Ted Williams’ 1946 AL MVP award, awarded to the best player in the American League of Major League Baseball, sold at the highest rate for any AL MVP award in history—$528,750. The MVP award is part of a collection of 280 Williams pieces that were up for auction after all of Ted Williams’ daughter, Claudia passed last year.
His son, John Henry Williams passed in 2004 at age 35 and his daughter Claudia passed away in 2023 at age 52. Claudia wrote a book about her father, Ted Williams, Ted Williams, My Father: A Memoir. The two siblings are survived by their stepsister, Barbara Joyce Williams Ferrell, 76, and mother, Dolores Wettach, 87.
Other items that sold at the auction include the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented to Williams by fellow naval aviator George H.W. Bush, which sold for $141,000 and Williams’ 1958 silver batting title baseball bat which sold for $270,000.
The auction, organized by Hunt Auctions, took place at the 21st Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in Kentucky over the weekend. Williams played his entire 19-year MLB career for the Boston Red Sox from 1939-1960, with a brief hiatus for military service. The Ted Williams tunnel is a tribute to the legendary Sox player regarded as one of the greatest hitters of all time.