KUSI-TV Channel 9, San Diego (November 26, 2011)

Push For Ted Williams Statue Downtown

Local Baseball Author and Historian Wants A Piece Of San Diego History Preserved

SAN DIEGO — Bill Swank, a local baseball historian, says it’s time one of San Diego’s most prolific baseball players be honored with a statue downtown.

That slugger is Ted Williams who played for the Boston Red Sox, and became one of baseball’s greatest players of all-time.

Williams who was born in San Diego in 1918, began his pro career at the old Lane Field downtown, when the Padres joined the pacific coast league.

On Saturday, Swank stood at the corner of Pacific Highway and Broadway, and said a statue of Ted Williams should be placed there along with the home plate plaque and patch of grass that signify where the old ballpark once stood.

Williams was still attending Hoover High School when he played in that inaugural season of Lane Field back in 1936.