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This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.

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This is Tim Tmaras of Sports Illustrated. My guest is manager Ted Williams of the Washington Senators.

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Ted, with what you've seen of the pitching today, how do you feel you'll do against some of the pitchers now?

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Well, I've got to be perfectly honest and tell you that I've seen some good pitching for sure.

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But I've also seen a lot of pitchers in the last 30 games, which comprises spring training in the season.

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I've seen a lot of pitchers that are pretty hittable.

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And so I think the overall is not that much different one way or another.

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I think that there's pitchers just like when I played that were extra tough,

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and pitchers that I hit against then that were pretty nice.

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And I think the same thing applies today.

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How many players do you feel live up to their potential,

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and how much do you feel a player could improve my intense practice and concentration?

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Well, I think that it's safe to say that the majority of players don't live up to their potential.

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And I think that probably all of such a high percentage would look back after their career is over and say,

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boy, I missed a boat, some more than others, of course.

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And so I think that there's just plenty of players that are not living up to their potential.

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Ted Williams, how do you think you will feel when you step onto the field at Fenway Park for the first time in a foreign uniform?

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Well, I'm going to feel kind of mixed.

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I can assure you one thing, we're going to try to beat them.

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And I have a tremendous amount of friends in New England and Boston,

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and I suppose that maybe some of them might be a little bit doubted to really hear the root for,

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but it will be great to be in Fenway.

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My fondest moments and fondest memories are with Boston,

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and it will just be great to be up there again.

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Your life has been such that your main associations have been with baseball, the military, and fishing.

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In which of these three areas have you found the strongest personal relationships?

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Well, that's a tough question. I really don't know.

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But I think that when everything's said and done,

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that baseball has to be certainly the most important thing that ever happened to me.

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I'm sure that, and probably the thing I enjoy the most, because it just meant everything to me,

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everything that I've seen, everything I've done, everything I've been able to do, including fishing,

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baseball is responsible.

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Well, Ted Williams, I've known you for about 15 years now.

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We've been great friends, and I'm glad to see you back in baseball.

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Thank you very much, Keith. I appreciate that.

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This is Keith Morose of Sports Illustrated.