The following article appeared in the Fall-Winter 2002 edition of the Millsaps Magazine:

Days before the 2002 All-Star Game, one of baseball's brightest stars faded at the age of 83. Ted Williams, known as the “Splendid Splinter,” was a man of special vision and extraordinary talent, considered by many baseball historians as the best hitter of all time. To many, Williams' most famous baseball feat was the .406 batting average that he posted in a heralded 1941 campaign. However, “Teddy Ballgame” considered his happiest baseball moment a game-winning home run off the right-handed flamethrower Claude Passeau in the 1941 All-Star Game.

With the National Leaguers leading 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Passeau retired the first American Leaguer on an infield pop-up, but two singles and a walk later the bases were loaded. That brought to the plate the great Joe DiMaggio, who was in the midst of his celebrated 56-game hitting streak and MVP season.
DiMaggio's sharp grounder to the shortstop should have ended the game. Eddie Miller tossed the ball to second baseman Billy Herman for the second out, but Herman's wide relay to first spoiled the double play. The error also enabled the American Leaguers' fourth scoring run and put runners at the corners.

Next up was Williams, who had ripped an RBI double earlier in the game and who was leading the baseball world with a .405 batting average. Despite having been struck out by Passeau in his previous at-bat, Williams blasted a towering shot off the right field roof amid a thunderous roar from the partisan crowd. The American League had turned near defeat into a rousing 7-5 celebration.

“Well, it was the kind of thing a kid dreams about and imagines himself doing when he's playing those little playground games,” Williams said. “Passeau was tough. He worked the count to 2 and 1, then he came in with his trademark sliding fastball around my belt, and I swung. It was no cut-down protection swing; it was an all-out home run swing. I've never been so happy, and I've never seen so many happy guys. It was a wonderful, wonderful day for me.”

-- Jeff Mitchell