The Rest of the Story: Ted Williams Versus the Media
The war was looming over America however its full impact was yet to be felt by baseball. A few players had been drafted or volunteered while many were given deferments in order to complete the season. Ted Williams was one of those deferred and he went on to complete a triple crown-winning season. Baseball fans were often miffed by Williams’s arrogant attitude against the media during his career. Many thought it was because in 1941 the Baseball Writers of America Association voted DiMaggio and his 56-game hitting streak as MVP over Williams. Well, true, but Ted was more frustrated by what happened in 1942. After batting .406 in 1941, Williams followed up in 1942 by winning the AL triple crown - .356 BA, 36 home runs, and 137 RBIs for the second-place Red Sox. Evidently, in the minds of the writers, it wasn’t enough. That year the award went to another Yankee, 2B Joe Gordon, .322, 18 home runs, 103 RBIs. The bias for the Yankees was apparent and Ted’s media criticism of the writers was surely the reason for being overlooked. In 1947 Williams was a triple-crown winner again, but again, was passed over as the MVP in favor of Joe DiMaggio. He did win the award in 1946 and 1949, however, it was not enough consolation for Ted to forgive the Baseball Writers of America Association.