Posted By:
Ted ZanidakisI was impressed at the nice responses I received for posting this story in another thread. So,
I will reprise it here for anyone that missed it......and, hopefully spark an interesting series of
Net54er's posting their personal conversations with BB players.
The following is a pretty accurate recollection of my conversation with Ted Williams in 1984.
We talked for about 45 minutes and I would like to share with you this part of it........
I recognized Ted Williams in Cooperstown. I started the conversation by telling him that......
ME.....Ted, although I was an avid Yankees fan as a kid in the 1950's, I always rooted for you
to hit a HR at Yankee Stadium.
..........and sure enough, many times I saw him hit a HR....way up into the RF upper deck.
TED....If you're a Yankees fan, why did you root for me to hit a HR ?
ME.....Because your name is Ted; and besides, I always expected the Yankees would win the
AL Pennant, anyways.
TED....(he smiled) why are you a Yankees fan ?
ME.....because Phil Rizzuto was my nearby neighbor in Hillside, NJ
TED....if the Scooter was on the Red Sox all those years, we would have been the Champs.
Then I turned the conversation to his BB cards. He was like a little kid.....I still remember how
enthusiastic he was "talkin' BB cards".
ME.....are you aware of how rare your 1954 Bowman card is ?
TED....no, but I signed a contract with Sy Berger of Topps in 1954 and no other Gum Co. was
allowed to portray me.
Then, without me asking him, Ted went on this long dissertation telling me how Sy Berger was
annoyed with him in 1959, when Fleer approached his agent to do a series of cards depicting
Ted. Fleer offered Ted $500 to do this series of 80 cards. Sy Berger offered Ted $1000 to stay
with Topps. Ted started laughing, as he told me that a bidding war between Fleer and Topps
ensued.
When Fleer upped the ante to $5000, Topps relented. And that people, is the real story behind
the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set....straight from Ted, himself.
TED....Just think about it, that was a lot of money back then for having your pictures on a set
of gum cards.
ME.....Ted, you ain't kidding, that was my Dad's annual salary in 1959.
We talked some more as we walked, and then Ted had to meet some dignitaries.
TED Z