Page "Ted Williams" Paragraph 4

Williams lived in San Diego's North Park neighborhood ( 4121 Utah Street ).

At the age of eight, he was taught how to throw a baseball by his uncle, Saul Venzor.

Saul was one of his mother's four brothers, as well as a former semi-pro baseball player who had pitched against Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe Gordon in an exhibition game.

As a child, Williams ' heroes were Pepper Martin of the St. Louis Cardinals and Bill Terry of the New York Giants.

Williams graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in San Diego, where he played baseball as a hitter-pitcher and was the star of the team.

Though he had offers from the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees while he was still in high school, his mother thought he was too young to leave home, so he signed up with the local minor league club, the San Diego Padres.