Treating Ted Williams

The makers of the bio documentary “Ted Williams” (HBO, 9:30 p.m.), face the delicate task of upholding the noblest aspects of the Red Sox hero’s amazing abilities on the field while not glossing over his sometimes prickly personality or the messy family situation in older age and death.

There was no way not to include the unusual, cryogenic end of him, but that controversy doesn’t dominate his achievements, summarized in the film subtitle “There Goes the Greatest Hitter That Ever Lived.”

He was the last player to hit over .400 over a full season and famously hit a homer in his last game, 49 years ago. And his career was interrupted by two different stints in the service.
Why salute Williams now? It’s the 70th anniversary of his phenomenal rookie season where he hit 31 homers, led the league with 145 runs batted in and batted .327. after. And it’s the day after the All Star Game, the one event where Williams made his mark, going 4-4 with a home run in the 1946 game (he had just one RBI in the one World Series he was in that Boston lost).