TED AND DER MAG BATTLE IT OUT
Yankees and Dodgers in Fine Position for the Flag

When a fellow cowtails all pitchin in sight to the tune of a .400 hitting mark and remains in that figure for a lengthy spell only to see headlines and fanfare stolen by some "third party" -- something has to be done. And it was done -- and how!

Ted Williams, recognized as more than a hitter of parts, is an opportunist to say the least. Being presented the one and only occasion to at least temporarily hurdle his "newspaper" rival, Joe DiMaggio, the willowy stringbean of the Yawkey brigade was equal to the challenge.

With the eyes of the nation's sporting fraternity focused on him, and his league's supremacy hanging in balance, the Silver Splinter stepped into a satisfying fast ball delivered by Claude Passeau and broke up the All-Star contest of 1941 in favor of the junior leaguers for the sixth time in nine seasons.

Quite true, Joe DiMaggio, the game's greatest right-hand hitter, is still at it, resting some 30-odd points behind Joe Cronin's lanky gardener, but Williams is in the van, vaulting over DerMag by the simple process of hitting one in the pinch before a packed house.

It may be Williams cannot maintain his .400 pace to the season's end. A few years back DiMaggio was faced with the same predicament and fell short. It's quite a task, fans, with Bill Terry, present Giant boss, the last man to turn the trick back in 1930. It appears to this corner that DiMag and Williams will battle it out for the junior circuit stick title, with a sideline battle in home runs and possibly runs-batted-in featuring. Whom are you picking?

DIMAG AIMS TO KEEP IT UP

WASHINGTON, June 30 (AP)
Already ranked among the greates hitters in baseball annals, Joe DiMaggio resolved today to stretch his consecutive game-clouting streak so far that it will stand even longer than the 19-year-old record he just shattered.

Joe connected in his 41st and 42nd straight contests to equal and surpass George Sisler's 1922 mark while the league-leading Yankees were taking a double-header from Washington here yesterday.
"Here's where the big test comes," DiMaggio said after receiving the congratulations of his Yeankee teammates in the clubhouse. "It's going to be even tougher from now on, but I'd sure like to make it last a while."

"How about making it 50, Joe?" catcher Bill Dickie yelled."Fifty, nothing," manager Joe McCarthy retorted. "Joe's liable to stretch it indefinitely."DiMaggio, jubilant over a feat he's been aiming at ever since he entered the majors, said the "big test" meant that every pitcher in the league would be "trying double" to stop the streak.

"It's that way after setting a record in every sport," he said. "Everybody tries to beat the guy who set it." Joe admitted he thought for a time he wasn't going to make the grade in the first game yesterday. He sent a booming fly to the outfield and popped weakly to third before lashing out a double in the sixth. His record-setting smash, a single, came in the seventh frame of the nightcap after he had sent two flies to the outfiled and hoisted to short in his first three appearances.

In addition to DiMaggio's feat the Yankees extended their home run hitting tactics to 25 straight games as Tommy Henrich, Joe Gordon and Charley Keller walloped four-basers.

JULY 16

While Ted Williams' return to regular action is still a moot question, Ted got back in uniform yesterday and was ready to pinch hit if needed.

Until further notice, Ted's efforts probably will be confined to pinch-swinging, too, since it hurt him when he tried to run yesterday in almost the same way he was bothered during the Spring. However, just the presence of the stringbean slugger on the bench seems to hype up the Sox morale.

Meanwhile the Sox front office is taking a beating because Ted is the talk of the West right now for his All-Star homer, and fans everywhere are yelling for him to get back into action. When they learn he won't be in the regular lineup, the cash customers stay away in appalling numbers.

DUFFY CONSIDERS WILLIAMS 'TOPS'
Hugh Thinks Ted Capable of Breaking His .438 Mark

If Williams would take a tip from Duffy, he wouldn't even think about Hughey's all-time record. He'd just go out there swinging and let the hits fall where they may and the average will take care of itself. "You've got to be lucky," Duffy confessed, "the year before I hit .438, I had an average of something like .380 and I'm sure that I hit the ball better that year than the next one when I made the record. I tell that to some people and they think I'm daffy but, honest, it's the truth."

Ted's Greatest Rooter
Duffy is probably Williams' greates rooter. He wouldn't mind in the slightest to have Toothpick Ted wipe out the mark he established 47 seasons ago. Being a rabid booster for Boston, Duffy says, "At least the record will stay in Boston for it was while I played with the old Nationals here that I made my record and if it has to be broken nothing would please me better than to have a Boston player wipe out the .438 figure."

For a man of his years (he refuses to divulge the exact number), Duffy is in remarkable condition. He easily passes for a man not more than 50, all of which give him a great laugh. He likes to tell of the many times that he meets people for the first time and who always say, "you can't be the man who holds the batting record." "Naw," Duffy always replies, "this was my father." and he gets away with it.

What is his secret of staying youthful? "Never worry," Duffy explains. That is another hint for Williams, who is included to fret when his batting average takes a drop such as it has the past few days. Teddy, according to the unofficial figures kept in the office, is currently hitting .405. It is lower than it has been in years.

All Teddy has to do is to keep swinging in that lazy natural way of his." Duffy claims, "and he'll hit a million. I hope he doesn't start to think that he's in a slump. That's when you really begin to slump, when you start worrying about it. You have to be relaxed at all times up at the plate and you can't be if you have something on your mind that you shouldn't be thinking of."

It's a cinch that Teddy doesn't worry about breaking Duffy's mark any more than Hughey is worried about the record being broken, the lanky lumber wielder of the Sox will have a great chance to have his name written into the record books.

BOY HITCHHIKES 250 MILES, MEETS HERO, TED WILLIAMS

Ted Williams bashed another home run with his legion of kid admirers last night -- particularly with one kid who had hitch-hiked 250 miles to see him play, only to find that the Red Sox were idle yesterday.

Fourteen-year-old Billy Kane of South Brewer, Me., wound up at Police Headquarters instead of Fenway Park, but two sympathetic officers called Williams, and Ted put everything right.

Billy left his home at 10 a.m. Monday and hiked through all kinds of weather, subsisting on a diet of roadside fruit. He reached the park shortly before regular game time yesterday and was heartbroken to find it locked.
But Billy has a bit of the Williams grit in his own makeup. If he had to wait another day, he'd do it. He crawled into a runway and curled up for some much needed sleep.

Becomes Teddy's Guest
That was where he met patrolmen peter Donnelly and Edward McGee -- to his early discomfiture, but later glee.

The officers took Billy to headquarters and listened to his story. Cops are baseball fans too, and besides, ted had hit three home runs in one day since the kid left home. they could all stand to meet that boy Williams, the policemen agreed.

So a squad descended on the Hotel Sheraton and found Teddy just about ready to deop into bed after a strenuous day of skeet-shooting on the Cape. He wasn't very keen about dressing again, but when the entire affair was explained to him, Ted was the most eager of all to get to headquarters in a hurry.

What a sensation his entrance into the Bureau of Operations creted! It was several minutes before Billy could make his way through the circle of admiring cops and reach Teddy's side.Then the kid from Maine and the kid from California got together on the game of baseball. Billy has never seen a big-league tilt, but he knew some of the averages better than Teddy did.

The upshot was that the youngster, who hiked 250 miles to sit in the bleachers and watch his hero from a distance, will, instead, sit in a box as Teddy's guest. Special officer Paul Crowley will pick him up at a boys' home this morning and he'll be with Williams for several hours.

LITTLE BILLY KANE WATCHES TED PLAY
Maine Lad, 14, Surprised They Sit on Boxes at Game

Billy Kane, 14, from South Brewer, Me., was sitting in a box at Fenway Park this afternoon watching the Red Sox, especially Ted Williams, playing the Yankees, and he was pleased to find that a "box" is an enclosure containing comfortable seats.Billy is the boy who hitchhiked to Boston to see Ted Williams hit a few home runs, slipped into Fenway Park and fell asleep there, before falling into the hands of Boston police.

The police, however, took royal care of Billy. They took him to Headquarters, found out his story and then had Williams himself, in person, come down to pay a visit to Billy last night.Then they found Billy a room in Clarendon St. for the night.This morning detectives Paul Crowley and Joseph McGovern went over and got him. They fed him a breakfast and took him back to Headquarters for some more sociability before time for the ball game.

Billy was introduced to Commissioner Joseph T. Timity and then to Max Singer. The latter was recently elected commander-in-chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Billy told Singer that his father belongs to the V.F.W., and that he was pleased to meet the head man. Crowley told Billy they were going to have a box at Fenway Park this afternoon.
Not familiar with the seating arrangements at the park, Billy asked, "Do you have to sit on a box during the whole game?"

Somebody asked him about his travels in Boston, and especially how he got from North Station up to Fenway Park. "Right under the turnstile," he informed them. There's one dime the Elecated didn't get.He was surprised to learn that there are 2000 police officers in Boston. He thought there were probably about 50.

He's been having some fine adventures in Boston. "I suppose you'll have a great reception when you get home to South Brewer," somebody suggested. "Yep," returned Billy, who took off from home without much formality on his 250-mile journey to Boston. "My father will be the reception."

TED WILLIAMS FAR ABOVE .400 IN KINDLY LEAGUE

Daily Boost
To Manny Salvo and the Braves for knocking off the Phils last night.

By Victor O. Jones

Ted Williams, the Boston string bean, had a mean day at Fenway yesterday in the course of that populous double-header against the Yanks, going "one for six" while his prodigious batting average was dropping from an incredible .408 to a merely unbelievable .403. But Teddy's still the story. Because when I got back from the ball park here's a letter I found:

Dear Mr. Jones:
Read your column of the other day about the friendliness of the Red Sox and thought you might like to know about the following episode:
I have a brother, Heter Gill, who is in the Massachusetts General Hospital and has had to have his leg amputated as a result of an injury while playing baseball.

He is a Ted Williams fan and never missed any of his games. I wrote to Mr. Williams and asked him if he would be so kind as to drop in and see Peter. Knowing how busy Mr. Williams is, you can imagine my surprise when I went to see my brother yesterday and he told me Ted Williams had been in to see him and stayed for an hour. He also brought with him a box of candy which my brother treasures above everything in the world.

What a great scout Mr. Williams is to have taken time to make my brother happy! All my family appreciate it so much and, as for Peter, he will never forget it. It makes a person feel great to see a good turn done once in a while, when you look around and see all the ugliness in the world.

I hope you will find space in your column to give a great player and a grand scout a boost.

Sincerely, Mrs. Dennis Callahan
Watertown Mass.

Visit Personal Gesture of Kindness
There's always room in this column, Mrs. Callahan, for tips of this kind. I say "tip" because Ted's visit to your brother was one of those unadvertised, purely personal gestures of kindness which, as you say, are all too rare in this world.

Public characters, such as Ted has now become, are compelled from time to time, whether they like it or not, to engage in good works of this kind. They are under pressure and they can hardly refuse certain of the requests they get. Usually they get at least a partial quid pro quo in the publicity which goes hand-in-hand with some visits to a hospital, a benefit performance, or whatever it is. But it takes, as you suggest, a real good guy who, in response to an entirely private appeal, will quietly take time off to visit a stranger; knowing in advance that there'll be no flaslights popping, no cheering crowds to give him "credit."

Box of Candy Was Crowning Touch
Such, obviously, was Ted's recent visit to the Massachusetts General Hospital, and if that wasn't a thoughful enough performance, I give you the crowning touch: the box of candy! many another person in Ted's position, doing what he was doing, would have thought that his mere presence would have been enough. Others might have brought the present of a self-autographed baseball. Mr. Williams, with a modesty which perhaps few would have credited him with, edged into the hospital with a box of candy -- foolproof Open sesame in every league!

Champions Always Have Been Considerate
It's nice to hear such a story about Ted. The hallmark of every champion has always been his consideration for the people who support his game. This is particularly so of the professional athlete, and there never has been one who lived long in the memories and affections of the fans who ignored them and took a "the-public-be-damned" attitude. Babe Ruth had a million faults, but wiped them all out with his affectionate regard for the feelings of young kids, particularly those with raggedy clothes and the seats out of their pants. They thought he was the greatest man who ever lived. And he WAS, too, where they were concerned.

Ted Certainly Dispelled Notion Harbored
There have, on the other hand, been brilliant athletes -- and other public figures -- who thought that they owed the public nothing other than what they were actually paid to do. There was a time when some people thought that Ted had that same feeling -- that as long as he continued to hit he could thumb his nose at the fans and at the world in general. Probably Ted never felt that way, or if he did it was just a childish peeve. At any rate, Mr. Williams seems to have turned that corner and all he has to do to have the whole baseball world eating out of his hand is to keep swinging, smiling, and quietly visiting people in the hospital.

WILLIAMS SIMILAR TO JOE JACKSON IN STYLE AT PLATE

By Grantland Rice

The time is about right to "sound the tocsin from the tower and fire the culverin" in behalf of Ted Williams and his game battle with the long lost .400 mark. On the individual performance side the Red Sox entry is hooked up in a double show -- the .400 target and the home run scramble, with Keller and others involved.

The willowy Williams, born in San Diego, Calif., Oct. 30, 1918, is still more than a month away from his 23rd year on this troubled planet. His double performance is all the more remarkable for so brief a span in the spotlight. The Red Sox youth has already turned in more than his share of star dust, even if a late season batting slump drops him below the .400 grade which no major leaguer has amassed in more than 10 years, dating back to Bill Terry's .401 in 1930.

Ted Williams reminds one more of Shoeless Joe Jackson than anyone else I can recall. Jackson, like Williams, was on the tall, loose and lean side. Cobb, Ruth and Speaker have called the Carolina entry the greatest natural hitter that ever played. And there wasn't a breath's hesitation among the three when the triple declaration was made.

Tension at Plate Unknown to Either
Williams, like Jackson, lacks any form of tension at the plate. Which means they were shy of the greatest competitive poison. Nap Lajoie was another who refused to tighten up. Ty Cobb, more on the grim, determined side, had to battle tension all along the route.

But to Williams and Jackson all pitchers have looked about the same. The hurlers were tossing up something for them to hit squarely between the seams. Both have had almost perfect hand and wrist action, which means live hands and live wrists. It is only in this fashion that any hitter can get enough bat speed to get the needed results.
Williams and Shoeless Joe are something alike in other respects. The Red Sox star is wrestling with .400 in his third season at the age of 23. Joe Jackson was 24 when he came to his first full year with Cleveland in 1911. And in that first year Jackson piled up 233 hits for a mark of .408. No debutante ever approached that figure, as far as the old ash furniture is concerned.

Both entered the big leagues weighing 175 pounds, according to the printed records. Jackson was 6 feet 1 inch -- Williams 6 feet 3 inches in height.

Timing Instinctive to Natural Hitters
Jackson could do his only writing with a bat. A pen or pencil were entirely too intricate for expression of his thoughts. And the printed word was practically of no interest in Shoeless Joe's spare time. He left Brandon Mills, S.C., bare-footed, and not even rocks or broken bottles held any terro for his calloused dogs. Under such conditions his main worry was always over "the fuzzed up ball." Hitters such as Ted Williams and Joe Jackson were born that way -- not made. They belong among the natural swingers to whom good timing is an instinctive thing. Ty Cobb had to work much harder to get his results. Babe Ruth was a natural slugger -- a natural swinger.

When the season opened the three individual headliners looked to be Bob Feller, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. But of the three, Williams remains as the individual star for 1941 no matter what happens the remainder of the route.

TED WILLIAMS FISHES FOR TUNA, GET 374-POUNDER

Newburypott, Aug. 1
Slugging Ted Williams, Red Sox outfielder, swapped his bat for rod and reel this afternoon and after a long drawnout battle lasting almost two hours, pulled in a beautiful specimen of the leaping tuna weighing 374 pounds. It was the first tuna caught here in the past two weeks, although the fish abound in this vicinity. Ted caught the fighter from the tuna boat Nancy II, skippered by Capt. Malcolm Hudson. With him were William Huddleson and the Misses Doris Soule and Helen Dorn. Ted said it was the first tuna he has ever caught.

THREE HOMERS IN A DAY NEW TRICK FOR WILLIAMS
But Ted's More Interested in Batting Mark, Now .410

By Gerry Moore

St. Louis, Augu. 20 -- Just when it looked as if he were in the same boat with Alexander and had no more worlds to conquer, Ted Williams upped and whacked three homers in one afternoon here yestereday, and according to the Kid himself that's the first time he's ever accomplished that particular slugging feat.

"It's just possible I got that many of an afternoon in the American Association, but I don't recall it," declared Ted as he paused in the midst of devouring a big streak following the double-header split by the Red Sox and Browns and in which Ted's 25th and 26th round trippers of the season, along with his pair of singles, kept the Hose going until they finally pulled out a 10-7 decision in the nightcap.

He Sees .400 Average
"I'm certain I've never done it since I've been in the American League," continued the fabulous flailer of the Sox, "but right now I'm more interested in my batting average. What is it tonight/"

"Four-ten, eh?" repeated the stringbean slugger. "Well, if I stay lucky and keep from hitting too manyline drives at somebody, I guess I'll wind up hitting .400 or better, at that. If all our remaining games were in this park, I guess I could sit back and take it easy."

This last echoed the sentiments voiced only a few hours previously by manager Luke Sewell of the cellar-dwelling but ever pesky Browns. "I'd like Williams to play 77 games in this park just to see how many homers he would hit," observed Luke. "I'd like a friendly wager he'd smash Babe Ruth's 60 mark to smithereens. I guess we were lucky Ted was confined to pinch hitting the last time Boston was here, or we might not have taken those four games in two days.

Diz Dean Enthused
While it is only wishful thinking about Ted playing 77 games at Sportman's Park with its chummy right-field pavilion, which sets at varying distances of 325 feet at the foul line to 425 feet in center from home plate and presents a 50-foot-high roof to top for a homer most of that stretch; Williams has quite a round-tripper record for the games he has played here this year.

Officially he has appeared in six, one of which was as a pinch-hitter when he clubbed a four-master off Johnny Niggeling, and Ted has hit five homers. Using some lower mathematics, that's an average of 72 for 77 contests.

If there's one guy who can't be convinced that Ted wouldn't hit that many, it's Jerome Herman ("Dizzy") Dean, the now celebrated announcer. When Williams walloped his third circuit clout and fifth hit of the matinee yesterday, Diz went all out over the air.
"I've seen all the hitters in both the American and National Leagues," drawled the Great One, "and I'll take Williams for my best. He looks like a long, lean and loose goose up there, but he don't even know who's pitching against him and furthermore don't seem to care."

While Ted doesn't appear interested in any homer honors, his latest trio of out-of-the-orchard swats has thrust him right into contention for that derby as well as the hitting crown. He is now four behind the leading Charley keller and one behind Guiseppe DiMaggio, who may well be overhauled by Williams, who has another twin bill coming up here today, plus the fact Dimag may be still sidelined in Detroit. Williams moreover, is almost certain now to break his own homer mark of 31 which he hit two years ago as a freshman.

WILLIAMS SAD AS SOX STRIKE ALL-YEAR LOW

By Gerry Moore

Chicago, Aug. 21
From time to time during his meteoric young career, Ted Williams has been described as the selfish sort of ball player who put his own base hits ahead of his team's winning ball games. If ever the stringbean slugger were presented an opportunity to bear out this misguided impression, it was last night as the Red Sox beat a bedgraggled retreat by special train from St. Louis, where they had just dropped three out of four more decisions to the last-place Browns.

As the Sox steamed toward the Windy City and a three-game series with the fast-moving White Sox, opening this afternoon, Ted was the one athlete who seemed entitled to be satisfied with himself.

He had just finished one of his most sensational series of the year. In the four tilts played in two days with the St. Louisans the Kid had lashed out eight hits in 14 trips to boost his league-leading mark from .405 to .411.

Five Homers for Williams
Five of these blows were homers since he added a round tripper in each game yesterday and Ted's total of 28 for the season now has thrust him into the midst of the American League homer derby only two hehind the pace-setting Charley Keller of the Yankees. The tall curly-headed Kid was far from gay, however, in fact, he was probably the most sober-visaged member of the Sox caravan. Mention of his latest clouting feats only brought a quiet...