Special Editor
DongA.com, Song Chi-Hoon

With a decade of experience as a sports journalist and 30 years as a devoted baseball fan, Song Chi-Hoon brings deeper insights into the fascinating hidden stories of Major League Baseball.

※ This content is part of a special collaboration with MLB Park and features unique items from the Eland Museum.

On July 12, 1943, with World War II raging on, a historic scene unfolded in front of the dugout at Boston's Fenway Park.

Babe Ruth, the greatest baseball player of all time.

Ted Williams, the last player in MLB history to hit .400 in a season.

These are names that are never left out when discussing the greatest hitters in over a century of MLB history.

Ruth played 22 seasons, appearing in 2,503 games with a career batting average of .342, 2,873 hits, 714 home runs, 2,213 RBIs, an on-base percentage of .474, a slugging percentage of .690, and an OPS of 1.164. Ruth’s career WAR* is 182.5, the highest in MLB history. Excluding the 20.4 WAR he accumulated as a pitcher during his time with Boston, he still boasts a 162.1 WAR as a position player.

*WAR: Wins Above Replacement, a measure of a player’s overall contributions to their team compared to a replacement-level player.

Over his 19-season career, Williams appeared in 2,292 games and posted a .344 batting average, 2,873 hits, 521 home runs, 1,839 RBIs, a .482 on-base percentage, a .634 slugging percentage, and a 1.116 OPS, making him a hitter who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Ruth. Williams’s career WAR is 121.9, ranking just outside the top 10, but many argue that this doesn’t fully reflect his greatness, as he missed nearly five seasons due to World War II and the Korean War.

If we average Williams’s performance in the two years before and five years after his military service, and assume he played three full seasons without interruption, he could have added approximately 555 hits, 105 home runs, 390 RBIs, and 450 walks to his totals. This would bring his career numbers to 3,209 hits, 626 home runs, 2,229 RBIs, and 2,471 walks. Factoring in the time lost to the Korean War would increase these numbers even further.

Ruth was among the first five players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, earning 95.13% of the vote, while Williams was inducted in 1966 with a 93.38% vote on his first ballot.

The game in which these two greats met was a charity event on July 12, 1943, aimed at raising funds for war victims and underprivileged children. Although it was an exhibition, it was the only game in which Ruth and Williams appeared in the same lineup. Ruth managed the Navy All-Stars, while Williams, on leave from military service, played in the game. Before the game, Ruth greeted Williams with a friendly, “Hi, Kid!” after taking a swig of beer.

Williams donned his Boston uniform for the first time since the previous season’s final home game, while the 47-year-old Ruth, who had retired seven years earlier, put on his iconic Yankees pinstripes. The meeting of these two legends, who never played in the same season due to their 23-year age difference, captured the attention of everyone in attendance. Catcher George Yankowski, who played in the game, recalled the scene:

“Reporters and photographers were hovering around Williams and Ruth like ‘ants on honey.’”
- George Yankowski, catcher in the game

The iconic image of Ruth and Williams in uniform, shaking hands, continued to captivate fans long after the event. Nearly 90 years later, their descendants recreated this moment, bringing it back into the spotlight.

In the game, Williams hit a three-run homer in the 7th inning, leading the All-Stars to a 9-8 victory. Ruth, who had put on some weight since his playing days, came to bat in the 8th inning and flied out to right field. He passed away nearly five years later, on August 16, 1948, at the age of 53.

One of the baseballs used in that game bears the signatures of both Ruth and Williams.

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