[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12809-12810]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING TED WILLIAMS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 23, 2002, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, today we will honor Ted Williams, the 
baseball legend, here on the House floor. I am here this morning to 
also honor him.
  On July 5, of course, of this year, he died. He is one of baseball's 
greatest legends. He was known as the ``Splendid Splinter,'' ``Teddy 
Ballgame,'' ``the Kid,'' ``the Thumper''; he was a man who turned the 
art of batting into a science.
  Mr. Speaker, he began his major league career with the Boston Red Sox 
on December 7, 1937, and played for the team exclusively for 19 years. 
He retired with a career high .344 batting average, and was, of course, 
the last player to hit over 400 for a full season in 1941. Ted Williams 
is tied for 11th all time, with 521 home runs, and 11th with 1,839 
RBIs.
  He won two Triple Crowns, and was a two-time MVP. He held six 
American League batting championships and received 18 All-star game 
selections.
  These tremendous achievements, Mr. Speaker, were reached despite Ted 
missing five seasons serving his country as a naval aviator in World 
War II, and then later he went on to become a Marine aviator, flying 39 
combat missions in Korea and earning an Air Medal and two Gold Stars.
  On January 20, 1966, Ted Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall 
of Fame, and on May 29, 1984, the Red Sox formally retired his number 
9.
  In 1994, the so-called ``Einstein of batting'' opened the Ted 
Williams Museum and Library in Hernando, Florida, becoming the number 
one tourist attraction in Citrus County. My family has had the 
opportunity to visit this wonderful museum, and I was his Congressman 
for many years. We had an opportunity to meet and talk with him many 
times.

[[Page 12810]]

  But Mr. Speaker, Ted Williams was much more to his country than just 
a baseball legend.

                              {time}  1245

  He was also a legend in terms of helping others. When I first came to 
Congress, Ted Williams, as I mentioned, was one of my constituents. 
Unfortunately, districts were redrawn in 1991 and I moved away from 
him. However, I continued to work with him and to speak with him on a 
number of key issues. And one issue, Mr. Speaker, I would like to share 
with you this afternoon.
  In 1995 he was recovering from a stroke that he suffered. During his 
therapy he came to know a young woman whose name was Tricia Miranti. 
She was also going through therapy much like him, and he used to play 
checkers with her and talk to her. She had a brain hemorrhage which she 
suffered at the age of five. Ted Williams is a man who exemplified 
determination and hard work. He was impressed with her determination 
and her hard work and he watched her go through therapy. They became 
fast friends and out of their friendship grew Williams' creation of a 
scholarship fund for disabled students.
  In 1997 I had the honor of working with Ted to raise funds for that 
scholarship program. Ted's dedication to Tricia and those who share her 
experiences can be summed up in the following quote he gave to an 
article in 1998. He said, ``It makes me feel lucky. If ever, as long as 
I live, I can help anyone in any way possible, I will. It makes you 
just feel great.''
  This statement, of course, is no surprise to those who knew Ted. His 
passionate support of the Jimmy Fund, an organization dedicated to 
raising funds for cancer research and treatment for children, is also 
legend. In his autobiography Ted wrote, ``I think one of the greatest 
things ever said is that a man never stands so high as when he stoops 
to help a kid.''
  Mr. Speaker, Ted Williams is one of the greatest hitters to ever play 
the game, if not the greatest. But he should also be remembered for 
what he accomplished outside of the game, accomplishments that we will 
not find in career statistics, but the impact of which will be felt for 
years to come. God bless Ted Williams and his family.

                          ____________________