Today I'm thinking a lot of things.

I'm thinking of my old playground.

This is Ted Williams, one of the greatest hitters in baseball history.

It's July 25th, 1966, and he's thinking out loud on a stage.

The stage is in front of a red brick building with white trim.

To his right, there's an American flag.

And in front of him, a sea of suits, sunglasses, and the occasional bouffin.

The crowd is here to celebrate Ted, and for good reason.

After more than two decades with the Boston Red Sox, he's being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

And I'm privileged to join him.

Ted is known as the splendid splinter.

Because he's a lean six-three.

And because he hit the ball so hard,

you could imagine the bat splintering.

Ted's career stats speak for themselves.

A 344 batting average in 2021 walks.

He won six batting titles and was the last player in the major leagues to hit 400 in the season.

But I would argue that his greatest contribution to baseball isn't his career numbers.

It's what he says near the end of his speech.

I hope that someday the names of Satchel Page and Josh Gibson

in some way can be added as a symbol of the great Negro players that are not here only because they were not given a chance.

The Boston Red Sox might have been the last team to integrate, but it was Ted, one of their legends, who was the first to mention a Negro

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