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The NEW BERN
* WIIKLY _
5^ Per Co{!;
VOLUME 8
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1966
NUMBER 43
Few thlngls have given us
more satisfaction In recent
years than the elevation of Ted
Williams to Baseball’s Hall of
Fame by an overwhelming vote
of the nation’s veteran sports
writers.
We got to know the Splendid
Splinter rather well while he
was getting acquainted with the
business of flying Jets, at
Cherry Point, for his second
overseas tour of duty.
Williams flew the slow jobs In
World War II, and he was get
ting along In years when he
came Into the Marine Corps
again for further action In Ko
rea. Many have forgotten, but
he narrowly escaped flaming
death when his plane crashed
and burned In that desolate lit
tle country.
Ted spent possibly the five
best years of his baseball car
eer In service. Most men would
have been bitter about a second
hitch that a lot of his serverest
felt was less than fair.
However, on our fishing trips
In coastal waters he never com
plained to us about this turn
of events. He' did say, philo
sophically, that the felt his
playing days would be prac
tically over by the time he re
turned from Korea.
Only a superb athlete who
kept himself In top physical
condition as a matter of dally
routine could have come back,
as-Ted did, tp ^plok W wha^p-r
he left off. It Is q^ie prdb-
able that WUllams Is the great
est baseball player who ever
walked on a diamond.
The former Red Sox slugger,
who told us repeatedly that
he liked NewBern, was the most
considerate celebrity we have
ever met. Who else would have
consented, minutes after we
first came face to face with
him, to pick a personal All-
Star team of players he had
competed with and observed?
The story was one that any
big city sports writer would
have jumped at, and yet, Ted
gave It to a tank towner on
short acaialntance. The ex
clusive release went all over
the world that night, carrying
a New. Bern dateline.
Who else In baseball volun
tarily helped young players on
opposing teams with their
stance at the plate during bat
ting practice? No wonder he Is
respected so much by countless
athletes past and present who
got valuable suggestions from a
top star when no one else both
ered to notice them.
You can learn a lot about a
fellow when you fish with him,
and what we learned about Ted
was all good. Never once did
he criticize other well known
players or belittle their accom
plishments. Nor did he boast
about his own remarkable abil
ity..
“I’ln slow getting down to
first7base,” he told us. **If I
could" hm like those guys I
c
could add ten points to my bat
ting average,” Slow or not, he
had a season average of .388
when he was 37 years old, and
of course batted .406 his best
year.
At Boston’s Fenway Park he
Is remembered by club house
attendants for the money ho
gave them out of his own pock
et at the end of each season to
show he appreciated their ser
vice to the team. No one will
ever know how many other peo*
(Continued on page 7)
PENSIVE MOOD—Three-year-old Cathy Miller can
be quite serious at times, and in this photograph her
smile is as inscrutable as Mona Lisa’s. She is the
daughter of Linda and Harold Miller, Jr., of Tacoma
Park, Md. A native New Bernian, her father is assist
ant manager of a variety store in the Langley Park
Shopping Center. Cathy, as you might guess, loves
books, could count to ten at the age of one, and is
wise beyond her years. Needless to say, her grand
parents, Mrs. Mildred Miller of New Bern and Harold
Miller of Greenville are quite proud of the young
lady. It would be rude indeed, if we attempted to
delve into Cathy’s secret thoughts, but wouldn’t it be
Interesting to read her mind? Alas, a three year old’s
world is off limits for adults, so we’ll never really
know.
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