Ted Williams

"The greatest hitter who ever lived" gave Claudia Williams a batting clinic that spanned two decades.

David Ortiz has authored some of the greatest hits in Red Sox history and holds the team's single-season home run record of 54.

Still, Big Papi has never performed at a level closer to that of former Boston slugger Ted Williams than he is doing right now.

When the great Ted Williams sat down to write the book The Science of Hitting with co-author John Underwood, he talked about what it took to be a great hitter—from theory to mechanics to application.

In his other book, My Turn At Bat, Williams also said, "A man has to have goals—for a day, for a lifetime—and that was mine, to have people say, 'There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.'"

By many accounts, Williams reached his goal.

Those of us who are baseball fans generally know statistics for the greatest players of the game.

But sometimes we fail to consider how some of the greatest had altered statistics because they served their country during times of war.

Let's consider four Hall of Fame Players whose numbers could have been so much greater.

Ted Williams is generally regarded as the greatest hitter ever to play baseball.

Williams finished his career with a lifetime average of .344. He had 521 home runs and 2654 hits.

Nicknames and baseball go together like peanut butter and jelly. 

There are literally thousands of different nicknames that baseball players have acquired though their careers, and we all have our favorites. 

Making a list of the top 50 nicknames is difficult, because there are some great players and nicknames that have to be left off the list.  So I guess I'm apologizing in advance if I left your favorite off the list.

Here are the top 50 nicknames in MLB history:

On Thursday, March 31, baseball will make its long-awaited return with its traditional Opening Day.  It will be a day when fans just sit back, relax and enjoy the game before the divisional rivalries cause battles in the bleachers.  With the epic pitching matchup of CC Sabathia vs. Justin Verlander kicking off the season, it's sure to be a great 2011.

In other games, careers will be made while others may end due to injury.  Fans will laugh, cry and cheer as their favorite players have (hopefully), amazing first games.

The year is 1941. The world is at war. Battles are raging and have been for two years now since the beginning of World War II in 1939.

At this point, the United States has successfully managed to stay out of this international conflict and remain neutral. All of that was about to change.

At 6 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941, six Japanese carriers with 423 planes took position in preparations to attack Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The title of the article says it all, Red Sox Nation.  Let's do this.  But first, a few quick ground rules:

Some of the players on this list played part of their careers for other teams, but only accomplishments in a Red Sox uniform will be considered.

The era a player played in will be factored in when considering all statistics.  Players' numbers will be compared to their contemporaries, not just to players from other eras who played the same position.

Imagine this scene...

Somewhere in a  south Boston neighborhood, Little Johnny is walking through the living room with his Nintendo DS in hand when he sees Grampa sitting in Dad's recliner, half napping, half watching some random news program. The story Grampa is paying no attention to is about the latest YouTube sensation, the homeless Ohio fellow named Ted Williams, the man with the golden pipes.

"Hey, Grampa. Do you know who this Ted Williams is?"

Thought we were going to leave you hanging, huh? No such luck—let's tune in.

Mutt Munson: "Hello everyone, I'm Mutt Munson and I'm here with my great friend and longtime broadcast partner Jock Johnson, and today from Fenway Park we bring you the final game of what has been a thrilling match up so far between loaded contingent from New York and Boston.