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Baseball: History, Players, & Coaching: 1940s

A research topic guide on the history and legendary players of baseball.

Resources

Joe DiMaggio

Stan Musial

Ted Williams

American Masters: Ted Williams

American Masters presents a new biography of the Boston Red Sox baseball player whose only goal in life was to be known as the greatest hitter who ever lived. A complex and entertaining portrait of a man who was as obsessive as he was talented, the documentary reveals Ted Williams' complicated relationships with family and friends and explores the impact he has had on the current generation of MLB stars. Features Bob Costas, Wade Boggs, Roger Angell, and Joey Votto. Narrated by Jon Hamm.

Source: Films on Demand

The Man

Stan Musial powers the St. Louis Cardinals for 22 years. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

Source: Films on Demand

Perspectives

The Kid

From acclaimed journalist Ben Bradlee Jr. comes the epic biography of Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams that baseball fans have been waiting for. Williams was the best hitter in baseball history. His batting average of .406 in 1941 has not been topped since, and no player who has hit more than 500 home runs has a higher career batting average. Those totals would have been even higher if Williams had not left baseball for nearly five years in the prime of his career to serve as a Marine pilot in WWII and Korea. He hit home runs farther than any player before him -- and traveled a long way himself, as Ben Bradlee, Jr.'s grand biography reveals. Born in 1918 in San Diego, Ted would spend most of his life disguising his Mexican heritage. During his 22 years with the Boston Red Sox, Williams electrified crowds across America -- and shocked them, too: His notorious clashes with the press and fans threatened his reputation. Yet while he was a God in the batter's box, he was profoundly human once he stepped away from the plate. His ferocity came to define his troubled domestic life. While baseball might have been straightforward for Ted Williams, life was not. The Kid is biography of the highest literary order, a thrilling and honest account of a legend in all his glory and human complexity. In his final at-bat, Williams hit a home run. Bradlee's marvelous book clears the fences, too.

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

Joe DiMaggio was more than the most complete all-around player of his generation, more than an icon: he was the one and only Joe DiMaggio. He burst onto the scene in 1936, helping the Yankees to win 10 pennants and 9 Series. When he retired in 1951, he had a lifetime average of .325, and two home run crowns--after serving three years in the military during World War II. Combining historic photographs, newsreel footage, and film clips with reminiscences by former teammates, journalists, chance acquaintances and biographers, this film presents a look at the life of an enduring symbol of baseball greatness, a living symbol of excellence, elegance, power, and gentleness.

Joe Di Maggio: The Golden Year, 1941

This book written by Al Silverman covers the 1941 season of Joe DiMaggio.

Ted Williams

He was The Kid. The Splendid Splinter. Teddy Ballgame. One of the greatest figures of his generation, and arguably the greatest baseball hitter of all time. But what made Ted Williams a legend – and a lightning rod for controversy in life and in death? What motivated him to interrupt his Hall of Fame careertwiceto serve his country as a fighter pilot; to embrace his fans while tangling with the media; to retreat from the limelight whenever possible into his solitary love of fishing; and to become the most famous man ever to have his body cryogenically frozen after his death?New York Timesbestselling author Leigh Montville, who wrote the celebratedSports Illustratedobituary of Ted Williams, now delivers an intimate, riveting account of this extraordinary life. Still a gangly teenager when he stepped into a Boston Red Sox uniform in 1939, Williams’s boisterous personality and penchant for towering home runs earned him adoring admirers--the fans--and venomous critics--the sportswriters. In 1941, the entire country followed Williams's stunning .406 season, a record that has not been touched in over six decades. At the pinnacle of his prime, Williams left Boston to train and serve as a fighter pilot in World War II, missing three full years of baseball. He was back in 1946, dominating the sport alongside teammates Dominic DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, and Bobby Doerr. But Williams left baseball again in 1952 to fight in Korea, where he flew thirty-nine combat missions—crash-landing his flaming, smoke-filled plane, in one famous episode. Ted Willams's personal life was equally colorful. His attraction to women (and their attraction to him) was a constant. He was married and divorced three times and he fathered two daughters and a son. He was one of corporate America's first modern spokesmen, and he remained, nearly into his eighties, a fiercely devoted fisherman. With his son, John Henry Williams, he devoted his final years to the sports memorabilia business, even as illness overtook him. And in death, controversy and public outcry followed Williams and the disagreements between his children over the decision to have his body preserved for future resuscitation in a cryonics facility--a fate, many argue, Williams never wanted. With unmatched verve and passion, and drawing upon hundreds of interviews, acclaimed best-selling author Leigh Montville brings to life Ted Williams's superb triumphs, lonely tragedies, and intensely colorful personality, in a biography that is fitting of an American hero and legend.

Stan "The Man" Musial

A biography that sticks to baseball & avoids the fluffy, swell-guy approach.

Williams and DiMaggio

In 1941, Williams and New York Yankees player Joe DiMaggio were both having their greatest seasons. They were constantly being compared to each other but had very different personalities. Their rivalry continued after they retired from playing. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

Source: Films on Demand

Fiction Is Dead - DiMaggio's Last At Bat

The New York Giants lost the 1951 world series to the New York Yankees. In the 5th inning of the 2nd game, Willie Mays is injured when Joe Dimaggio waves him off a ball. DiMaggio retired from baseball that year; fans remember his final game. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

Source: Films on Demand