One on One with Jane Mitchell featuring the LEGEND Ted Williams
Of the 125 people I featured on 100 episodes of One on One in the 15 years of the original series, the edition with Ted Williams tops the list for the one I’m asked about the most; probably because his iconic stature permeates baseball fan interest across generations and the game. When selecting the twelve people to feature for this special Legends series, the one-hour Ted Williams show was a given.
I am often reminded of the rare opportunity I had to interview the Splendid Splinter at length. Fans, fellow broadcasters, even players have expressed what a thrill it would have been for them to sit down and discuss baseball and just talk with this legend. I don’t take it for granted. However, I am actually more grateful that I took it so seriously and explored so much more than baseball with him. I read his 1969 autobiography “My Turn At Bat” as part of my preparation, and listened to my instinct about topics I sensed he cared about, and explored nuances of his life that would help us all understand him better as a person.
Ironically, I wasn’t even sure back in December of 1999 that he would be someone we would want to feature for the show’s fourth season. As somewhat of a newbie to the historic aspect of the game (having only two years around the game at the time) I knew Ted Williams mostly as the former Red Sox player Padres star Tony Gwynn idolized. He was an icon, but how many San Diego fans would be interested? After a couple of phone calls to those I respect in the game, I realized my answer to the Hall of Champions’ invitation to interview him was absolutely “yes!”
I spent six weeks preparing and the butterflies in my stomach were a-fluttering on the day of the interview. Then, after shaking his hand, sharing how he and my father had similar interests (fishing, hunting, military service) I settled in and the interview was underway. I’d been told it could be 15-minutes or an hour, all depending on how he did. Thankfully, he seemed to enjoy it as I navigated between his growing up in San Diego, his family life, his passion for the game, and his joys and regrets in life. An hour and fifteen minutes later, he joked, “that’s a documentary. Are you going to write a book?” Knowing what it meant to him, I asked if he would go over to his childhood baseball field in North Park. He was excited to, and so his entourage helped get him there. That was another wonderful fifteen minutes to share with fans and viewers: a legend reflecting on his life offering priceless and timeless lessons to young players.
In the chapter about Ted Williams in my book, I write extensively about the circumstances surrounding and experiences of the interview as well as share observances from Williams aficionados.
Show Summary:
The word legend can evoke mythical, bigger-than-life images. But with Ted Williams, because of what he achieved in the game –the last man to hit 400 in a season more than 70 years ago — time emphasizes that his accomplishment was certainly no myth.
Much of his success began at San Diego’s Hoover High School where his picture hangs proudly on the wall of the gym with other Hoover standouts. You don’t have to be a baseball fan to appreciate the story about this baseball player… this baseball legend. The original program (the core of the updated version) is considered the most complete, comprehensive program about his whole life, His is a story about luck, loss, love and learning sometimes the hard way.