There were many people in baseball who didn't understand Ted Williams' eccentricities when he broke upon the scene in the late thirties. In that regard, he heralded the age of the modern athlete--young, talented, brash, and courting conflict seemingly at every turn.

Time would reveal that the Splendid Splinter would become so much more over the course of a rich life. A marine pilot war hero. A generous spirit. A guardian of the game. A fishing Hall of Famer.

While all of these things would serve to define him, to endear him to his many fans, it was his incomparable talent, his ability to hit a baseball, that would cement all that he was. It would set him above and apart in the pantheon of baseball greats.