His Eye for Talent as Good as Eye for Hitting

Ted Williams was at a card show in the 1980s when a scout and a fellow named Vince Piazza chatted with him about Piazza’s teenage son.

Later, Williams went by the Piazza house in Norristown, Pa., to watch young Mike take some swings in the backyard batting cage.

“He watched Mike’s swing and he said, ‘If this kid is swinging this well now and he’s only 16, I guarantee you that he will hit in the major leagues,’ ” Vince Piazza told The Times in 1993--the year Mike Piazza was National League rookie of the year as a Dodger.

Before he left that day, Williams advised the youngster to read Ted’s book on hitting.

Piazza already had, so Williams inscribed it:

“To my friend Mike, from Ted Williams. Don’t forget me. Someday I’ll be looking for you to get tickets to a game.”

More Ted and Mike: Piazza and Williams saw each other many more times over the years, and in 1997, Piazza received the Ted Williams Award, honoring him as one of the season’s most productive hitters.

“Ted Williams, more than anything, was a great American, in addition to being a great player,” Piazza said Friday before the New York Mets played the Florida Marlins. “He was my idol, for what he stood for. Probably without his input and advice, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I will miss him deeply.”

Trivia time: Williams hit 521 home runs. What was his single-season high?

Going soft? British media have, at times, lived with the reputation for being especially critical of fellow countrymen.

So when Tim Henman lost in the Wimbledon semifinals to top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, the carnage to follow was predictable, right? Not so fast.

The Guardian wrote: “There will be those who disparage Henman.... Most of them would not know a topspin lob from a five-string banjo.”

The Times of London wrote: “Nothing came Henman’s way easily and nothing was what he ended up with. But never was it for lack of his own fighting spirit.”

It figures: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “The latest manager of the Atlantic City Surf of the independent Atlantic Coast League is--Mitch Williams.

“Wild Thing took over for Tommy Helms this week, and the last-place Surf lost his debut on, ahem, a wild pitch in the 10th inning.”

Another option: Mike Bianchi in the Orlando Sentinel: “Arizona Cardinal safety Pat Tillman is quitting the NFL to join the military. Was this necessary? I mean, if Tillman really wanted to be surrounded by hostility and animosity, he would have just signed with the Ravens.”

Trivia answer: A league-leading 43 in 1949.

And finally: Takeru Kobayashi of Japan successfully defended his title in the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July world hot dog-eating contest at Coney Island, but some competitors cried foul.

He blew away (or ate away) the field on Thursday, but the winner seemed to have had what event chairman George Shea termed “a Roman-method incident” (visible regurgitation)--grounds for automatic disqualification.

After Shea (ugh) reviewed the tapes, no violation was found.