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Circa 1940s Ted Williams Boxing Photograph (PSA Type I)
Ted Williams, the last Major Leaguer to hit .400, was a larger-than-life individual who was not only one of the greatest hitters of all time, but an amazing Marine Corps pilot who was in the service for two wars. Presented is a Type I original photograph of the Splendid Splinter, posing for a photo during boxing practice, in 1943 while Ted was in the U.S. Navy Pre-Flight School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Williams is on the left in the photo and the four other "boxers" in the photo were all Major League players who were also at the Pre-Flight School with Williams: Next to Williams is right-hander Johhny Sain (Boston Braves), in the center is Joe Coleman, a right-hander for the Philadelphia Athletics, second from the right is Buddy Gremp, a first baseman for the Boston Braves, and on the far right is Ted Williams' Red Sox teammate, infielder Johnny Pesky. The aforementioned Major Leaguers all played on the school's baseball team, the Cloudbusters, a terrific service team. As Pesky related about training at the school, "We played all sports to test us for versatility - boxing, wrestling, swimming, soccer." In fact, according to Pesky, Ted started to quickly pick up boxing skills, to the point where his instructor said to Williams, "How would you like to have me help make you a fast million dollars?" When Williams was told by the boxing instructor that he could be trained as a professional boxer, Williams replied, "Oh no, not me." Boxing's loss was baseball's gain as Williams, in a career interrupted by a total of approximately five years of military service, including World War II duty flying with future astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, still managed 521 home runs, a lifetime 344 batting average and the Hall of Fame. The 8x10" black and white photo is in excellent condition. It has been encapsulated and PSA certified as Type I AUTHENTIC. It's a great memento for Williams and for World War II baseball players in military service.
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