Ted Williams, My Father

At thirteen years old, Claudia Williams watched her father walk onto the field at Fenway Park. It was the first time she'd even seen him in a Red Sox uniform, and with the stands erupting in applause at his presence, she instantly saw him in a new light. Born after his retirement from the major leagues, Claudia had only known this beloved, larger-than-life Hall-of-Famer as her dad; until that day, she'd been largely unaware of his decades of success at the plate or his high seat in the pantheon of baseball royalty. Yet seeing the adulation from the Fenway faithful that day changed her, and from then on Claudia dedicated herself to uncovering the man behind the legend, while reconciling his talent on the field with his life off it. In this moving memoir, Claudia-the only surviving child of Ted Williams-shares the results of this exhaustive search to understand her father, offering an unexpected look at one of professional sports' most revered and elusive figures. Putting forth a fresh perspective on his life, she shows what it was like to grow up with a baseball legend, when the echoes of success lie in the past, detailing the stories from his iconic career that he cherished enough to pass on to her. Telling the story of his life in the game as he told it to her, Claudia explains how, despite his myriad of contributions to our national pastime, her father was shaped by far more than the sport itself, with his passion for New England pursuits, such as cooking and fishing, often molding his character just as much as left field. In addition, Claudia discusses, candidly and for the first time, the controversy surrounding her father's wishes to be cryogenically frozen, peeling back the mysteries of his decision and helping his fans come to terms with his final resting place. Complete with never-before-seen family photographs, this memoir captures the ups and downs of her relationship with her father. She speaks entirely from her heart, and leaves nothing unsaid. The end result is a love letter to the father that raised her, and a portrait of New England life in the shadow of the greatest Red Sox player of them all.