Ted Williams, playing in the All-Star Game, homers on the famed blooper pitch thrown by Rip Sewell of the Pittsburgh Pirates

On July 9, 1946, At Fenway Park in Boston Ted Williams, playing in the All-Star Game, homers on the famed blooper pitch thrown by Rip Sewell of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Williams finishes the game with two home runs, two singles, and a record-setting five RBIs in the American League’s 12-0 win.

With the AL up 8-0, Sewell came in to pitch. Snuffy Stirnweiss and Jack Kramer had singled and Stan Spence walked to load the bases against Sewell in the AL eighth. Sam Chapman drove in one run with a sacrifice fly and now Williams stepped to the plate, already having homered and singled twice.

“Hey, Rip,” Williams shouted, “you ain’t gonna throw that damn ball in a game like this, are you?”

“Yeah, boy,” Sewell replied, “You’re gonna get it.”

“Ted was shaking his head ‘no,'” Sewell remembers, “and I was nodding my head ‘yes.’ I threw him one blooper and he swing from Port Arthur and fouled it off. The second one was an inch outside and he took it. I threw a fastball for a strike and then I threw my Sunday blooper.

“Ted ran up three steps and hit it out of the ballpark. Actually, he was out of the batter’s box when he hit it and if it was a regular game, Larry Goetz (plate ump) would have had to call him out for stepping out of the box. But it was only an exhibition and the crowd loved it. It was a terrific show. If I had $10 for every time they showed that film on the television, I’d be a rich man today.”

The first-place Red Sox place eight players on the Mid-summer Classic roster, which includes starters Dom DiMaggio (cf), Johnny Pesky (ss), and Bobby Doerr (2b) in addition to Williams, who plays the entire game in left field

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