.400

by Falcon02520

1941. That was the year Ted Williams had a batting average of .406. It is also the last summer that baseball has seen a single season average over .400. Before Ted Williams, this plateau had been reached 27 times in baseball history. Only 13 of the 28 times a player has had a .400 or better average occurred after 1900. This is a collection of 20 players (8 players after 1900) who have reached this mark.

Five out of the 20 players to hit .400 did it more than once; Ed Delahanty (1894, 1895, 1899), George Sisler (1920, 1922), Jesse Burkett (1895, 1896), Rogers Hornsby (1922, 1924, 1925), and Ty Cobb (1911, 1912, 1922). Four of these players had a span of two .400 seasons in a row; Delahanty (1894-1985), Burkett (1895-1896), Rogers Hornsby (1924-1925), and Ty Cobb (1911-1912).

[1] From the late 1800's into the 1920's, a .400 average was like 60 homeruns is to us today; it happens every few years. Ten out of the 28 times a player has reached the .400 plateau, that player didn't even lead the majors in average!!! More than two players hit .400 in the same year six times. Three players hit .400 in 1922, and an astounding five players hit .400 in 1894! This is evidence that the mark was very reachable.

There have been 64 summers of baseball (minus two strikes) played since Ted William's magical season, and we have still yet to see another .400 average. This has proven that the reaching of this mark is now almost impossible. We may never again see a .400 caliber hitter.

Has anyone since Williams come close to reaching this legendary status? Absolutely. In 1977, Rod Carew put up a .388 average; good for fourth since 1942. Fifteen years after he first did it, Ted Williams came close to reaching .400 again! He ended up with a honorable .388 average. The second best average since 1942 came from George Brett in 1980. He posted a mark of .389.

[2] The closest anybody has ever come to hitting .400 since 1941 was eight time batting champ Tony Gwynn. In 1994, Gwynn was at a .393 average and climbing. Then baseball had its infamous strike. Everyone lost something that summer; whether it was losing baseball or revenue or fans. Gwynn lost the biggest oppertunity of all; the chance to reach the best mark a hitter can achieve, .400.

My question is: Will we ever see another .400 average? Certainly we have capable players in today's game; Pujols and Ichiro are examples. But, will anyone ever actually reach that mark?

In my opinion, if anyone ever does (and doesn't cheat, Barry), I will easily say that he is the best hitter in baseball history. In today's game, there are "specailist" to get certain players out. The "intentional walk" stragety is utilized by opposing managers. Players in the game are simply too good, making dominating the sport impossible. If there is one time, in one summer, during one season that we see a .400 hitter, watch closly because you will be watching what legends are made of...

MegECass110AAA-er

352 days ago

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Matthew McConahey once said baseball is the only sport where you can fail seven out of ten times and still be considered a great player. If the player fails six out of ten times, he's ungodly. I don't think anyone will ever reach .400 again. The pitchers are just too good.

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Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

352 days ago

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Just about any cheap sales motivator drags out that quote. But yes, it is true.

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KelsdadAll-Star

352 days ago

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Actually, the "intentional" walk theory will make it easier to reach the mark, not tougher. And the "specialist" rarely works, over the long course of a season the lefty set up guy gives up just as many hits to lefties as righties. Why no one comes close today is the love affair with the homer, as Ralph Kiner said, Homer hitters drive Caddy's and singles hitters take a cab.

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Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

352 days ago

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Unless named Gwynn, Mattingly or Boggs.

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Kwitt11Varsity Captain

352 days ago

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Ichiro's making some pretty good money, isn't he?

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Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

352 days ago

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You mean its not Ichiro's glove that earned that new contract?

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JuTMSY4Hall of Famer

352 days ago

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There is a direct corrolary between salary and home runs...but there are outliers...I like to call these men....good ballplayers...

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JuTMSY4Hall of Famer

352 days ago

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What's really amazing is when Ted was hitting .406, Joe D was hitting in 56 games...and ted still had a better average over that span!...Dimaggio was a great Yankee...the spledid splinter was a great ballplayer...

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JuTMSY4Hall of Famer

352 days ago

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of course, if you ask me, I'll always say Ty Cobb was the best hitter ever... a .366 career average is amazing...even if he was a jackass

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Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

352 days ago

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Slight correction - a RACIST jackass!

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AustinamorosoWaterboy

352 days ago

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Tony Gwynn actually hit .394 in 1994 and George Brett .390 in 1980. The fact that Williams hit .406 in 1941 is amazing indeed, but there isn't a chance in hell he would hit over .400 in today's game. Yes he was a great hitter, maybe the best ever, but with all the match-ups, and the fact that he was a dead-pull hitter, he just wouldn't be able to do it. You see lefty-lefty match-ups so much in today's game, it's ridiculous. I personally think it's bad for the game, but with a game as intricate as baseball, there's really no such thing as over-analyzing. But facing lefties so much, Williams surely wouldn't be able to pull every pitch he swung at. He would try, and hit a weak grounder to second. He would have to change his game, and I'm sure he could, and start using that big wall in left field at Fenway. As far as who can do it in today's game, there's really only one player, and that's Ichiro. And the fact that Ichiro doesn't walk often makes it that much more amazing that he's a career .332 hitter in the US, hitting .352 this season and hit .372 a few years ago. It just goes to show how incredible of a hitter he is, ala Gwynn, who didn't walk either.

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JuTMSY4Hall of Famer

352 days ago

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I don't think Ted Williams would do it today because his head is in a giant cooler...

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BRGJV Squad

352 days ago

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The game has certainly changed, but it could change again. When Babe Ruth hit 29 home runs, it was a new record, then he kept going up anf, finally, a few years later hit 60. That record stood for 34 years, and Maris' record, which only broke it by 1, stood for even longer. But now 60 or 61 home runs is simply a good total, nothing spectacular. Similarly, in the 1950s, people could lead the league in stolen bases with less than 10! Look it up. Perhaps .400 hitters may appear again. It's impossible to predict the future in baseball.

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The oldest manJV Squad

352 days ago

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This is for all you younger individuals that didn't really get to see the old time players that you refer too as the 20-60's. Ted Williams I got to see and got to know on a personal level before the second world war and during it. He and I served together, he as a flier and I served as an intel officer in the navy. Believe me when I tell you Ted could and would have hit .400 again if he hadn't gone into the war for 4 years. As far as hitting .400 today I feel it would be highly likely that he could have hit that against today's pitchers and fielders. The Williams shift didn't stop him and the talent of today's pitching is watered down with so many in the majors that wouldn't have made it earlier.

Ted was in his fifties when he took over as manager of the Washington Senators, and his first day on the job he gave a hitting exhibition in batting practice at the then big A in Anaheim that I can still see in my head. Both teams were standing around the batting cage and Williams was explaining how to hit for average and what part of the plate to look for something to hit. His theories on hitting about percentages in areas on and around the plate have been made into a book. Anyway, he was hitting linedrives all over the place. He would tell the batting practice pitcher to pitch it here or there and then he would just use that Williams swing and drill it into the outfield on straight line. He hit some shots over the fence in dead center field and then to left and right fields. He had the pitcher pitch to the outside and he would drill it over the third base fielders head to between the gaps of the fielders in all the positions. It didn't even look like he was half trying to hit it and it was going all over the place. He did that for the next two games against the Angels. Years later he and I got together in San Diego to do a little fishing in some of the Lakes and I asked him about that incident and he remembered it like it was yesterday. During the war sometimes between his flights and my assignments we would talk baseball and just listening to him and explaining his ideas would fill your head with so many wonders and secrets that it was unexplainable because for him it was the most natural thing to do. Hit a baseball, the hardest thing to do in any sport.

Yes, Ted Williams would have been able to hit .400 in these times, if he hit .331 in his last year at 42 years old almost 20 years after hitting .400 in 1941 and then losting 5 of his most productive years in the service of both the second and korean wars. I watched him hit .406 in 41 and then after the war got to watch him go on and still hit a lifetime batting average of .344. Compared to today's players is no comparison at all. He stands head and shoulders above any and all since and maybe before. Ruth I saw as a kid starting in `1924 and the last time I saw him was in 1932. Ruth like Williams was amazing but that is another story. Ted Williams would have hit over 700 homeruns and driven in at least 500-600 rbi's if he had those 5 years to play back in the forties and early fifties. If he were still able I am sure Ted would love to step into the box and hit a few but after he left baseball and got more involved fishing and wasn't quite the same about his opinions and as you know he was very out spoken about what he felt about todays players and what has happened to the game. Bottom line here is still hitting a baseball and that was something few if any did better than Ted Williams either before or after his playing days.

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

31 days ago

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Ted Williams could do it in todays game, and so could Cobb. Ichiro Will do it, and I don,t understand why you think a 4.00 ERA For an average pitcher is better than 3.20 for an average pitcher

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

31 days ago

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60 Home Runs is still a big deal. Just because Barry, Sammy and Mac cheat to get the goal, doesn't mean it isn't a big deal. Play has improved, not gone down. Willie Mays probably could have hit .430 with 72 home runs playing in the conditions of these days and at a good ball park.

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