One of the great pastimes among baseball fans is lamenting the all-time greats who never made it to the World Series.
And there have been some monster names who fell into that bucket abyss over the years …
Ernie Banks
Mike Trout (so far)
Frank Thomas
Rod Carew
Ryne Sandberg
You get the idea.
And then you have guys like Ted Williams, who got just a single shot at postseason glory.
Find American Nut & Chocolate Pennants on eBay(affiliate link)
Find American Nut & Chocolate Pennants on Amazon(affiliate link)
For the Splendid Splinter, that one taste of October magic came in 1946 when his Boston Red Sox battled the St. Louis Cardinals down to the wire before succumbing 4-3 in Game 7 of the World Series.
Just barely 28 at the time, Williams probably figured he’d have plenty more chances for a ring, but … Yankees.
Teddy Ballgame didn’t do much to help the BoSox’s cause that fall, either, hitting a weak .200 with no extra-base hits and driving in just one run.
Still, Williams of course wrapped up his long career in 1960 as one of the greatest hitters the game has ever seen. And, though the record books will tell you he appeared in just that one World Series, I’m here to tell you that Ted Williams landed at least one more pennant in his career.
Seriously.
See, in 1946, Boston-based American Nut & Chocolate began issuing a set of pennants featuring the 16 Major League teams and inserted in boxes of their “Double Play” line of candies.
Then, in 1950, the company ratcheted up their baseball game a notch by rolling out 22 new pennants, each with a line drawing image of a different player.
There on the last pennant, #22 in the series (alphabetically, at least), was none other than local god Ted Williams.
Is it as good as a World Series ring?
Not for the Boston faithful, and not for the man himself, undoubtedly.
But the good news is … this is a pennant you can own, if you do a little digging (affiliate link).
You can find other amazing Ted Williams items for sale at SportsMemorabilia.com (affiliate link).
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