![]() Sox Transactions, Trades, and Free Agents.There is a mural of Williams and Gwynn at Williams' alma mater, Hoover High, and the naming of the Ted Williams Freeway and Ted Williams Parkway, which runs from Carmel Valley in the west through Poway to the east.Ted Williams: What If Red Sox Legend Embraced His Mexican Heritage? There are several landmarks dedicated to Williams in his hometown, including the naming of the field at North Park Community Park where Williams learned the game. "He was always very honest about his life and I think if you could get him in the right format where he was comfortable talking. “I think he would take pride in it today," Nowlin said. Williams saw Gwynn as a kindred spirit in the quest to be among the greatest hitters of baseball history. Nowlin points to numerous examples of Williams' outspoken support of minorities, including a warm welcome to the first Black player on the Red Sox, his decision to use his Hall of Fame induction speech to advocate for the inclusion of players from the Negro Leagues and his late-in-life friendship with another San Diego icon, Tony Gwynn. He believes that if Williams were growing up now, he would be able to embrace his Hispanic heritage. Back then it was something that kids- you didn’t want to make too much of it and in fact, he maybe wanted to hide it a bit.” "Today, he would be lionized for his background. “These were different times, growing up in the 1930s," Nowlin said. It's a fact that Williams did little to make publicly known, writing in his autobiography that it could have led to him having a hard time because of prejudice in Southern California. He found that May was born in El Paso, Texas, with two parents who were from Valle de Allende in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, making Williams 50% Latino. ![]() Realizing that the cousin was pronouncing the name differently, Nowlin realized May's maiden name was actually "Venzor," allowing him to further research Williams' Hispanic heritage. But after the book was published, he was contacted by a cousin of Williams from that side of the family. While researching his biography on Williams, Nowlin could not find anyone with that last name in California and considered the lead a dead end. In the book, he had spelled her maiden name as "Venzer". In his autobiography, Williams only mentioned May's heritage once, saying she was part Mexican and part French. And he came from a home where he was a little embarrassed by his mother," Nowlin said, explaining that Williams' mother, May, was often away from home in the evening, combing through San Diego bars to proselytize about Christianity. Williams had a difficult childhood growing up in North Park. "Back then it was something that kids- you didn’t want to make too much of it and in fact, he maybe wanted to hide it a bit.” It would be an advantage, in a way," Nowlin told ABC 10News. Today, he would be lionized for his background. “These were different times, growing up in the 1930s. The breakthrough was made by author and historian Bill Nowlin. It's a mystery that biographers of San Diego baseball legend Ted Williams took years to unravel. But the first player of Hispanic heritage to be inducted into the Hall of Fame rarely talked about his Mexican roots. SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Latino athletes have been excelling in Major League Baseball for decades.
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