this remarkable player, and proves to the young that Williams was an American hero, not because of baseball, because of his contributions to the country and charities.
Ultimately, Montville makes it clear that Ted Williams was the greatest hitter there ever was, but that he was also much, much more.
Rating:
Summary: The Definitive Biography of Ted Williams
Review: What Richard Cramer did for a biography on Joe DiMaggio, Leigh Montville has done for a biography on Ted Williams. The book is nearly 500 pages long, and I remained riveted to it until I finished it in a few days. All facets of Ted's personality, warts and all, are included in providing us with information on Ted's dysfunctional family, his love of fishing on the Florida Keys and the Miramichi River in New Brunswick, his initial success in managing the Washington Senators, his hair trigger temper that produced a string of profanities, his difficulties with his marriage partners, and his experiences in World War II and the Korean War. In regard to baseball his obsession with hitting led to his goal of being known as the greatest hitter that ever lived. Ted paid the price to reach his goal in studying hitting as no other hitter has ever done before. He enjoyed picking the brain of Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby who told Williams the secret in hitting is getting a good ball to hit. By this he meant getting ahead in the count (2-0 or 3-1) so the pitcher was put in a situation where he would throw the pitch you, the batter, would be looking for to hit. The book is full of anecdotes of Williams's teammates and opponents from his playing days. It also includes the controversial freezing of Williams's body by son John Henry and sister Claudia while Williams's first child, Bobby-Jo opposed it. Whether Ted, himself, approved of this is left open to question. To me, an interesting story is told by one of his nurses, Virginia Hiley-Self, a Christian, said that Ted Williams accepted the fact that God forgives and provides eternal life. "He prayed," Hiley-Self says. "He knew that Christ was his savior." I have read other biographies of "Teddy Ballgame", but this effort by Leigh Montville stands above the others. Williams's last few years were marred by poor health, but he lived a full life serving his country in two wars, carving out a Hall of Fame baseball career, and fishing for game fish on the Florida Keys and for salmon on the Miramichi River. His was a life fully lived and Leigh Montville has done a wonderful job in presenting all sides of the personality of Ted Williams. To me, this rates as the top baseball book of the year, and maybe even the top biography of anyone for the year.
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