Setting Record Straight on Teddy, Joe D Battles
Reader Stern erred is his May 13 letter when he said one Boston sportswriter didn’t vote for Ted Williams as MVP the year he hit .406. That happened in 1947, when Ted won the triple crown but lost to Joe DiMaggio by one vote because one writer left him off his “top 10” list.
Ted hit .406 with 37 homers in 1941, the year DiMaggio hit in 56 consecutive games and won the MVP. Ted also won the triple crown in 1942, but the writers gave the MVP award to the Yankees’ Joe Gordon. Gordon had a .322 batting average, 18 home runs and 103 RBIs. Ted hit .356, had 36 homers and 137 RBIs.
Asked to comment on the 1947 incident, Ted said, in effect, “I’ll let my record on the field speak for itself.” And did it ever!
ROBERT FUGLER
Fullerton
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