“I’d just rather live in Memphis, that’s all.” Throughout an illustrious major league baseball career filled with honors, awards, and World Series victories with the New York Giants, William “Memphis Bill” Terry’s heart was always in Tennessee. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York, in 1954, Terry was the first player in the National League to receive a plaque as its Most Valuable Player, which he did in 1930, the year he led the league in batting with a .401 average. In fact, he’s the last National League player to top the .400 mark. Terry’s association with the state of Tennessee came when he was employed by the Standard Oil Company in Memphis and played for that firm with one of the best employee-manned semipro baseball teams ever in this state. Although he pitched for that team, when he subsequently left Memphis for New York, Terry showed such promise as a hitter that the Giants moved him to first base, where he remained for the rest of his career. By any account, his string of ten straight years batting over .300 is remarkable. Throughout his twenty-two years as a Giant, Terry appeared in three World Series as a player and then lead his team to three pennants and one World Series as a manager. Though his legend was made with the New York Giants, Tennessee proudly claims “Memphis Bill” as a member of our hall of fame family.
