BEVERLY — To baseball fans of a certain age, Ted Williams is the man who lived up to his goal to become the greatest hitter who ever lived. He's also the larger-than-life figure who fought in two wars and whose image has come to transcend baseball.
On Sunday at Temple B'nai Abraham in Beverly, author Bill Nowlin and temple member Alan Pierce will host a breakfast discussion called "Ted Williams and Popular Culture."
Nowlin has written several books on Williams and the Red Sox. Pierce is a Salem attorney who collects Ted Williams memorabilia and has spoken about Williams at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
We talked with Pierce about his passion for Williams. Here's an edited version:
How did you begin collecting Ted Williams memorabilia?
I was listening to the "Sports Huddle" (radio show), and (host) Eddie Andelman was auctioning off an autographed Red Sox shirt for the Jimmy Fund. From there, it kind of grew. I started buying these things when I saw them. Then when computers and eBay came along, all of a sudden there it was at your fingertips. Old magazine covers, Sears Roebuck products he endorsed, novelties they gave out at the park. The more I got into it, I realized there were hundreds of subcategories out there.
What motivates you to seek out all of this stuff?
They're colorful, nostalgic. They evoke an earlier time when baseball was truly an American pastime. It wasn't as much of a business as it is today. Players stayed with the same team, and you formed a bond. I grew up in the late '50s and early '60s, and that's what I remember best about baseball. It's a way of remembering it.
What's the best Ted Williams item you own?
I have a plastic and metal mechanical ring that was put out by the Nabisco Shredded Wheat Co. in 1948. You sent in two box tops, 25 cents and a coupon to get the ring. It's a plastic baseball figure on top of the ring that swivels on a base and makes contact with a ball on a wire.
How much is it worth?
It's not a high-value item. It's a multi-hundred-dollar item, but it's my favorite item because they aren't being produced again, there aren't many out there, and it's in good shape.
His image was also used, unauthorized by him, on a box of condoms. They're known in the collections trade as the Ted Williams condoms. He never got a dime for those. They lifted his image off a 1952 baseball card. I've got a couple of unopened boxes.
Why is Williams considered a figure who transcends baseball?
He was a prodigy. He wanted to be the greatest hitter who ever lived, and he ended up being the greatest hitter who ever lived. He also served in two wars. He was John Glenn's wingman in Korea. He made an emergency landing after being shot by Japanese or Korean planes.
He also had a charisma you don't find too often. He was a man's man. He was loud, funny. He went into the room, and you could almost feel the electricity. They compare him to John Kennedy or Barack Obama. They say Ted Williams was the man John Wayne secretly wanted to be.
Did you ever meet him?
I met him twice. I was exiting the men's room at Logan Airport, and he was going in. We did one of those sideways shuffles. Here I am, then a guy in my 40s, and I was star-struck. He gave my kids autographs, and we chatted.
Ten years later, I meet him at a Red Sox Hall of Fame dinner that I went to with my mother and my son. He had had a stroke and was in a wheelchair. He ended up talking to my mother for 10 minutes. They were both in their 80s, and he was flirting with her.
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.
If you go
What: Breakfast discussion on "Ted Williams and Popular Culture"
When: Sunday, June 7, 10 a.m.
Where: Temple B'nai Abraham, 200 E. Lothrop St., Beverly
Cost: $9.09 for adults, $4.06 for children under 13
Information: 978-927-3211, ext. 14
