“The Kid – The Immortal Life of Ted Williams” with Ben Bradlee Jr.

Ted Williams wanted to be an immortal. He arrived in Boston in 1939, a cocky 20-year-old phenom eager to become, in his words, the “greatest hitter who ever lived.”

Just two years later, his 0.406 batting average — a mark that has never again been met — backed up that claim.

In The Kid, Ben Bradlee Jr., draws on numerous untapped sources to take us inside the clubhouse, the batter’s box, and beyond. He reveals new details about Williams’s feelings of shame over his Mexican heritage, his war service, the rages that fueled his brilliance on the field but severely damaged his private life, and the bizarre family drama that played out after Ted’s death, when his body was cryonically preserved. The Kid is the story of a man as big as his myth, the story of an exceptional, tumultuous and epic American life — an immortal life.

Join Ben Bradlee Jr. in the Clubhouse.

Ben Bradlee Jr. spent 25 years with The Boston Globe.  As a deputy managing editor, Bradlee oversaw the Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.  He also reported overseas for The Globe from Afghanistan, South Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Vietnam.  Bradlee has written three previous books: “The Ambush Murders,” “Prophet of Blood,” and “Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North.”

This free event takes place at Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, 67 E. 11th St. in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. RSVP to [email protected].