The other sides of the Splinter
Book portrays Williams as loner, braggart, cuckoo & reluctant hero
Much has been made about Ted Williams‘ death, but the inside scoop on his amazing life will occur next month. Here’s a revealing sneak peek at some of the items in Leigh Montville‘s stunning new book: “Ted Williams – The Biography Of An American Hero.”
* Williams was wacky as a young player. He boasted, bragged, yet bit his nails down to nothing in nervousness. He forever was doing strange things like sitting down in the outfield or driving his car as fast it could go. Bill “Lefty” Lefebvre, a teammate from Williams’ rookie year of 1939, says Ted was “cuckoo.”
* His relationships with his three wives and three children were rugged. If things did not go the way he wanted, he became disinterested or angry.
* Ted didn’t become friends with his teammates until later in life, after everyone had retired.
* The Splendid Splinter was in at least nine Halls of Fame, a list that includes baseball, fishing (both freshwater and saltwater), flying, the Marines and his Spanish heritage.
* Williams was a reluctant war hero. He fought for a deferment and enlisted only when his other options seemed closed. He also fought bitterly against his induction for the Korean War. His crash landing in Korea happened mostly because he was terrified of ejecting, blowing off his knees in the process. He was a definite citizen/soldier, heroic mostly because he had no other choice.
“As gregarious as Ted was,” Montville tells us, “he was very much a loner. Stayed in his room a lot. His best [friend was] the clubhouse guy, or it could have been a fellow he met at a tackle and bait shop. He didn’t hang out with stars, he was very comfortable with just ordinary folks. Our generation of writers – the baby boomers – loved the guy, and he was great to us. Those who covered him, oh, it was so different. They were always at war.”
Speed Army
The legendary Arnold Palmer (above) tuned up for his annual tournament, the Bay Hill Invitational, by serving as honorary Grand Marshal and uttering the world famous line, “Gentlemen, start your engines,” at last week’s NASCAR Golden Corral 500 in Atlanta. One of NASCAR’s own legends, Dale Jarrett, paid tribute to Palmer by running an Arnie-inspired paint scheme on the hood of his No. 88 UPS Ford. The final round of Palmer’s Bay Hill Invitational tees off today at 2:30 on NBC with Tiger Woods looking for a record fifth consecutive win, while Jarrett revs up for NASCAR’s Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at 1 on Fox.
Blackjack
Former Yankees hurler Jack McDowell of Yahoo! Sports says the key for the Yankees returning to the World Series is one of the new guys donning the Pinstripes . . . no, not Alex Rodriguez, but Kevin Brown. Here’s McDowell’s take on Brown. “The Yankees of the past 10 years have banked a lot of their success on starting pitching. Kevin Brown comes back to the American League with the pressure of leading a rebuilt New York pitching staff. The A-Rod trade made a big splash, but if Brown doesn’t shine, neither do the Yanks.”
Grandstanding
Our steroid guy, who knows the deal inside and out, had this to say about the feuding that is going on between the players and owners: “This whole MLB drug-testing procedure is a joke. The Olympics already have the best protocol and up-to-date knowledge of what’s out there. If baseball really wanted to arrive at a solution to address the problem, they should get together and agree to use the Olympic blueprint. Reinventing the wheel isn’t necessary.”
Hair spray
Ricky Williams returned from Australia without his dreadlocks. Who has the longest dreadlocks in football? That distinction goes to Donvetis Franklin (above) of the AFL’s New York Dragons. He has not cut his hair in eight years. NBC Sports Director John Gonzalez estimates that Franklin has saved $4,320 on haircuts. All we know is Vincent The Barber in Lincoln Park is a lot cheaper than Gonzalez’ man.
Homer hooky
The big event on Opening Day – make that Opening Dawn – will a Breakfast of Champions at Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant featuring ex-Yanks Goose Gossage, Graig Nettles, Mickey Rivers and Jim Leyritz as the Yankees take on the Devil Rays in Japan. Individual tickets for this event are $200. For more info, call (212) 536-6057. There also will be a post-game party beginning at 8 a.m. Says one partygoer, “I’m not going to work that day.”
Postscripts
Circle Sept. 1. That will mark the first A-Rod promotion item at Yankee Stadium when the first 18,000 fans 14-and-under receive a McFarlane Toys 3-inch two pack featuring Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez in Pinstripes.
Fantasy freaks can visit with Joe Sheehan, one of the talented writers of Baseball Prospectus 2004. He will be hosting events at Barnes & Noble stores (2614 Central Ave., Yonkers & 106 Court St., Brooklyn) on Wednesday and Thursday nights . . . LeRoy Neiman was at Bravo Gianni sketching a non-sports figure, psychologist June Azoulay. She was sitting at LeRoy’s table with her husband, George Kalinsky, official Garden photographer the past 40 years. Neiman designed their wedding invitations some five years ago.
Joseph Lucin, proprietor at Stella del Mare, summed up the A-Rod deal to food maven Bob Lape: “In Variety lingo, ‘Tex Rod. Bronx Sod’ ” . . . Former QB and current real estate man Roger Staubach was just sent a copy of the paperback, “If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons On Your Pigtails,” written by real estate queen Barbara Corcoran. Her husband, Bill Higgins, who played on the same Navy football team as the Hall of Famer, sent the book.
