At last, Williams tips cap to fans

BOSTON – After more than one-half century, Teddy Ballgame tipped his cap to Boston Red Sox fans Sunday.

With the same flair that marked his long career, Hall of Famer Ted Williams saluted the fans on a day in his honor marking the 50th anniversary of baseball’s last .400 batting average.

After taking a verbal swipe at his longtime favorite target – sports writers – Williams reached into his pocket and pulled out a Red Sox cap.

“So they can never write, ever again that I was hard-headed, so they can never write again that I never tipped my hat to the crowd, today I tip my hat,” Williams said with a wide smile as he waved the cap to a packed crowd of more than 34,000 at Fenway Park.

“I tip my hat to all the people in New England,” he said, “the greatest sports fans on earth.”

Williams, who broke in with the Red Sox in 1939 and retired in 1960 after hitting his 521st home run in his final time at bat, refused to tip his cap to the crowd after his first couple of years in the major leagues. He reportedly vowed never again after being criticized for showboating.

“I tipped my cap when I first came up, but then things went a little sour,” Williams said. “But I always felt very close to the fans. More than 40 years ago I realized that I was playing for the fans. It was like a love affair. I couldn’t have done anything different, but I felt that way.”

Williams, who hit .406 in 1941 by going 6-for-8 in a doubleheader with Philadelphia on the final day of the season, said he tried to duck the day in his honor, but accepted at the request of longtime friend Jean Yawkey, majority owner of the Red Sox.

“It’s been an incredible day for me,” he said at a post-ceremony news conference. “It’s been a fun trip for me. I’ve got to admit I’ve had a helluva time seeing all the old friends and letting the fans know that I think they’re the greatest.”

Boston Mayor Ray Flynn read a proclamation designating Sunday as “Ted Williams Day” and then presented him a street sign. Flynn announced that Lansdowne Street beyond the left-field wall be renamed “Ted Williams Way.”

Former teammates Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio, Charlie Wagner and Jimmy Piersall and Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, who replaced Williams in left field for the Red Sox in 1961, joined in paying tribute to Williams.

The Marine Corps presented their onetime combat fighter pilot a Semper Fidelis Award, the Dana Farber Cancer Foundation saluted Williams for his help in fund-raising for the Jimmy Fund, and a message from President Bush was shown on the electronic scoreboard. A montage of highlights of Williams’ career also was presented, with copies given to each fan entering the park.

Williams recalled that in his major league debut the first ball hit to him was a line drive by Lou Gehrig.

“Very shortly after that he had to retire because of ill health,” Williams said. “And I was there when he stood at a microphone in Yankee Stadium and said, `I’m the luckiest man on earth.’ Now people must know how I feel 50 years after I hit .400.”