If I was being paid thirty-thousand dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400.

Meaning of the quote

Ted Williams was an American athlete who earned a high salary playing baseball. He felt that since he was getting paid a lot of money, the least he could do was to hit the ball really well, with a batting average of at least .400 (meaning he got a hit 40% of the time). This shows that he took his job seriously and wanted to perform at a very high level to justify his high pay.

About Ted Williams

Ted Williams was an American baseball legend, known as one of the greatest hitters in MLB history. He played his entire 19-year career with the Boston Red Sox, winning two Triple Crowns and two AL MVP awards. Despite his career being interrupted by military service, Williams remained one of the last players to hit over .400 in a season and held numerous batting records.

More about the author

More quotes from Ted Williams

If there was ever a man born to be a hitter it was me.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

Hitting is fifty percent above the shoulders.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

I hope somebody hits .400 soon. Then people can start pestering that guy with questions about the last guy to hit .400.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

If you don’t think too good, don’t think too much.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

Hitting is the most important part of the game. It is where the big money is, where much of the status is, and the fan interest.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

You have to hit the fastball to play in the big leagues.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

A man has to have goals – for a day, for a lifetime – and that was mine, to have people say, ‘There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.’

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

I’ve found that you don’t need to wear a necktie if you can hit.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

There has always been a saying in baseball that you can’t make a hitter, but I think you can improve a hitter. More than you can improve a fielder. More mistakes are made hitting than in any other part of the game.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

If I was being paid thirty-thousand dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

By the time you know what to do, you’re too old to do it.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

Baseball’s future? Bigger and bigger, better and better! No question about it, it’s the greatest game there is!

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

They invented the All-Star game for Willie Mays.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

There’s only one way to become a hitter. Go up to the plate and get mad. Get mad at yourself and mad at the pitcher.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

God gets you to the plate, but once your there your on your own.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot

All managers are losers, they are the most expendable pieces of furniture on the face of the Earth.

Ted Williams

American baseball player and fighter pilot