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Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player, and manager. Williams played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox. Nicknamed "The Kid", "The Splendid Splinter", "Teddy Ballgame", "The Thumper" and "The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived", Williams is regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. He was a two-time American League Most Valuable Player, six-time batting champion, 17-time All-Star, and a two-time Triple Crown winner. He finished his career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and a .482 on-base percentage, the highest of all time. His batting average is the highest of any MLB player with 500 or more home runs. Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966 in his first year of eligiblity.
Born and raised in San Diego, Williams played baseball throughout his youth. Joining the Red Sox in 1939, Williams immediately emerged as one of the sport's best hitters. In 1941, just his third season, he posted a .406 batting average, making him the last MLB player to bat over .400 in a season. Williams interrupted his baseball career in 1943 to serve three years in the US Navy and Marine Corps for World War II. Upon returning to MLB in 1946, Williams won his first AL MVP Award and played in his only World Series. The following season, he won his second Triple Crown. Williams returned to active military duty for portions of the 1952 and 1953 seasons in the Korean War, in which he served as a Marine aviator. In 1957 and 1958, at the ages of 39 and 40 respectively, he was the AL batting champion for the fifth and sixth times.
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