Ted Williams was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. When it came to hitting, he literally wrote the book. In his 19-year career with the Boston Red Sox, Williams posted a career batting average of .344 while winning six American League batting titles and two American League MVP awards.
His .406 batting average in the 1941 season still marks the last time any hitter was able to finish a season with a batting average over .400. His legendary #9 was retired by the Red Sox, and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.
Williams’ Other Passion
When he wasn’t studying the science of hitting, Ted Williams was focused on the science of fishing. In the offseason and after he retired, Williams would travel around the world in search of the best places for serious anglers. Later in his life, he wrote a book about fishing for what he referred to as “The Big Three,” which were Tarpon, Bonefish, and Atlantic Salmon.
While Williams was famously passionate and opinionated about topics like baseball and politics, his close friend Ted Johnston said that he and Williams never really discussed those things. Johnston explained that when Williams was around serious anglers, he only wanted to talk about fishing techniques.
The Villages of Citrus Hills Connection
Johnston met Williams in 1985 through mutual friend Sam Tamposi, who was a part owner of the Boston Red Sox at the time. Tamposi, along with Gerry Nash, was in the early stages of developing the Citrus Hills community. When Williams saw the land that would become Citrus Hills, he was immediately impressed and said that he knew it would become something special.
After Ted Williams was introduced to Ted Johnston, the two became fast friends and Williams hired Johnston to build his first home in Citrus hills in 1988. Then, in 1991, he hired Johnston again to build his second home in Citrus Hills. During that time, Williams and Johnston went on many fishing trips together.
Because Williams was so happy with the Villages of Citrus Hills community, he agreed to become the community’s celebrity spokesman. He promoted the community in many different interviews and commercials explaining that he had the resources to live anywhere in the world, but chose to live in Citrus Hills.
Fishing Near the Villages of Citrus Hills
While Williams and Johnston traveled to many different places in search of great fishing, they were also happy with the fact that they had access to some of the best Tarpon fishing in the world located right in their back yards. They would frequently find themselves fishing throughout the Homosassa and Citrus County areas.
Johnston explained that Homosassa holds world records for the largest Tarpon caught in three different categories of line strength. Those records stress the fact that this area is truly a world-class fishery.
Ted Williams had an unbelievably brilliant career as a Major League Baseball player. Then, he had another brilliant career as an outstanding fisherman who was also a spokesman for Citrus Hills. He could have chosen to live anywhere in the world, but Citrus Hills was the place that he wanted to call home.