Joe DiMaggio vs. Ted Williams

Disclaimer: I got the idea from this blog post here, as I thought it was a neat breakdown and wanted to expand on the topic: http://tylersthinktank.blogspot.com/2014/06/williams-vs-dimaggio.html

Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams are two absolute titans in the history of baseball. They shared the stage for 10 seasons, from 1939-1951, with three missed years in the primes due to World War II. There is no denying that both of them were superstars, and they each won multiple MVPs in their careers. DiMaggio may have been the most popular and recognized sports figure in the entire country during his peak, and while Williams was more of a loner, he definitely commanded any room he stepped foot in. They put up amazing numbers during a time when baseball was by far the most popular sport in the United States, so it would make sense that these two would have a rivalry of sorts.

Debates about sports are as old as sports itself, and the battle between DiMaggio and Williams was no different. Fans of the Yankees and Red Sox would argue about which of the two was superior. If you were to look back into the thoughts of those who experienced the two firsthand, Williams would probably have been considered the better player at the plate, while DiMaggio had a reputation as a pristine outfielder, a player so smooth that his gliding in center and around the basepaths was beautiful to behold. Of course, in their times, statistics were extremely limited: for example, according to Ben Bradlee's excellent work The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, when Williams retired in 1960, not even he knew that he was the all-time leader in On-Base Percentage; it hadn't been invented as a stat yet! Nowadays, we have a whole host of sabermetrics to go off of, so we can better ascertain just how good a player was, even going back to the time of Williams and DiMaggio. So with that, let's look into each season they had, and during the years they each played, let's compare and contrast.

A very quick note: a bolded figure means they led the American League in that category. Bolded Italics means that they led the entire MLB in that category. Also, in years in which both played, the bolded name indicates who I think was the better player that season.

1936 - Joe DiMaggio: .323/.352/.576 slash; 128 OPS+; 4.6 bWAR; 5.2 fWAR; 8th in MVP

This was DiMaggio's first year, and he exploded onto the scene. He hit for a high average, but the more impressive aspect of his initial campaign was his slugging percentage, which out of all rookies in MLB history with at least 400 plate appearances ranks 11th all-time. He smacked 44 doubles (the highest total in his career), 15 triples (also a career high), and 29 home runs, totaling an amazing 88 extra-base hits in his rookie season. It was a fantastic total even given the extreme offensive environment of the time, and if there had been a rookie of the year award for the leagues, he would have run away with the AL's that year, as his mark of 4.6 bWAR was 2.6 higher than the runner-up, Chicago's Larry Rosenthal. He also saved 11 runs in the field via Total Zone, and contributed 5 additional runs on the basepaths. It was a brilliant start to his career, and accelerated the already enormous hype that he had coming into the season.

1937 - Joe DiMaggio: .346/.412/.673 slash; 166 OPS+; 8.3 bWAR; 9.1 fWAR; 2nd in MVP

Joltin' Joe's encore season was nothing short of spectacular, in every sense of the word. For starters, this was the first year he had an OBP north of the .400 mark, increasing it by 60 points from his rookie figure. He also led the majors in slugging percentage with a .673 mark, and his OPS+ of 166 was second in the American League behind only his teammate, Lou Gehrig. He also tied with Lou among position players for the AL lead in bWAR with 8.3, and he was first in both leagues in fWAR that season with a phenomenal 9.1 on the season. He also set a career-high in home runs with 46, which would end up being the most he would ever hit in a single season. If you want to break it down even more, he hit home runs four times as often as the league average, with a HR+ mark of 403. To put that into perspective, it means that he would have hit 95 home runs in 2019, taking into account the environment he played in, as the home run rate in the American League in 1937 was 1.6%, while in the 2019 AL, it was 3.7%. It just goes to show how insanely prolific Joe D was at launching bombs in his sophomore season. He had about as good an argument as anyone for winning the award, but it ended up going to Detroit's Charlie Gehringer instead. All in all, it was nothing short of an amazing season from Joe, and it wouldn't prove to be his last fantastic one.

1938 - Joe DiMaggio: .324/.386/.581 slash; 139 OPS+; 5.8 bWAR; 5.9 fWAR; 6th in MVP

DiMaggio saw a bit of a slump in his third season, but it was still a really good showing on his part. With Gehrig in the beginning stages of ALS, he had deteriorated to a point where DiMaggio had become the best player on the team. And while he didn't quite reach the heights of his second year, he still put together a great-looking triple slash line and an All-Star esque WAR of 5.8/5.9, depending on if you prefer Baseball-Reference or Fangraphs. His Yankees won the World Series for a third straight year, something not even the Ruth and Gehrig duo accomplished back in the 1920s. He had his second straight 30 homer season, and had set a record up to that point for not only the most home runs within one's first three seasons (he had 107), but obliterated the mark for extra-base hits for a hitter's inaugural three years, with an incredible 261. He also ranked second only to Chuck Klein in slugging percentage through three years, with a mark of .610, and his OPS of .994 ranked fifth. It could be easily argued that no player in baseball history had been as feared or as powerful a hitter through their initial three seasons as DiMaggio (though of course, as we will soon see, he wouldn't hold that distinction for long). He finished sixth in the MVP race that year, about where he deserved.

1939 - Joe DiMaggio: .381/.448/.671 slash; 184 OPS+; 8.4 bWAR; 8.5 fWAR; MVP winner

           Ted Williams: .327/.436/.609 slash; 160 OPS+; 6.8 bWAR; 7.1 fWAR; 4th in MVP
1939 may have been DiMaggio's best season. He was 24 at the time, and set career highs in on-base percentage, batting average, OPS, OPS+, and wOBA (.495). In fact, he would have had an even better season had he not missed over 30 games, as if you pro-rate his WAR out to a full 162 game season, he was on pace to get an incredible 11.3 on the year. It truly was a monumentally fantastic year for him, and he won a well-deserved MVP. He was considered the best player in baseball by this time, and again, this season would probably be much more well-known had he not got injured and missed a significant amount of time. By the time the year was over, DiMaggio had accumulated 27.1 bWAR for his career and 28.7 fWAR, well on his way to legendary all-time status. He probably would have continued to reign unchallenged for best player in the game, but for a scrawny rookie over in Boston. This was Ted Williams's first season in the majors, after tearing through the minor leagues in 1938. He started off his own storied career with a phenomenal campaign, achieving a higher average, OBP, and slugging percentage than even DiMaggio's first season. He led the AL in total bases with 344, and also walked over 100 times (DiMaggio was never as patient at the plate as even a rookie Williams was). He hit 31 home runs, 11 triples, and 44 doubles, 88 extra-base hits, two shy of what Joe D got back in 1936. In fact, up to that point, no hitter had ever had more batting runs than Williams's 53.5, and his bWAR of 6.8 ranked second, while his 160 OPS+ was good for fourth. By pretty much every metric, Williams's rookie year was better than DiMaggio's, no small feat considering how great the Yankee Clipper was. However, we're comparing their seasons in 1939, and DiMaggio wins that battle rather convincingly. He was nearly 2 wins better in bWAR and nearly 1.5 wins better with Fangraphs's version. Aside from drawing walks, Ted did pretty much nothing better than Joe during that season. DiMaggio won 83% of the vote and probably should have been higher.

1940 - Joe DiMaggio: .352/.425/.626 slash; 173 OPS+; 7.3 bWAR; 7.5 fWAR; 3rd in MVP

           Ted Williams: .344/.442/.594 slash; 161 OPS+; 6.5 bWAR; 6.7 fWAR; 14th in MVP

The first year of the 40s (or last of 30s, depending on how you view decades) saw DiMaggio and Williams regress slightly in most categories from their prior seasons. For the Yankees CF, it was in par due from a combination of lesser defense (in '39, he had saved 11 runs on defense, compared to just 4 in '40), and not quite as dominant a season at the plate. In al major hitting categories, he declined, though it was only slightly. He was still awesome with a bat in his hands, getting a 1.051 OPS, 31 homers, 173 OPS+ (led in the AL in that category), and had a 170 wRC+. (I modified the formula from Fangraphs slightly to get a different value than what they show, as on the website, it's 167. Whenever I use wRC+ from now on, it refers to my modified version.) It was another great year for DiMaggio, and by the end of this fifth season for him, he was hitting .343/.402/.623 for his career with a 156 OPS+ and already had 168 home runs. Even more remarkable, it seemed that he never struck out, as he only averaged 29 Ks a season for his career up to that point, which even after you adjust for the era in which he played, is exceptional. As for Williams, in some stats, he actually was better than the prior year, as he improved his OBP, OPS+, and wRC+. However, he did see his slugging percentage decline as well as his walk percentage. It was another really good year for Williams, but compared to DiMaggio's second season, it was worse, and during 1940, though it was closer than 1939 had been, DiMaggio was once again the better player, both in the field and at the plate. For the American league that season, Hank Greenberg won the MVP, though if we're being honest, Bob Feller was the best player that year, getting 9.9 bWAR, and really deserved to win. DiMaggio finished third, and Williams slumped to fourteenth. While it's true that he did decline in some areas compared to the prior season (especially home runs, when he went from 31 to 23), his placement in the voting was probably more due to his acrimonious relationship with the press, which deteriorated from swell as a rookie to abrasive as a sophomore. It wouldn't be the last time his tension with the press would cost him in the MVP voting.

1941 - Joe DiMaggio: .357/.440/.643 slash; 184 OPS+; 9.4 bWAR; 9.8 fWAR; MVP winner

           Ted Williams: .406/.553/.735 slash; 235 OPS+; 10.4 bWAR; 11.0 fWAR; 2nd in MVP
When one thinks of 1941 in baseball, there are really only two things that come to mind: Joe DiMaggio's record 56-game hit streak, and Ted Williams batting over .400 for the year. It may be the single most famous season in the history of baseball, and for good reason, as both of these individuals were at the peak of their powers during a time when baseball was the most popular sport in the country. Starting with DiMaggio, he was as good as he'd ever been, tying his career-high in OPS+ with a mark of 184 and also setting a then career high in walks with 76. He only struck out 13 times the whole season, which even in 2019, only comes out to 31, astonishing stuff. In a lower run-scoring environment than what he had played back in 1937, his first great year, DiMaggio had a higher BA and OBP than that season, and among all MLB hitters, he was first in total bases with 348. And then there's the hitting streak. During a period which spanned 56 games, DiMaggio had 15 home runs, hit .408/.463/.717, and raised his batting average from .304 to .375, an increase of 23.4%. New York went 41-13 during the time. He struck out a mere 5 times in 247 plate appearances. It's arguably the most famous stretch of performances in the history of baseball, and on the year, he set career highs in both bWAR and fWAR. In any other year, he would be the runaway best player in baseball; it wouldn't even be close. However, this is also the year in which Ted Williams became TED WILLIAMS, the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived (at least in my view). To say he dominated the game would be a colossal understatement: he did things that no one, not even Babe Ruth, had accomplished. Of course, the .406 batting average was historic, as he's still the last individual to reach the mark. But really, his OBP and SLG may have been more impressive. He became the first player since Babe Ruth back in 1927 to reach a 1.250 OPS; nearly eight decades later, he's still the last AL hitter to do so. His OPS+ of 235 was also the highest since Ruth's 1923 season; nearly eight decades later, it hasn't been topped. And his wRC+ of 224 was, you guessed it, the highest since Babe Ruth in 1923. That mark has since been topped, by Ted Williams in 1957. And that On-Base Percentage. If you guessed it was the highest since Ruth, you would be wrong: Babe Ruth never had an OBP that high. Williams still holds the single-season American League record. Add in his league-leading 10.4 bWAR/11.0 fWAR, and it could be argued that Ted Williams's 1941 season is the best offensive season ever, especially considering that he *only* had 606 plate appearances due to an injury at the start of the year. As great as DiMaggio was, Williams was just superior, exceeding DiMaggio's WAR by a full win even though DiMaggio had more plate appearances than did Williams. Ted should have won the MVP, but Joe ended up winning, even though Williams was better by pretty much every objective metric. The overlooking of Ted would only get worse, while DiMaggio continued his reign as the most beloved figure in sports, by both the fans, and the press.

1942 - Joe DiMaggio: .305/.376/.498 slash; 147 OPS+; 6.4 bWAR; 6.5 fWAR; 7th in MVP

           Ted Williams: .356/.499/.648 slash; 216 OPS+; 10.4 bWAR; 11.6 fWAR; 2nd in MVP
This was the last year these two would play before they went off to serve in World War II, and on the surface, both suffered pretty steep declines (though by no means were they bad or anything, as it would have been pretty much impossible for either of them to repeat what they did the year before). For DiMaggio, his statistical decrease was more prominent. He still hit above .300, the seventh year in a row he did so, but his OBP slipped to .376, the lowest since his rookie year. DiMaggio's SLG really took a beating, though, as he lost 135 points on it, slipping below .500 for the first time in his career. He also suffered a career low in home runs, despite missing no games and having the second-most plate appearances of his career. Even with all this said, it wasn't a bad year for him, as he had a WAR of over six in both versions, and played solid defense. It just wasn't the dominant year as he had in '37, '39, and '41, and spoiler alert, he would never reach those stratospheric heights again. For Williams, it was different. On one hand, his slash stats absolutely declined: He lost 50 points on his batting average, 54 on his OBP, and 87 from his SLG. His OPS+ and wRC+ both declined 19 and 17 points, respectively, down to 216 and 207. However, his bWAR stayed the same and his fWAR actually increased, to a then career high of 11.6, leading both leagues. So, what happened? For one, he was healthy, and able to accumulate more WAR through sheer availability. Another big thing was that the AL used a different baseball from the previous year, the so-called "balata ball." This baseball wasn't nearly as lively as the previous version, primarily because the country needed to ration rubber to use for the war effort, as Steve Treder writes in the above-linked to article from The Hardball Times. Offensive output was decimated as a result, with the league's OPS declining over 6% from .730 to .686, a huge depression. Even still, Williams put together a phenomenal offensive season, one nearly on-par with his legendary one from the year earlier. In fact, if you take his 1942 stats and apply them to the 1941 run environment, he would have hit 46 home runs and produced a slash line of .369/.518/.705, pretty darn good. Alas, they both played with the hand they'd been dealt, and even though Williams was by far the best player in both leagues, he yet again was slighted in the MVP race, finishing second to DiMaggio's teammate, Joe Gordon. Now Gordon had a great year, with a .900 OPS and 8.8 fWAR (his defense helped him out immensely), but Williams was far more valuable objectively, yet 12 voters saw fit to vote the Yankees 2B ahead of him. It was an awful decision, and not the last time Williams would suffer at the hands of those he so disdained.

Estimated Averages from 1943-1945 - Joe DiMaggio: 159 OPS+; 6.2 bWAR; 6.4 fWAR
                                                              Ted Williams: 213 OPS+; 10.0 bWAR; 11.0 fWAR
The lost prime years of Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams are perhaps second only to the color barrier when talking about all-time "What-Ifs" of baseball history. DiMaggio missed his 28-30 seasons, and Williams lost his 24-26 years. They were the biggest stars of the most noteworthy sport in, and all of a sudden, they had to go into military service instead of continuing to excel at a game no one played better. Obviously, the official record books don't include projections on what Williams and DiMaggio might have done, but because this is my blog and I make the rules, I wanted to elaborate at least a little on this scenario. I took the same formula that Steve Treder utilized for his article and applied it to various sabermetric statistics. For DiMaggio, the absence hurt him somewhat, but due to the methodology, two of his best seasons (1937 and 1939) were not counted in calculating his 1943-1945 figures. On the contrary, his 1940 and 1942 season, subpar compared to '39 and '41, were included, as were his 1946 and 1947 years. Overall, he lost out on about 19 bWAR and fWAR. If added to his career totals, however, he reached 98 bWAR and 102 fWAR, so along sabermetric lines, he probably would have been more highly regarded. For Williams, however, the war was absolutely devastating to his statistics, both counting and sabermetrics-wise. From 1941-1947, the four most heavily-weighted seasons of his career in this projection, Williams had an average OPS+ of 217 and slashed .360/.511/.669. He lost about 120 home runs and over 600 walks. During that same four year period, he also averaged 10.2 bWAR and 11.2 fWAR. All in all, according to Treder's methodology, his service in WW2 probably cost him between 30-33 extra wins above replacement for his career, and his OPS+ would have been around 194 as opposed to his actual 190. Instead of his unmodified career total of 121.9 bWAR and 130.4 fWAR, he would have had around 152 bWAR and 163 fWAR, making his claim as the GOAT hitter even more valid. It's really quite sad to think about, because as fantastic as Williams was, he would have been even greater had he not missed those three years. In this hypothetical scenario, Williams definitely emerges as the stronger player during these seasons had they not been serving.

1946 - Joe DiMaggio: .290/.367/.511 slash; 142 OPS+; 5.1 bWAR; 5.2 fWAR; 19th in MVP

           Ted Williams: .342/.497/.667 slash; 215 OPS+; 10.6 bWAR; 11.8 fWAR; MVP winner
Both outfielders returned to baseball in 1946, after three years of being gone from the game that made them so famous in the first place. Overall, both of them had similar years compared to their seasons in 1942. DiMaggio returned and he upped his slugging to above the .500 mark again, signaling that perhaps his '42 campaign was a mere blip on the radar and that with maybe a season or two more of additional seasoning, he could return to his '37-'41 form. Even though his WAR decreased by over a full win from '42, this was almost entirely because of his missed 22 games. Pro-rated out to the same number of plate appearances as he had in 1942, he would have reached 6.1 bWAR and 6.3 fWAR, roughly the same as that year. However, with all that said, DiMaggio's 1946 was a disappointment when compared to the 8+ WAR seasons he was dishing out before his three year hiatus. For one, his batting average (the most important stat at the time) dipper below the ever-so-significant .300 line, and his OBP also declined even further, settling in at .367, the lowest since his rookie season. It was now beginning to become clear that his best years were behind him, and given the fact that he was 31 and had missed significant amounts of games in three of the previous five years, his durability could be legitimately be questioned as well. Among other tell-tale signs were his defense, as from his age 21 to 26 seasons, he averaged 7 fielding runs saved, but his last two years he had only reached four and three, respectively. The voters seemed to get that sense as well, since he finished 19th that season, by far the lowest of his career (his prior low was 8th as a rookie in '36). The same struggles could not be applied to The Kid, however. Williams picked up right where he left off, actually raising his OPS by 17 points and getting 29 intentional walks, which tied the record set by Ron Northev two years prior. He also had a then-career high 156 totals walks, cementing his status as the premier batsmen in the game and arguably the hitter with the best eye ever. He set a career high with 38 home runs and led the league with 343 total bases. From a traditional stats perspective, he was awesome. Sabermetrics-wise, this may have been his best season ever. For one, it was the year in which he had his highest WAR totals, with 10.6 bWAR and 11.8 fWAR. His Fangraphs WAR was particularly amazing, as no hitter would surpass that total until Barry Bonds in 2001, 55 years later (and Bonds had some additional help). In fact, this was his third straight season with 11+ fWAR. Not even Babe Ruth can lay claim to such a feat. Williams is the only hitter in baseball history that can lay claim to three consecutive 11 fWAR seasons, and he accomplished it after missing three years of his prime. It's really almost an impossible task to describe how brilliant Williams actually was, because no one aside from him was doing those things. His 1946 was truly amazing, so we need to get some historical perspective. It ranks 8th all-time in AL history (among 8,736 qualifying seasons) in On-Base Percentage, 12th in wRC+, 13th in slugging percentage, and 14th in OPS+. By any metric, it would be the absolute peak of any career. The amazing part of this season for Ted was not how fantastic it was, but that it was probably his 4th-best campaign (even though his WAR was his career-high that season, that was mainly because he stayed healthy all the way through, as 1946 was his fourth-highest OPS+). With all that being said, Williams won his first MVP (even though he should have already had two), and the 27 year old's future was looking about as bright as ever.

1947 - Joe DiMaggio: .315/.391/.522 slash; 154 OPS+; 4.6 bWAR; 4.9 fWAR; MVP winner

           Ted Williams: .343/.499/.634 slash; 205 OPS+; 9.5 bWAR; 10.5 fWAR; 2nd in MVP
1947 was probably the most controversial season that both DiMaggio and Williams played, and it was because of the MVP voting at the end of the year. First things first, DiMaggio more or less had the same season as he did the year before, with his slightly better hitting offset by his objectively bad fielding. For the first (and only) time of his career, he had negative defensive runs saved, with Baseball-Reference getting him at -8. His hitting did improve, however, and his OBP increased by a not insignificant amount of 24 points. His batting average also rebounded to above the .300 line, and his SLG increased by 11 points. His OPS went back above .900 and his OPS+ went above 150 for the fifth of nine seasons in his career. Really, the only big batting category that declined from '46 to '47 for DiMaggio was his home run total, a new career-low of 20 after hitting 25 the year prior. This actually marked the third straight year that DiMaggio had hit less than 30 homers, so his power output was definitely waning. Also, even though his SLG percentage had rebounded for the second consecutive year, it was still well short of what he was doing consistently in his twenties. Really, besides his OPS+ and wRC+ (152), there was nothing exceptional about his season. The same cannot be said for the season from The Kid. Williams followed up his fantastic 1946 with another stellar campaign. His OBP of .499 was ninth all-time in the history of the American League when adjusted for era, and his offensive WAR of 9.5 was eleventh ever. He led the majors in On-Base Percentage for the fifth time in a row, led the AL in slugging for the fourth time, and won his third AL batting title with a .343 BA. It was his fourth straight year with an OPS+ and wRC+ of above 200, which not even Babe Ruth accomplished, and wouldn't be duplicated until Barry Bonds over 57 years later. He also became the only position player in MLB history with four consecutive years with a double-digit fWAR, which again, was not equaled until Barry Bonds from 2001-2004. His wOBA (basically OBP that weights hitting components) was over .500 for the fourth year in a row. He was a hitting machine more consistently excellent than even Ruth had ever been; describing his dominance is about as difficult a task as there is concerning baseball history. He set his career high in walks with 162, which was the highest since Ruth. And to top it off, he won his second Triple Crown, as his first was back in 1942, the only player to ever accomplish it multiple times. It should have resulted in his winning the AL MVP; his bWAR and fWAR led both leagues and his OPS+ was 18.5% higher than second-place Ralph Kiner of the NL. However, this is where we get to the controversial part: Joe DiMaggio won the MVP in the American League, and Williams finished second. It is probably the worst decision in the history of awards voting, because while Joe had a nice season, Williams was way, way, way better. His OBP was a full 108 points higher and his SLG was 112 points better. He doubled DiMaggio's bWAR and fWAR. His OPS+ was 51 points higher and his wRC+ 49 points better. If traditional stats are your thing, Williams had more homers, RBI, and a higher batting average. He also had more hits, scored 28 more runs, and had 98 more walks! There was literally nothing that DiMaggio did better than Williams that season, except for the fact that he played on a loaded team that ended up winning the World Series. In fact, DiMaggio may have not even been the best player on his own team, as Tommy Henrich had a higher bWAR and only trailed his teammate by 0.2 fWAR. There's no other word to use besides "robbed" to describe Ted not winning the MVP that season; it was a travesty, pure and simple, as he should have been the first to win four MVPs in a row, not Bonds (not to say that Barry didn't deserve his from 2001-2004, as he absolutely did). Unfortunately, this trend would continue for Williams.

1948 - Joe DiMaggio: .320/.396/.598 slash; 163 OPS+; 6.9 bWAR; 7.3 fWAR; 2nd in MVP

           Ted Williams: .369/.497/.615 slash; 189 OPS+; 8.3 bWAR; 8.5 fWAR; 3rd in MVP
This season saw the rebirth of DiMaggio as a great hitter. He had somewhat struggled his previous three years, and he put it all together in a season reminiscent of his heyday from 37-41. For starters, his home runs jumped enormously, to an AL-leading 39, surpassing Williams in that category for the first time since 1940. He also drove in 155 runs, ranking first in both leagues. It was the first time since 1941 that he led the league in that category, and his advanced stats reflected his case as having a bounce-back year. His bWAR and fWAR were the highest since '41, as was his OPS+ and wRC+. His .598 SLG, .396 OBP, and .320 BA were, you guessed it, also his highest since his historic season. To cap it off, he led the AL in total bases with 355, his most of any season since he had 418 back in 1937. He was definitely deserving of serious praise, and he got it by placing second in the MVP voting. However, he still couldn't match Ted Williams's prowess. The Splendid Splinter (now at 30, a bit less thin, but just as splendid) once again proved himself as the better of the two, if not quite the best hitter in the game (this year was the season in which Stan Musial had his magnum opus, as he led both league sin bWAR, fWAR, OPS, OPS+, and wRC+). While Ted may have regressed slightly from his colossal standing of the prior four years, he was still exquisitely fantastic. He led both leagues in OBP for the sixth consecutive season (double Ruth's best stretch), and led the AL in SLG, OPS, OPS+, and wRC+ for the fifth straight year. While his home run total did see a dip to 25 even while the frequency of those in the AL hitting them increased, he offset this hitting a career high 44 doubles, and his batting average of .369 was his highest since his .406 season seven years prior. Amazingly, even though Williams had a magnificent season by pretty much anyone else's standards, it was somewhat of a disappointment for him, as it was the first time since 1940 that he did not eclipse a 200 OPS+ or wRC+. His walks totals also dipped (even though he one again led the AL in that category). Was it a sign of things to come? Well, his WAR was still awesome at 8.3 bWAR and 8.5 fWAR, and even Babe Ruth had a subpar (for his standards) season every now and again. For Williams, the fact that an 8+ WAR year was considered below-average for his standards is pretty remarkable. In terms of the AL MVP, Lou Boudreau actually won it that year, and he was 100% deserving. He had an all-around awesome year, rivaling Williams's 1942 and 1946. He hit slashed .355/.453/.534, good for an OPS+ of 165. More importantly, his bWAR and fWAR were an amazing 10.3 and 10.9, respectively, and he had an amazing year defensively. After adjusting for the fact that he was a shortstop (the hardest position to play after catcher), FanGraphs credited him with 29.4 defensive runs saved, while Baseball-Reference had him at 30. While voters then did not have the same stats that we are spoiled with, it's fair to say that they got it right with selecting Lou as the winner of the award that year (it also didn't hurt that Boudreau was the player-manager of the AL pennant winner that year, the Cleveland Indians). And the following season, for the first of only two times, the voters got it right with Williams.

1949 - Joe DiMaggio: .346/.459/.596 slash; 178 OPS+; 4.3 bWAR; 4.7 fWAR; 12th in MVP

           Ted Williams: .343/.490/.650 slash; 191 OPS+; 9.1 bWAR; 9.9 fWAR; MVP winner
The last year of the 1940s was DiMaggio's best year on a rate basis since his record-breaking 1941. He was exceptional in all aspects that season, not just with his bat, but in the field, too. He saved 4 defensive runs, pro-rated to 8.5 in a 162 game season. His bWAR and fWAR translate to 8.5 and 9.3, respectively, over 650 plate appearances. Even though he *only* hit 14 home runs, his .346 average allowed him to get to a slugging percentage of .596, his highest since '41. His On-Base Percentage was the highest of his career, an awesome mark of .459. He also had a 176 wRC+ and 178 OPS+, which were the third-best of his career. It was truly a remarkable revival of a career that had been largely sputtering since 1942, and at age 34, pretty unexpected. Sure he had a nice season the year before, and won the MVP back in '47 (although, again, Williams should have won it unanimously), but it's fair to say that except for the most diehard of Yankees fans, his campaign was a surprise, and a very pleasant one at that. The only depressing thing about it was what he could have done if he didn't have to miss over half the season to complications from bone spurs. It caused him a great deal of pain, but he soldiered on through it and produced a great season. Due to his limited time played, he only finished 12th in the MVP race that year, but everyone above him played much more than he did. Overall, even accounting for the loss of over half the season, he had a great year. But once again, for the sixth season in a row, Williams bettered him. He had yet another fantastic season. His hitting was once again beyond reproach, with no one coming close to his OBP of .490 and only Ralph Kiner of the National League eclipsing his .650 slugging percentage. His OPS of 1.141 was 52 points better than the second-best mark. His wRC+ of 187 was an amazing 26% better than the next-best in the AL, Tommy Henrich. He walked an incredible 162 times, equaling his career-high he originally set back in 1947. His bWAR of 9.1 led the AL, and his fWAR of 9.9 placed him first in both leagues. In fact, he led the American League in all of the following categories: runs scored, doubles, home runs, runs batted in, walks, On-Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, OPS, OPS+, Total Bases, Batting Runs, wOBA, and wRC+. One could easily argue it is among the most dominant hitting seasons in the history of baseball, and it was really was. He ranks in the 97th percentile in walk percentage, 99th in OBP, SLG, OPS, wOBA, wRC+, offensive WAR, and WAR. Again, career numbers for pretty much everyone who has ever swung a bat, and his OPS+ of 191 that season was just one single point higher than his career mark would prove to be. Again, it's pretty much an impossible task to describe Williams's dominance. He was rewarded by his second MVP by his archenemy: the writers. Good for them for finally acknowledging the obvious, that The Kid was by far the best player in the American League that season (no other position player had more than 7.0 bWAR or 7.5 fWAR that season), but it was still somewhat bittersweet, because Williams really should have won 5 MVPs that decade and probably 2 or 3 more had WW2 not happened. He was at the peak of his powers, and had just finished a decade of hitting that up to that point, could only be rivaled by Babe Ruth's 1920. Just to think what would have been if he didn't have to miss his three prime years.

1950 - Joe DiMaggio: .301/.394/.585 slash; 151 OPS+; 5.3 bWAR; 5.6 fWAR; 9th in MVP

           Ted Williams: .317/.452/.647 slash; 168 OPS+; 3.9 bWAR; 4.3 fWAR; 21st in MVP
1950 was a pretty odd year for hitters in the American League. On the one hand, hitting in general picked up, with an average OPS of .759, the highest since 1939. On the other, the best hitters in each league were not that great, at least relative to what they had been before. For example, Among players with at least 400 plate appearances, Ted led both leagues in SLG, OPS, and OPS+. It was another banner year for him, except that his actual numbers that season were really subpar compared to what he had been doing. Sure his SLG of .647 was impressive, even for him, but his OPS was "only" 1.099, and in a year that saw hitting surge, it was "only" good for a mark of 168. DiMaggio had an impressive year relative to the rest of the league, finishing 7th in OPS+, but his mark of 151 was actually 4 points lower than his career average of 155. His batting average was over .300, but with a career figure of .325, he really underperformed that metric relative to his standards. He accrued over 5 bWAR and fWAR, but it was only the 8th highest of his career, and he also did not save any runs in the field. This was also the first year he played a position other than centerfield since his rookie year back in 1936. Time was wearing on the Yankee Clipper, and it must have been hard to watch. Even still, he managed a top 10 finish in the AL MVP race, besting his rival by twelve spots. And speaking of Williams, the reason his WAR was so low relative to his performance was because he missed 65 games. Now, even with those games missed, he wasn't on pace to get even 6 bWAR, but it did hurt him in volume stats like home runs, where he would have had close to 50 on a pro-rated basis. At the end of the season, Phil Rizzuto ended up winning the MVP for the AL, and although his .857 OPS wasn't amazing, he did play good defense and was the SS on the World Series champ (DiMaggio won his 8th World Series that season), so it wasn't an awful decision. Overall, the year was relatively forgetful for both Ted and Joe, but I would give the edge ever so slightly to Ted because of his superior rate stats.

1951 - Joe DiMaggio: .263/.365/.422 slash; 116 OPS+; 2.9 bWAR; 2.8 fWAR; No MVP votes
           Ted Williams: .318/.464/.556 slash; 164 OPS+; 7.1 bWAR; 7.1 fWAR; 13th in MVP
The last year of Joe DiMaggio's baseball career ended in a statistical whimper. At age 36, he was a shell of his former self. In every meaningful hitting category besides doubles, #5 set a new career low. His BA, SLG, OPS, OPS+, WAR, home runs, everything was a personal worst. Now that's not to say that DiMaggio was bad, or that his season was even below-average. He was average or above-average, but relative to his own high standards, it was awful. He was injured yet again, and only played 116 games, missing 38, and for the only time in his career, failed to receive a single MVP vote. It was a sad way to end a magnificent career, though he did end up winning a ninth World Series (and his SLG was better in the WS than the regular season, posting a mark of .478). All in all, while disappointing, 1951 was the right time to call it quits for DiMaggio, because he was an old 36, and been beaten down by bone spurs and other assorted ailments over the past 13 seasons. And while his career had come to an end, his rival in Boston kept right on trucking. Counting his injury-shortened 1950, this season was the ninth straight year Williams led the AL in OBP, and the eighth time leading both leagues in that stat (unsurprisingly, his 144 walks were first in both leagues). His SLG led the AL, as did his OPS and OPS+ and WAR. Seeing as this was the worst hitting season he had since his second year in the league, and to be so good as to lead the AL in that many hitting categories, it goes without saying that he was on another level. He should have won the MVP this year as well, but Yogi Berra, with a WAR almost two lower than Ted's, got it. In fact, even though he was the best player in the AL, Williams did not receive a single first-place vote. It was an embarrassment on par with the 1942 and 1947 races, and at least in those, Ted got some recognition in the form of first-place votes. It was a disgraceful decision by the sportswriters that demonstrated how deep their personal dislike of Williams was. And again, it wasn't The Kid's best year, not by a long shot (it may have been his third or fourth-worst in fact), but even a subpar season by him was better than any of his competitors could muster. Sadly, after 1949, Williams never won another MVP, but he absolutely should have this year.

Estimated Averages from 1952-1953 - Ted Williams: 183 OPS+; 6.9 bWAR; 7.4 fWAR
Right after DiMaggio retired, Williams had to go to war a second time, this time in Korea. The first time he had to take time off for military service, he never saw combat, but this time around, he did. In total he flew 39 missions in 1953 (he had to train for the vast majority of the 1952 season), but that's a story for another time. What might Williams have accomplished in his age 33 and 34 seasons if he had not been called to action? Well, for starters, we know that when he did play in those two years, he was beyond dominant, particularly in 1953, so let's dive into how amazing he was. Small sample size applies here, but Williams's 1953 season is probably the greatest abbreviated campaign any ballplayer has ever put together; to say he went insane is the understatement of the century. He had 110 plate appearances that year, many of them in pinch-hit situations after coming back from the service. In those opportunities, Williams had a 268 OPS+, slashed .407/.509/.901 (!!!!!!!), and hit an astonishing 13 home runs: the man averaged a home run every 8.5 plate appearances! He had 82 total bases in only 91 at bats. He had 19 extra-base hits, and walked the same amount of times. Again, the small sample size caveat applies, but what a sample it was. Could he have kept it up for a full season? Almost certainly not, but it is interesting that in the two years immediately succeeding his return, he was far better at the plate than he was in the two seasons before he left for Korea. All in all, Williams lost about 54 home runs on a net basis (the 68 calculated in Treder's article minus the 14 he actually had in those two season), and his OPS+ was about 183. So while it wasn't close to what he would have theoretically achieved if he didn't have to miss his three prime years to WWII, it did hurt his career totals for sure. When he came back, he returned with a vengeance, laying waste to pitchers in a late career revival that cemented his status as the bogeyman of AL pitchers.

1954 - Ted Williams: .345/.513/.635 slash; 201 OPS+; 7.5 bWAR; 8.4 fWAR; 7th in MVP
Picture this: 35 year-old Ted Williams returns for his first full season in three years. He had destroyed the ball in the year prior, but that had only come over the course of 37 games, and in his prior two full seasons, he had started to decline from his colossal heights. His OBP and SLG had waned, and he was getting old. A new breed of NY superstars that had replaced DiMaggio: Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Duke Snider. They were the talk of baseball, and it was almost certainly thought that Williams wouldn't approach the heights he had set from 1941-1947. He hadn't eclipsed a 200 OPS+ or wRC+ since 1947, when he was a young 28. He was 35 now, and there aren't many career revivals at that age. The last player who had put together great seasons at that point in his career was Babe Ruth, so the odds weren't exactly in Ted's favor. However, he would prove everyone wrong this season, returning to vintage form. He led both leagues in walks, OBP, OPS+, wRC+, and wOBA. He led the AL in SLG and fWAR (arguably should have won MVP as well). It was his fifth 200 OPS+ and wRC+ season, and he did it at age 35, astonishing. If he played a full season, his WAR pro-rates out to 9.3 bWAR and 10.4 fWAR. And form a historical perspective, his On-Base Percentage is just insane: it ranks 5th all-time in AL history once you adjust for year. But once again, similar to 1951, the writers chose Yogi Berra as their MVP, even though his fWAR was 2.5 lower than Ted's and had 2.2 fewer bWAR. One could make a good argument that Minnie Miñoso should have won (he actually eclipsed Williams's bWAR by 0.7 wins, but had 7.8 fWAR, so their average was about the same), but the the real travesty was that Williams, just like in 1951, didn't get a single first-place vote, and finished seventh overall. Pathetic once again, especially since he had more or less returned to peak form. He would be even better the next season

1955 - Ted Williams: .356/.496/.703 slash; 209 OPS+; 6.9 bWAR; 7.1 fWAR; 7th in MVP
Williams had returned to prime form in 1954, and in 1955, he was arguably even better. His raw numbers are very impressive: in only 98 games, he hit 28 home runs, walked 91 times, and had an almost incomprehensibly dominant slash line of .356/.496/.703, stupid good numbers. His pro-rated WAR totals are also amazing: 10.8 bWAR and 11.1 fWAR over the course of a full season. On a rate basis, that season placed him in the top 20 all-time of AL history in the following statistics: intentional walks, OBP, SLG, OPS, wRC+, offensive WAR, and WAR. The guy was just a machine in the batter's box, and amazingly, was better than he had been the previous seven seasons, at 36 years of age! Not even Babe Ruth had an OPS as high as Williams's 1.200 at age 36, and he ended the season with 394 home runs, so close to the 400 mark despite missing 3 prime years. However, once again, similar to the previous year, Williams missed a large part of the season (56 games total), and it kept him from winning the MVP even though he was by far the best player in the AL on a rate basis. Once again, Yogi Berra won it, his third time in four seasons. This one was even worse than the vote in '51 and '54, however, because he wasn't even as half as good as the best player on his own team. Mickey Mantle had his first transcendent season, accruing 9.5 bWAR and 9.8 fWAR, and he should have run away with it: the next-best AL player that season was Al Kaline with 8.3 bWAR. Ted would have easily superseded both of their figures had he played a full season, but because he didn't, he finished fourth (Mantle finished fifth, which was awful on the part of the writers). But all in all, The Kid had proved to everyone that he wasn't close to being done, and he would continue his dominance in 1956.

1956 - Ted Williams: .345/.479/.605 slash; 172 OPS+; 6.1 bWAR; 6.3 fWAR; 6th in MVP
The Splendid Splinter followed up his magnificent 1955 campaign with a somewhat less prolific, but still fantastic, 1956. He ended up playing more games than he had in both '54 and '55, but his rate stats weren't as great this time around. That's pretty remarkable when you consider that he had a 172 OPS+ and 170 wRC+, that it was over 10% worse than his career average for those marks. And it wasn't like his bad year was awful or anything: he led both leagues in OBP for an incredible 11th time over his past 12 qualified seasons (and led the AL in that category for the twelfth year in a row). He eclipsed 400 career home runs while slugging over .600, and walked over a hundred times. His WAR figures did take a dip, and this was the year that Mickey Mantle became a full-blown superstar, getting over 11 bWAR and fWAR. He slugged .705, which was the highest the AL had seen since Williams's mark of .735 back in his spectacular 1941 season. He accomplished the traditional triple crown and was the unanimous choice for AL MVP, as he should have been. It was one of the most dominant offensive seasons ever, and overshadowed Ted's hitting, which was the first time in a long while one could legitimately say such a thing. Williams finished sixth in MVP, which may have actually been a little high. It was a down year for The Kid, but not a poor one by any means. The next season, Ted would make sure that no one would outshine him, even while Mantle had an even better season at the plate. The Splinter was about to embark on his greatest offensive season ever.

1957 - Ted Williams: .388/.526/.731 slash; 233 OPS+; 9.7 bWAR; 9.7 fWAR; 2nd in MVP
Mickey Mantle's 1957 season was nothing short of miraculous. He was 25 years-old, at the absolute peak of his powers, and just an offensive juggernaut. He followed up his unanimous MVP award in '56 with another MVP that season, and he was even better than he had been before, which is almost incomprehensible seeing as how dominant he was the year prior. His raw stats are astonishing: a .365/.512/.665 slash line, 146 walks, 221 OPS+, 217 wRC+, career-highs in every category aside from slugging. He put forward a personal best 11.3 bWAR and 11.4 fWAR, marks which no AL position player has topped since aside from 1967 Carl Yastrzemski and 1991 Cal Ripken Jr (and none were all that close to his hitting). Putting his numbers in historical context, he stands even more. First off, his 34 home runs, while a really good number, don't really stand out, but if you put that into the context of 2019, it balloons to 59; yeah, Mickey crushed the ball that season. His OBP, OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ all rank in the top 10 in AL history once you adjust for era, putting him in the 99.9th percentile in every single one of those categories! His .512 OBP was particularly special; it ranks an 3rd all-time (adjusted for year) in AL history out of 8,736 seasons. Simply put, it was a season for the ages. And guess what: in none of those categories, aside from WAR, did a peak 25 year-old Mickey Mantle outperform the grizzled 38 year-old Ted Williams. Think about that for a second: perhaps the most naturally talented baseball player, at the peak of his powers, with one of the greatest hitting seasons ever, could not beat out a 38 year-old who was beaten down by injuries and had served in two wars, flying 39 combat missions in the latter. That, more than any stat, tells you the essence of Ted Williams. That makes him, in my opinion, the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived. But with that out of the way, we have to look into his stats, because without appropriate context, they can't really be fully appreciated. His slash line is impressive enough, because no AL hitter has beat those OBP and SLG figures since, and only George Brett has bested his batting average. No AL hitter has matched his OPS+ or wRC+ figures since. That's impressive enough in its own right, but what about adjusting those figures for historical contexts? Well, it goes from legendary, to maybe the single-greatest hitting season in the history of the American League. Adjusted for the hitting environment of the year, Williams is 2nd in OBP, 2nd in wOBA, 2nd in wRC+, 5th in OPS, 6th in SLG, 7th in offensive WAR per plate appearance, 7th in Intentional walk rate, and 10th in batting average. He is effectively in the 100th percentile in the first four categories, and the 99.9th percentile in the last four. So that is insane enough, but what if we convert his stats to the environment of 2019? Well, how does 66 home runs and a slash line of .385/.521/.839 sound? Simply put, Williams was setting fire to the league in a campaign that was arguably better than the one he had put up in 1941 at 22 years of age. To top it off, he accumulated 9.7 bWAR and 9.7 fWAR; over a full season (650 plate appearances), it pro-rates to 11.5 WAR. Ted Williams was too good, to put it bluntly. He almost won MVP as well, and what's amazing is that it would have been 100% deserved, even with the season Mantle had. If you pro-rate Williams's WAR out to 650 plate appearances, he would have obtained 11.5 wins, even more than his 1941 season. The Kid had turned back the clock in what is still the greatest age 38 season ever, and he still had a couple more great ones still left in him.

1958 - Ted Williams: .328/.458/.584 slash; 179 OPS+; 4.0 bWAR; 4.5 fWAR; 7th in MVP
Coming off the heels off perhaps the best season of his illustrious career (again, at age 38), his '58 season was almost destined to fall short, and it did, though it wasn't like he had a bad year, not at all. For the 14th straight year, Williams led the American League in OBP (and 13th year overall leading both leagues), while also pacing the majors in OPS, the 12th time leading the AL in that category and 10th time leading both leagues (Mantle actually led the league in OPS+, as Yankee Stadium was a more difficult place to hit than Fenway Park). He also led the AL in batting average, his seventh time accomplishing the feat. However, he *only* had a .584 SLG, the lowest of his career since 1951, and his OPS+ of 179 ended up 11 points below what would ultimately be his career average. His 4.0 bWAR and 4.5 fWAR were his lowest since 1950, and he missed 25 games. And while Williams had never been a great fielder, he was certainly serviceable up to that point. In '58, however, his defense completely cratered out, posting a value of negative 22 runs. It was arguably the worst season of his career up to that point, especially because he had played many more games this year than 1950, the only season in which he had accumulated fewer wins. And still, with all that said, he was third in OPS+ and finished 7th in MVP voting.While he was now a huge liability in the field, he was still among the best hitters in the game. Next season, for the first time in his career, he could no longer say that.

1959 - Ted Williams: .254/.372/.419 slash; 114 OPS+; -0.2 bWAR; 0.0 fWAR; 26th in MVP
There's no other way to put it: 40 year-old Ted Williams was a poor baseball player in 1959. In fact, the parallels to his penultimate year and DiMaggio's final season are eerie. In those respective seasons, both of them posted their lowest BA, SLG, OPS, OPS+, wRC+, and WAR totals. Unlike DiMaggio, however, Williams was objectively bad (Joe D actually had a somewhat okay season, mainly due to being a slightly above-average fielder instead of a horrific one like Williams was). His hitting, which had always been fantastic every season he had played, was merely above-average that year. His OPS was a pedestrian .791, the only time he had fallen below the 1.000 mark. His OPS+ of 114 was over 46 points worse than his rookie year, the second-worst mark of his career. Williams's fielding was really the thing that dragged him down, though. He was just as awful that year as he was in 1958, and because his hitting couldn't compensate for it, he ended up having a negative WAR total, the only time he was that bad. All in all, it was a putrid season, and many thought he would just retire after the year. However, maybe because he thought it was all because of his pinched nerve that really debilitated him, he decided to come back for one final season. He produced perhaps the most dominant final season in baseball history.

1960 - Ted Williams: .316/.451/.645 slash; 190 OPS+; 3.1 bWAR; 3.4 fWAR; 13th in MVP
To say that Teddy Ballgame came back with a vengeance in his farewell season would be a massive, monumental understatement. In nearly every single category from 1958, not just 1959, he improved. Here he was, no longer the spry beanpole, but a filled-out 41 year-old, dominating pitching just like he did back in 1949 when he had won MVP. Among all players aged 40 or older, Williams's 1960 campaign leads in SLG, OPS, OPS+, wRC+ while ranking third in home runs. His SLG percentage that year was actually higher than his career average of .634, and if he would have had just ten more plate appearances, he would had led both leagues in OBP, SLG, OPS, OPS+, wOBA, and wRC+. In fact, no one was particularly close that year. In a season in which Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Hank Aaron were all in the thick of their primes, Ted surpassed them all in the above categories, and everyone else in baseball. Again, he was doing this at 41 years of age, and no one had ever seen anything quite like it before. And of course, in his last time up to bat, he hit his 521st career home run, perhaps the most famous final plate appearance in baseball history. It was truly a perfect ending to a career defined by obsession to his craft. The fact that he missed nearly five years (three prime ones mind you!), and yet his time is not primarily thought of as a giant "What-If," well, that should tell you all you need to know about the player Ted Williams was.

In 1969, Joe DiMaggio was voted as the Greatest Living Player. The following players were still alive at the time this vote was held: Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, and of course Ted Williams. In hindsight, it seems absurd, and the sabermetrics support that contention. All those four were better at their peak, and all had longer careers (although you can't blame DiMaggio for missing three years to World War 2). However, this vote is particularly embarrassing for one reason: even in retirement, Williams did not get the recognition that he deserved. He had been deprived of two MVPs when the sportswriters chose the more popular (though in all honesty, less personally likeable) DiMaggio, and now The Kid was still being undervalued. However, with the statistics and metrics that we currently have, we can safely say that Ted was the far better player than Joe. Yes, DiMaggio was a better fielder, superior baserunner, and played a more important position. However, the reason why I say that Williams far better was because, of course, his hitting. A position player makes by far the most impact when he comes to bat, much more than he ever could in the field or on the basepaths. As great as a hitter Joe was, he just doesn't come close to comparing to Ted. DiMaggio's career OPS+ of 155 is 35 points lower than Williams's mark of 190. Joe's season-high in OBP (.459), OPS+ (184), and wRC+ (181) were all lower than Ted's career marks in those categories. Only once did DiMaggio top Williams's OPS figure of 1.116 (a mark of 1.119 in 1939, his first MVP season and Ted's rookie year), so even when DiMaggio was at his best, he was barely at the level of Williams, and below him in some categories. All in all, on a season-by-season basis, Williams only fell short of DiMaggio in two of the ten; in my opinion, he was better every year from 1941-1951; I have no doubt he would have also heavily outperformed DiMaggio in the years both missed to WW2. I've ranked each of their years below, and based it primarily on how each did on a rate basis, and less about their number of plate appearances and games played.

1. Ted Williams - 1957
2. Ted Williams - 1941
3. Ted Williams - 1942
4. Ted Williams - 1955
5. Joe DiMaggio - 1941
6. Ted Williams - 1946
7. Ted Williams - 1947
8. Ted Williams - 1948
9. Ted Williams - 1954
10. Joe DiMaggio - 1939
11. Ted Williams - 1949
12. Joe DiMaggio - 1940
13. Ted Williams - 1956
14. Joe DiMaggio - 1937
15. Joe DiMaggio - 1949
16. Joe DiMaggio - 1948
17. Ted Williams - 1950
18. Ted Williams - 1951
19. Ted Williams - 1940
20. Joe DiMaggio - 1950
21. Joe DiMaggio - 1942
22. Ted Williams - 1939
23. Ted Williams - 1960
24. Joe DiMaggio - 1947
25. Joe DiMaggio - 1938
26. Ted Williams - 1958
27. Joe DiMaggio - 1946
28. Joe DiMaggio - 1936
29. Joe DiMaggio - 1951
30. Ted Williams - 1959

In my view, Williams has an average placement of 12.9, while DiMaggio comes in at 18.9; Ted was just the far superior player, and an even better hitter than most think. I hope this post helps to illustrate how dominant he was, but also how good a player DiMaggio was in his prime. Thanks for reading.