Seeing red
Long after his Hall of Fame career ends, Hall of Famer Ted Williams poses by the red seat that one of his prodigious homers hits 80 years ago today at Boston’s Fenway Park.
Historians note that Williams’ shot measures 502 feet and lands in Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21.
The drive comes in the bottom of the first inning off Detroit starter Fred Hutchison, whose problem in the inning starts with a leadoff bunt single by George Metkovich.
Metkovich promptly moves to second base on Johnny Pesky’s groundout before joining Hutchison and the Sunday afternoon crowd of 32,800 in watching Williams launch a drive – high, deep and into the sun-splashed seats of faraway right field.
Well, not everyone sees the flight of the ball as fan named Joe Boucher, squinting into the sun, finds himself the landing spot of Williams’ homer.
Forget finding Waldo … try findingTed Williams’ home run-bound red seat in Section 42. Hint: find the Xfinity sign and go 37 rows north of it.
Specifically, the top of Boucher’s straw hat, where Williams’ blast comes crashing down before bouncing off Boucher’s head and traveling back another 12 rows before coming to a stop.
The Red Sox later paint Boucher’s seat red to commemorate Williams’ homer and Boucher’s indignity.
“How far away must one sit to be safe in this park?” Boucher later tells reporters after Williams and the Red Sox beat Detroit 11-6 in the second game of the Sunday doubleheader.
The natural follow-up question, of course, is why Boucher does not move to protect himself as Williams’ homer descends upon him.
“I couldn’t see the ball. Nobody could. The sun was right in our eyes,” Boucher says.
“All we could do was duck.”
Boucher does not – leaving a hole in his hat, a bump on his head, an unwanted side trip to Fenway’s first-aid station and some other fan with the ball as a souvenir.
A view looking home from behind the red seat
Williams leaves another souvenir in the first game of the Sunday afternoon doubleheader as he hits a solo homer in the Red Sox’s 7-1 victory.
Not that many remember Williams’ first homer of the day.
Now, the second one?
The one that travels more than 500 feet before landing atop a fan’s noggin?
Yep, folks remember that one. Especially Ted Williams.
“I got just the right trajectory,” Williams tells the Boston Globe in 1996 for a story commemorating the 50th anniversary of his drive halfway to the next area code.
“Jeez,” Williams says, “it just kept going. In distance, it was probably as long as I ever hit one.”
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