The Kid

January 27, 2014
The story of Ted Williams contains more twists and turns than the great American novel, and in this epic biography, former Boston Globe editor and investigative reporter Bradlee presents an often disturbing portrayal of the man perpetually known as "The Kid." The first major book about Williams since Leigh Montville's Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero published within two years of the 2002 death of baseball's greatest hitter at age 83, Bradlee focuses on elements of the Hall of Famer's life overshadowed by his still-historic .406 batting average in 1941, including his two wartime stints in the military at the height of his playing career, cantankerous relationships with fans and journalists, and the sad end-of-life saga perpetuated by his three reproachable children that concluded with the controversial cryonic preservation of Williams's head and decapitated body at a nondescript facility in Scottsdale, Ariz. Drawing on more than 10 years of research and 600-plus interviews, Bradlee explores Williams's Hispanic heritage and troubled childhood that left him feeling "ashamed," provides possible reasons for his irrational anger, and offers new insight into the cryonics case. Despite a few extraneous chapters, this big book rewards patient readers with as complete a portrait of Williams as history likely will allow.

Starred review from December 15, 2013
Sprawling, entertaining life of the baseball great, renowned as a sports hero while leading a life as checkered as Babe Ruth's or Ty Cobb's. "My name is Ted Fuckin' Williams and I'm the greatest hitter in baseball." So recited Williams, by Boston Globe editor Bradlee's account, as a mantra before each game, "interrupting it only occasionally to offer a lecture on the finer points of hitting to anyone who cared to listen." He had the credentials to deliver such lectures, of course; Bradlee does indeed acknowledge him as "the greatest hitter who ever lived," and few in baseball have bettered Williams' numbers. Like Ruth, Williams was a bruiser with a chip on his shoulder; like Cobb, race was his bete noire, for, as Bradlee reveals, Williams had a Mexican mother and took great pains to conceal that ancestry, both fearful of discrimination and perhaps with an element of self-loathing. Williams had a reputation as a military hero as well, which he did nothing to gainsay, even if he did his best to stay out of the draft in World War II and resisted his reactivation during the Korean War. Williams ended life with a bit of sideways fame as well, having been decapitated and frozen after death in a cryonics venture that did not end well; Bradlee's description of the macabre proceedings is not for the faint of heart. The author dishes plenty--one of the kindest things he says about Williams as a human being was that he was "self-absorbed"--but the repeated demonstrations of flawed character do nothing to diminish Williams' outsized stature as a player. Bradlee is as enthusiastic as Vin Scully or Harry Caray when it comes to describing Williams on the field: "He allowed three hits, one run, walked none, and struck out Rudy York on three pitches. The move seemed an attempt...to placate angry fans with some pure entertainment in one of the worst losses of the year." An outstanding addition to the literature of baseball.

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July 1, 2013

On leave from 25 distinguished years as a reporter and then deputy managing editor at the Boston Globe, Bradlee gives us a biography of Ted Williams, the best hitter in baseball history. Great expectations.

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