The world needs heroes now more than ever. That's exactly why it's a great time to bring back a little Ted Williams into our lives.
Great baseball player. Philanthropist. American war hero. And so much more than many might realize, as his daughter, Claudia, revealed during a phone conversation with WEEI.com Thursday morning.
"I asked my Dad one day, when I was taking care of him, I said, ‘Dad, if you could pick one moment in your whole life that you were most proud of, what would it be?’," Williams said. "That’s the day he told the story of when he walked out onto the stage at the National Baseball Hall of Fame to give his acceptance speech they stopped him before he walked out and they said, ‘Ted, we would really like if you took this part of the speech out.’ The part where he says that he hoped one day the likes of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson are given a chance to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Guess what? Nobody told Ted Williams what to do. So out he went and he gave the speech on his podium on his day."
That was 1966, when saying such things wasn't easy.
Williams was already about forward-thinking. As his daughter points out, "My dad didn’t write a book on how to ht a baseball for dummies, or the art of hitting a baseball or the ABCs to hitting a baseball. He wrote 'The Science of Hitting' and to this day people will reference that book as way ahead of its time. … A lot of people really are amazed that back in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s he came up with this before they had the digitally imaging showing the breakdown of a swing."
Ted was ahead of the curve. And, now, so is his daughter.
Claudia is using the phenomenon that is NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to help bring her father's legacy into the world of a generation that most likely isn't familiar with the Splendid Splinter.
The collection of nine digital cards -- hand drawn by Brazilian artist Andre Maciel -- is up for auction through Saturday. (To view the cards, go to Rarible.com by clicking here.)
The idea is simple: Use the growing digital memorabilia market for an introduction to Williams, who will become the first Hall of Fame baseball player to have his own NFT set.
It was a plan that was hatched after Williams came across the NFT series Maciel had done for Rob Gronkowski (which sold out after making $1.6 million last month).
"For me it’s not just about me making cards and hoping to make money. Yes, that’s true too. But it’s about trying to leave an impression on this world that is really upside down," said Williams, who plans to give some of the proceeds to the Jimmy Fund. "We’re going through a lot of stuff. I’m hoping and praying this inspires someone else, even if it’s one person. You have got to keep these things alive."
Claudia added, "I was trying to find an opportunity to bring Dad into this generation. They would all say all my Dad’s friends and fans were passing on. It made me so mad. But I have to tip my hat to Rob Gronkowski because when I saw what he did I said, ‘Hold on’ I would take my Dad’s career and I would take hs athletic abilities and I would compare him to any athlete in any sport and I knew he deserved to be right there with them. That was really the catalyst and put the fire underneath me to do this. And we did it."
For a man who was seemingly always ahead of his time, this certainly seems the perfect way to preserve his past.
"I said, ‘This is a great idea to do for Dad and to create a collection of baseball cards for him.’ My goal and my motivation in life is every day I seek to honor my family, and especially my Dad because I believe he deserves to remain relevant forever and he should travel through time," Claudia noted. "All of our generations, especially our youngest generations."
