Batting .400 — Baseball Bench Coach

The All-Star Game festivities culminate tomorrow night with the “big game”. I don’t know about you, but for me the game has lost its luster over the years. It used to be a time to see the big name players and other stars who weren’t always in the national spotlight compete hard for the honor of their respective Leagues. Great hitters like Minnesota’s Rod Carew and San Diego’s Tony Gwynn come to mind. Tomorrow night I must say that I’m excited to see one NL starter in particular who clearly doesn’t get his rightful attention, second baseman Luis Arraez of the Miami Marlins.

Why Arraez? In case you haven’t checked the batting standings, Arraez, last year’s AL batting champion, is hitting .383 at the All-Star Break, around 50 points better than any player in either League. He is one of the first players in years who is knocking on the door of the coveted .400 batting average season. Forty-two players in MLB history have reached the mark. Five players have done it in three separate seasons. But here’s the kicker – Ted Williams in 1941 is the last MLB player to bat over .400! Many say that with the advent of specialized relief pitchers, .400 is an untouchable mark. There have been a couple players in the last few decades who have come close. And maybe, just maybe, the remarkable Arreaz can cross the line this season.

You can name almost any batting record and find Ty Cobb at the top or near the top of the list. He is actually credited with setting 90 MLB records in his 24-year career (1905-1928). Among them, he has the highest career batting average of .366, attained 4,189 hits, achieved a record 12 batting titles, and stole home for a record 54 times. In 1999, the Sporting News ranked Cobb third on the list of “Baseball’s Greatest Players”. His three seasons of reaching the .400 mark (1911, 1912, and 1922) might be his most remarkable achievement. His great baseball career though was tarnished with allegations of racism and violence.

A cloud also hangs over the career of another gifted hitter from that era, Shoeless Joe Jackson. Jackson will forever be tied to the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, but you must admire his hitting prowess. He maintained a .356 career batting average, the fourth highest in MLB history. No one has ever made a bigger splash into the Big Leagues as Shoeless Joe. In 1911, considered his rookie season, he batted .408 for the Cleveland Naps. Jackson was also named a member of “Baseball’s Greatest Players”.

Most often when I think of .400 hitters, Ted Williams, the last MLB player to do so, is top of mind. While he too is a controversial figure in MLB history, his numerous records stand out – lifetime .344 batting average; two-time AL MVP award winner; 6-time AL batting champ; and a 19-time All-Star in his 22 year career with the Boston Red Sox. My Dad would often tell me that Williams’ batting superiority was due to his being able to see the seams of the baseball as it came to the plate. Willams’ two most prominent achievements include winning the AL Triple Crown in two seasons, and yes of course, his .406 average during the 1941 season.

Some notable, more recent players have flirted with .400 averages but not quite gotten over the top. One of the best hitters in my lifetime, Tony Gwynn, stands out. In his 20-year career with the Padres (1982-2001), Gwynn won eight batting titles and maintained a career .338 batting average. Incredibly, he never batted below .309 during a season. Tony came up as more of a spray hitter to the opposite field, but credits a meeting with Ted Williams as a turning point for pulling the ball more and exhibiting more power. In the strike-shortened season of 1994, Gwynn flirted with .400 most of the campaign before ending the season at .394. So close.

George Brett is another. Brett played for 21 seasons with the Kansas City Royals (1973-1993). He is the only player in MLB history to win a batting title in three separate decades, and is one of five players to garner 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, and over a .300 career batting average (.305). Brett might be best known for charging the home plate umpire after he was ruled out for a pine tar violation in a game against the Yankees. I like to think of him as that 1980 AL MVP who batted .390, the modern record for third basemen. In the 1980 season he was above .400 as late as September 19th, before falling short of the mark.

When I was growing up, only when the Minnesota Twins appeared on the Saturday Afternoon Game of the Week did I get to see second baseman Rod Carew play in the regular season. I loved every minute. Carew won seven AL batting titles in his 19-year career (1967-1985), second only to Ty Cobb. He was what we lack in the game today, a pure contact hitter. Carew put the ball in play, almost every at bat. In 1977 he led the AL in hits, an eye-popping 239, and brought home the AL MVP award with an oh so close .388 batting average. In 2016 the AL batting title was renamed the Rod Carew American League Batting Title.

Luis Arraez is the modern day Carew. He is just 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and plays second base. Last year he too starred for the Twins, and crazily, was traded to the Marlins in the offseason after having won the AL batting championship. Arraez plays his home games in a near empty Miami ballpark. For the first half of this season, he has gone over and under the .400 mark several times. In June he had three 5-hit games, tieing a mark set by Ty Cobb and two other MLB players. Do what you can over the next three months to see a Marlins game and Arraez at the plate. It is a real treat.

Enjoy the All-Star Game tomorrow night. Let the stars shine, especially Luis Arraez!

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach