Theodore Samuel Williams, 18 years old and but six months out of high school, was, in the summer of 1937, deep into his first prolonged batting slump—as a professional ballplayer. Having signed with the Class AAA Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres on June 26, 1936, while still a Hoover High School senior, Ted was now in his second year in the minors, earning an impressive $150 a month in the midst of the Great Depression. But having failed to hit in his last 18 times at bat, Ted Williams, the future “Splendid Splinter,” “Teddy Ballgame,” and “King of Swing,” was a most unhappy young man, indeed
