Ted Williams’ hitting tips preserved on 45 rpm record at Hall of Fame
It seems impossible. Or, at the least, prohibitively expensive. But for many baseball fans in the 1960s, it was as simple as placing an order in the Sears, Roebuck catalogue.
Shortly after Hall of Famer Ted Williams retired from baseball in 1960, he joined Sears as their sporting goods consultant, helping the department store select and develop its sports equipment. As Sports Illustrated noted in a column from 1962: “If the legendary Williams batting eye can't detect a flaw, Sears knows the item is absolutely first-rate.”
Later this year, the Cromleys will also attend the wedding of a player Marlin hosted back in 2002.
“You form relationships with these kids,” Marlin said. “And those connections so often stay well beyond the two weeks of [the World Series tournament].”
The capstone of the Cromley’s connection to baseball came in 1999, when Marlin proposed to Brenda in Cooperstown, on a bench outside the Otesaga Hotel, overlooking Lake Otsego.
“We met through baseball and I thought, ‘what better place to propose than Cooperstown?’”
Isabelle Minasian was the digital content specialist at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Related Hall of Famers
To the topRelated Stories
To the top
#GoingDeep: Ted Williams Heads Back to War

Ted Williams made big league debut in front of 11 Hall of Famers

Ted Williams goes 6-for-8 in doubleheader to finish season at .406
