Teddy Ballgame

Ted Williams had a great nickname. Teddy Ballgame. Short, simple and to the point. He also had other nicknames such as, The Kid, The Thumper, The Splendid Splinter. Looking back, not only did he lead the American League in hitting 6 times, he apparently led everyone in nicknames.
Imagine what his final totals would be had he not missed 5 full seasons for World War II and the Korean War. Amazing when you look at what his stats were and what they could have been. The same applies for Bob Feller.
It was 50-years ago today that Ted Williams played in his last ballgame. At Fenway Park, before a meager gathering of 10,454, in the last at-bat of his career, the 41-yer old Williams belted his 29th homer of the season, his 521st round tripper. He hit .316 that year as well. Not bad for his final season.
Jack Fisher of the Orioles was the pitcher who served up that home run for you trivia fans. The Red Sox won the game 5-4 and that was all for Williams.
Unfortunately, Williams seemed to be exploited in his later years by his son John-Henry who founded a company to sell his father's autograph. Sadly, when Ted died in 2002, his kid refused to believe the gravy train was over and had him frozen at a life-extension facility in Arizona. John-Henry died two years later from leukemia and also was also frozen.
As for Fisher, the man who served up that final home run to Williams, he's 71 and lives in Easton, Pennsylvania, five blocks from former heavyweight champeen Larry Holmes.