BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox signed the son of Hall of Famer Ted Williams and assigned him to Class-A Sarasota in the Gulf Coast League, even though he is 33 and has no professional baseball experience.

John Henry Williams asked for the opportunity and was given a tryout at the club’s spring training home in Fort Myers, Fla., out of respect for Ted Williams, the last major league player to hit .400 when he batted .406 in 1941.

The request was “unusual and irregular” said Charles Steinberg, Red Sox vice president of public affairs, but “we are willing to go beyond the norm to accommodate this special request.”

The younger Williams, who lives in Florida and has been the principal caretaker of his ailing father, played baseball in high school and some in college.

He is 6-foot-5 and weighs 220 pounds, according to the Boston Herald. Williams bats and throws right-handed, although his father hit left-handed and threw right-handed.

It was unclear what position the younger Williams would play, Red Sox spokesman Kevin Shea said, although the Herald reported that he thought of himself as a “power-hitting first baseman.”

Team president Larry Lucchino told radio station WEEI that he had not seen the tryouts but heard that “results have been mixed.”

John Henry Williams could not be reached for comment.

The elder Williams, 83, has been slowed by a series of strokes and heart problems in recent years.

In November 2000, doctors placed a pacemaker in Williams’ chest and two months later he had open-heart surgery because of congestive heart failure. He spent part of his time recovering in San Diego, his hometown, and has been at his Florida home since Aug. 30.