Slugger Ted Williams returns in a new American Masters doc, as splendid and ornery as ever 

Rounding up is for wimps.

I don't think that's a direct quote from Ted Williams, but it might as well be. You might know the story: Williams carried a .3995 batting average into the final day of the 1941 season, a doubleheader against Philadelphia. He could have taken the day off and finished the season with baseball's version of a unicorn, a .400 average. But Ted didn't roll like that. He played both games, went six for eight, and finished at .406. No one has hit .400 since.

That's one of the many tales told in American Masters' splendid doc on the Splendid Splinter, Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived (airing Monday, July 23 on KERA-TV). The title comes from what Williams longed for people to say about him. The film makes a good case for the descriptor's accuracy.

It also reiterates that Williams could be a royal pain in the horsehide. Hypersensitive to criticism, quick to anger, known to carry a grudge into the late innings of his life, the Red Sox star was anything but easy. Boston fans got on his nerves early in his career, and he pledged to return the favor with aloofness and disdain. He famously refused to tip his cap, even when he won the 1941 All-Star Game with a walk-off homer, even he when he hit one out the last at-bat of his career, at Fenway Park in 1960. He hated the press even more than he bristled at the fans.

But boy, could he hit. Some of the film's most captivating moments are simple montages of Williams swinging a bat with such purity, power and grace that you'd appreciate even if you couldn't tell a baseball from a bowling ball. He was also a reluctant war hero and fighter pilot who left baseball for stints in World War II and the Korean War, all the while wishing he was doing what he loved: smashing a little white ball.

He felt neglected by his mother, a Mexican-American woman from El Paso more interested in serving the Salvation Army than raising a son. He distanced himself from the very idea that he had Mexican blood. He was distant with his own kids, including his daughter, Claudia, who sits for a candid interview for the film. He was hell to be married to, all three times. But he was even harder to pitch to.

Greatest Hitter, which was co-produced by former Red Sox great David Ortiz, benefits from its eclectic mix of interview subjects. Roger Angell, probably the best baseball writer around at age 97, provides gravitas with humility. Williams biographer Ben Bradlee Jr. brings the historical background.  Wade Boggs, another famously pure hitter who wore the Red Sox uniform, addresses Williams' craft, as does current slugger Joey Votto. Claudia Williams, for all the pain she endured as Williams' daughter, shows levelheaded perspective.

Together they reveal the myth as a man, without  playing down the qualities than made him a myth. A legend can also be a jerk, and vice versa. But when Williams unfurled that swing, you didn't see the jerk. You saw the greatest hitter who ever lived.

Details 

Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived airs 8 p.m. Monday, July 23 on KERA-TV (Channel 13).