Expensive Proof

The Boston Red Sox pay Ted Williams about $110,000 a year for being the best hitter in baseball. In the All-Star game at Chicago's Comiskey Park last week, Ted proved that he can also be one of the finest outfielders in uniform. The price of the demonstration came high for both Boston and Ted Williams.

Going after a soaring first-inning smash by Pittsburgh's Ralph Kiner, Ted threw himself high and hard against the left-field wall. He caught the ball, and went on to play for eight innings, driving in a run and making another hair-raising catch. But his left elbow hurt. After the game (the National League won for the first time in five years, 4-3), X rays' showed why: Ted had been playing for eight innings with a fractured elbow.

At week's end, after an operation to remove bone chips, Ted Williams said he hoped to be back "in five or six weeks." The Boston Red Sox, pre-season pennant favorites but lagging in fourth place last week, hoped so too. But the highest-paid player* in baseball might very well be out of action for the rest of the season.

* The All-Star game also brought grief to second-highest-paid Joe DiMaggio ($100,000). Trying to beat out a double play in the 14th inning, he wrenched a thigh muscle, was ordered to rest for a few days.

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