Author Peter Golenbock weaves together the history of the Red Sox largely by relying on the words of the players, fans, and sportswriters who lived it. That he spends 69 chapters and 600 pages to do it tells you something about how much there is to impart about this storied franchise and the appetite of Red Sox fans to devour it. Not surprisingly, a fair amount of ink is devoted to Ted Williams and his nearly unparalleled brilliance as a hitter, including his pursuit of a .400 batting average.
Here’s an excerpt from “Red Sox Nation”:
“It was Sunday, September 28, 1941, only nine weeks before Pearl Harbor and war. The Red Sox were in Philadelphia to play a doubleheader against the Athletics. These were the final two games of the season. Ted [Williams] was batting .39955. For the first time since July, Ted was hitting under .400 and yet, rounded out, he was still at .400. If he sat out the two games, he would stand with the game’s twentieth-century legends who had hit .400: Napoleon Lajoie, Rogers Hornsby, George Sisler, Ty Cobb, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Harry Heilmann, and Bill Terry. Manager Joe Cronin gave Williams the opportunity to sit out and protect the average.
“Ted chose to play. He remembered that Jimmie Foxx had sat out the final day in his race with Buddy Myer and lost the batting championship when Myer had gotten two hits. Williams didn’t want to hit .400 as a coward.”
