Ted Williams Demonstrating Swing in September 1, 1941 LIFE Magazine
Description
A slide of a black-and-white photograph of page 43 of the September 1, 1941 issue of LIFE magazine. The page is titled, "Williams of Red Sox is Best Hitter." Ted Williams is shown demonstrating his swing in six stop-action photographs. He is pictured wearing shorts without a shirt or baseball cap. The six photographs are numbered across the top row and the bottom row, and each includes captions reading, "1 waiting for ball, Williams stands motionless 2 As ball nears plate, he gets ready for swing 3 Judging path of the ball, Williams connects 4 Williams keeps eye focused on the hit ball 5 His power released, Williams follows through 6 He closes eyes only after finishing the swing continued on next page". An additional photograph at the upper right of the page shows a multiple-exposure image of Williams hitting a baseball. The caption reads, "Repetitive-flash picture shows Ted reaching for a high one, hitting it". A photograph credit on page 13 elsewhere in the magazine attributes the photos to Gjon Mili. Tex on the page reads, "The most sensationally consistent hitter in big league baseball is a gangling, 22-year-old outfielder named Ted Williams of the Red Sox (see front cover). With most of the season behind him, Williams' hefty .400 plus average is almost certain insurance that he will ease into the American League batting title. Williams is a great hitter for three reasons: eye, wrists and forearms. He has what ball players call "camera eyes" which allow him to focus on a pitched ball as it zooms down ints 60-ft. path from the pitcher's hand, accurately judge its intended path across the plate, and reach for it. He even claims he can see the ball and bat meet. The rest of his formula is never to stop swinging. On and off the field he constantly wields a bat to keep the spring in his powerful wrists. Even when he is in the outfield he sometimes keeps waving his arms in a batting arc. And, more than most other great batters, he keeps his body out of his swing, puts all his drive into his forearms. Here on these pages are high-speed pictures taken by Gjon Mili which show the great co-ordination of these factors, the split-second release of power which enables Ted to hit safely four out of every ten times he comes to bat." The magazine issue is numbered Vol. 11, No. 9, and is copyrighted by Time Inc.
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Picture Date
1941–1941