MARCH 1st - Isn't it...not Really Ironic



On this day in 1954, Ted Williams broke his collarbone on the first day of spring training. That was some bad luck, for both the Sox and for Williams, especially considering Ted may have been the greatest hitter ever. 1954 was also Ted’s first season back after flying 39 combat missions in the Korean War and not getting injured despite crashing once. So you could look at this in a couple of different ways. Ted was extremely lucky to survive 39 combat flights and a crash without a scratch. Or Ted was unlucky to have survived all that and then break his collarbone in practice. You have to be thankful for the survival during the war. Breaking your collarbone sucks, but getting blown up in a plane sucks a bit harder. The whole thing reminds of the type of line that Alanis would have used in her hit song “Ironic.” “It’s like surviving 39 combat flights without any scratches, and then on the 1st day of spring training your collarbone unattaches. And isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?” And the situation closely resembles Morissette’s liberal definition of situational irony. Where the whole thing is more unfortunate than ironic. But there is an expectation that one would be more likely to be injured in an active war than the first day of baseball practice. And Ted being a baseball player makes the situation border on irony. So it fits the confines a bit. But really, like most of Morissette's lines, it’s just unfortunate. Potato, potato. In any case Ted returned to baseball on May 7th, hit .345 for the season, but lost the batting title because he was under 400 at bats. Which again, is unfortunate, not ironic. Don't you think?

Ted retired after the Sox final game of the season. Still not ironic.

This Day has been Marked

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