Ted Williams Diligently Studied Art of Hitting, Considered Barry Bonds to Have One of Greatest Swings in Baseball History

by NESN Staff on Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 7:03PM

Ted Williams' 1941 season, during which he compiled a legendary .406 batting average, remains one of the most impressive seasons in major league history.

What's stunning is that Williams didn't even earn MVP honors despite his wild statistics that season, as Joe DiMaggio took home the honor after hitting in 56 straight games.

Prior to Tuesday's Red Sox-Orioles matchup, NESN's Tom Caron, Peter Gammons and Jim Rice discussed Williams' magnificent career. Rice remembers Williams showing up at Red Sox spring training after he retired to share his knowledge of hitting, which was unmatched.

Gammons said that Williams was obsessed with hitting, studying it as if it was a school subject. Gammons recalls the great No. 9 comparing Paul Molitor to DiMaggio, and even telling him during the early 90s that Barry Bonds had one of the greatest swings in the history of baseball.

To hear more from Gammons and Rice on Ted Williams, check out the video above.