Ted Williams Receives Pacemaker

Nov. 7 -- Former Boston Red Sox great Ted Williams is in good condition this morning after getting a heart pacemaker.

The 82-year-old underwent the hour-long operation Monday at the University of Florida’s Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla., near his home in Hernando, according to TheBoston Globe.

“He did great. It went very smoothly and quickly,” said Dr.Anne Curtis, who performed the surgery.

Williams has been hospitalized since Halloween with congestive heart failure, and the surgery had been expected to be performed today.

“The problem lately has been that Mr. Williams had a rapidheartbeat. That can lead to deterioration in the heart function,and we had to slow it down. We implanted a single chamberpacemaker,” Curtis told the Globe.

The pacemaker keeps the heartbeat at the desired level.

Hitter Didn’t Expect Surgery

Williams told the the Globe on Saturday he was “feeling pretty good” and didn’t need a pacemaker.

But the newspaper reported Monday that doctors strongly recommended to Williams’ son, John Henry, that his father receive a pacemaker to control his heart rate.

Surgery or not, the “Splendid Splinter” told the Globe he was not expecting his hospital stay to keep him from voting today.

“Who do you think is going to win?” Williams said. “I’m going to vote, don’t you worry about that. It’s the most important thing going on in the world right now.”

Invited to Spring Training

Williams suffered two strokes in the 1990s, the last one in 1994. His vision was considerably impaired by the strokes and he has had an increased heart rate and high blood pressure in recent years. He had difficulty breathing three months ago and was treated at the same hospital.

Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette said the team is following Williams’ condition closely and has been in contact with the hospital. Williams spent all of his 19 years in the majors with the Red Sox.