First published 2013
Ted Williams stands in the batter's box in 1941, chasing a .400 average that no player has matched since. The Boston Red Sox slugger becomes baseball's most feared hitter, launching home runs farther than anyone before him while maintaining the highest career batting average of any 500-home-run player. Williams leaves the game twice to serve as a Marine pilot in World War II and Korea, sacrificing prime years for military duty. Born in San Diego in 1918, he spends his life concealing his Mexican heritage from the public. His explosive talent electrifies crowds, but his volatile relationships with reporters and fans create constant controversy. The same intensity that makes Williams dominant at the plate destroys his personal relationships and fractures his family life. Baseball comes naturally to Williams, but navigating fame, prejudice, and his own fierce temperament proves far more difficult. Bradlee captures both the athletic genius and the deeply flawed man behind the legend.
Genres: biography, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, baseball
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, prejudice
Setting: San Diego
Period: 1941, World War II, Korean War
855 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company