He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960; his career . It's still only April, but Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday is on pace to tie the highest season batting average since Hall of Famer Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941, becoming the last big leaguer to top the magic .400 barrier. Bergen hit.170 in 3,028 at-bats during his career, his lowest average since his playing career began. We walked for over three hours, and my feet were burning. View Ted Williams's Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos). As well, he was the youngest player in the history of the game to achieve 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 hits. Ted Williams once said it was his goal in life to "walk down . But getting to know him a little later, the quote would be full . Its unfortunate that the shortened-campaign stole a chance at baseball history, but the San Diego Padres Hall-of-Famers .394 in 1994 still stands as the closest anybody has come to the Splendid Splinter after all these decades. As the story goes, Ted Williams entered the final day of the 1941 season with a .400 batting average and a chance to sit out Bostons scheduled doubleheader against the As, a move that would clinch the first .400 season in 11 years. His average was up to .40089. In 1941, he had the highest batting average of his career when he hit for .406. The Kid,Teddy Ballgame,Splendid Splinter,Thumper are nicknames for Ted Williams. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. The jacket has patches showing the wartime duty, Williams' record-setting year with the .406 batting average, and his career average. It is the reason we mentioned those three specific stats up above and to date, Ted Williams remains the only player in the American League to put together two Triple Crown seasons. 22 - Ted Williams was an inaugural inductee into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame, one of twenty-two enshrined in 1995. With the season complete, Williams led the Majors in batting average, on-base percentage (.553), slugging (.735), OPS (1.287), runs (135), home runs (37) and walks (147). The Splendid Splinter posted the highest single-season batting average in the modern era by a player 38 years of age or older -- 10 points higher than 38-year old Ty Cobb's .378 in 1925. Ted Williams impressive career totals are a testament to his skill as a hitter and his legacy as one of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball. Ted Williams remains the last player to finish a season with a .400 average, doing so when he hit .406 in 1941. "If I had known hitting .400 was going to be such a big deal, I would have done it again.". At season's end, Williams was five hits shy of .400 and eight knocks shy of besting his trademark .406.Last day at .400: June 5How short was he? Note: Three point one (3.1) plate appearances per scheduled game are needed to win a Major League batting title and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season. In 1911 he led the AL in runs, hits, RBIs, batting average and slugging percentage and saw 400 hits in a season on three different occasions. Bats/Throws: L/R. . 6' 3" / 205. Average for the last 12 months. Never much of a power hitter, Carew was still one of the most lethal offensive weapons in all of baseball through the late 1960s, all of the 70s, and into the early- and mid-80s. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Five hits shy of .400.T3. Credit: AP. The last player to hit just .400 in the majors was Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, who hit .406 in 1941 before taking the next three seasons off . These batting averapes cannot be compared directly because the distribution of major league batting averages has changed over the years. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. Babe Ruth (95.1% in 1936) AND Honus Wagner (95.1% in 1936), and 1. Did you know that in both of those historic seasons, The Kid did not win the Most Valuable Player Award (losing to Joe Gordon in '42 and Joe DiMaggio in '47)? In 1957, the season in which he turned 39, that .388 average won the batting championship by more than 20 points over Mickey Mantle's career-best .365. Williams was also a power hitter, slugging . "Ted Williams is in a class by himself this season," said DiMaggio, quoted in . Page 128. Walks 8X (4th All-Time) | Runs Created 9X (6th All-Time) Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 4:51 PM ET, Park Factors Walker would win the title the very next year however, but clearly 1997 was the best hitting year for seasonal batting average leaders Tony Gwynn and Larry Walker. But Williams was locked in, leading off the second inning with a single to pull his average back up to .405. Ted also led the league in runs (135), walks (147), on-base (.553) and slugging (.735) percentages. Former Team: Boston Red Sox. If he sat out, he would have been credited with a .400 batting average for the season. Musical hit .376 in 1948 but his success hitting went beyond that. Ted Williams at bat. He retired in 1960 and went on to become manager of the Washington Senators. ", Latest-in-season .400 bids since Ted Williams. Cap Anson, 6. . Last day at .400: July 11How short was he? 'Ted Williams was the best pure hitter I ever saw,' Mays said. Cobb, 2. Ted Williams lost 6 years to military service in the prime of his career. 17 hits shy of .400.T6. Only Robinson Cano and Trea Turner represent the other two of five active players with a career batting average above .300. "If I had known hitting .400 was going to be such a big deal, I would have done it again. By the time Ted Williams retired he had a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and a 0.482 on-base percentage, the highest of all time. And in his 22-year major league career, Williams accomplished things on . The next morning, Sept. 28, Williams and roommate Charlie Wagner, a 28-year-old pitcher, took a cab to the ballpark. Pujols and Cabrera are the only players with five-digit career plate appearances. It is appropriate to place Williams among the greatest hitters of all time, as his career numbers demonstrate his greatness. Teddy Ballgame joined the club first when he went deep off Thornton Lee on September 17, 1939 then his son Don Lee on September 2, 1960. MVP in 1946 and 1949. As a member of the American League, these achievements have been achieved. At season's end, Walker stood nine hits shy of history.Last day at .400: May 26How short was he? In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat, and is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats. Jimmie Foxx), seventh all-time in runs batted in (RBI) (1. . His career was marked by numerous records and accomplishments, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest hitters of all time. When the season is over, I'll get into the Navy as fast as I can.". A piece of the loudspeaker . Ted Williams had 521 home runs over his career. he also finished with two of the most amazing . Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Williams moved from left field to the pitcher's mound during a 12-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Another single: an RBI and a batting average of .405. But more importantly, his average was now at .406593 or .407. Williams joined them and they talked until midnight. He also hit for .388 in 1957, which Rod Carew tied in 1977. Throughout his entire career, Williams batting average never dropped below .300. MVP Season 142 Runs, 38 HRs, 123 RBIs, 156 BBs, 343 TBs, .342 BA (1946) All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Johnny Sain walked the Babe in his one plate appearance as the old time Yankees lost 8-5. vs. BAL 3 AB, 1 H, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB. Join our linker program. True, he only played in 117 games and registered 449 at-bats, but thats still a mighty impressivechunk of the year to be on fire for. His incredible talent and dedication to the game earned him a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966 and secured his legacy as one of the greatest hitters of all time. Ted didnt drink, so from time to time Id run into a bar room to get a drink, and hed wait outside until I got finished, drinking a soft drink. In his first career season with the Boston Red Sox, his batting average was .329. Indeed, Gwynn was heating up, hitting .420 (50-for-119) in his last 30 games before the strike. Here then, are the four batters since No. Ted Williams Batting Average By Year. Though Williams' .406 average was just a footnote in wire-service accounts in 1941, it's status grows more mythical with each passing year. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? He saw 17 seasons in which he hit for over .300 which ranks third-most in the modern era only behind Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker. Your email address will not be published. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Brett finished his career with more than 3,000 hits, 650 doubles, 130 triples, 300 home runs, and 200 stolen bases, to go alone with an elite .305/.369/.487/.857 slash line. hitting catcher has a better batting average and on-base percentage against . Babe Ruth, 48 years old, pinch-hit in the 7th inning and flied out to right, but the all-stars won 9-8 on a Ted Williams home run. In 1936 the 18-year-old posted an impressive .271 batting average on 107 at bats in 42 games for the Padres. inInverness,FL, High School: Herbert Hoover HS (San Diego, CA), Debut: Ty Cobb is considered to be the greatest hitter of all-time, although that point is often argued to this day. But its not quite so simple as a choice between Sit or Play. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Ironically, along with Joe DiMaggios 56-game hitting streak that has stood the test of time since 1941, Boston Red Sox icon Ted Williams .406 average put up that very same year is unsurpassed. It was during this discussion that I asked him, How do you want to handle it? Cronin said. Williams was right to be worried. Bob Feller (93.8% in 1962), 4. Ed Delahanty, 5. To put it politely, the team didn't have talent like Ted Williams or Jackie Jensen blocking Pearson's path in the outfield. 15 hits shy of .400.T6. Williams then attended gunnery training at Jacksonville where he once again set gunnery records. Ted Williams approached batting in a methodical way, he worked out his optimal strike zone where the odds were in his favour and he maintained the discipline to only swing if the ball was in that zone. The Splendid Splinter answered when his country called According to Baseball-Reference, Bill Bergen has the worst career batting average in terms of points. All Rights Reserved by Baseball Almanac, Inc.Hosted by Hosting 4 Less. . In 1941, he had the highest batting average of his career when he hit for .406. Hornsby's .424 batting average in . All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. He flied out to left to finish 2-for-3, his average settling at .406 or .405701, rounded up. Rather than ruminate in his hotel room that night, Williams and Red Sox equipment manager Johnny Orlando who had bestowed The Kid nickname on Williams when he arrived at his first Spring Training went out for a walk. Bill Bergen, who played from 1901 to 1911, holds the record for the lowest career batting average for a player with more than 2,500 at-bats. Ted Williams, who has a lengthy career that spans two decades, is widely regarded as one of the greatest hitters in history. "I never thought of it as going 2-for-5 every day, but that's what it adds up to. despite complaining that the shift cost him 20 to 30 points on his lifetime batting average of . Williams being sworn into the U.S. Navy Reserve on May 22, 1942. Say what you want about Walker playing in the steroid era and playing the majority of his games in notoriously hitter-friendly Coors Field, but the Canadian could straight up rake (and run). But while he won the American League batting title by a whopping 47 points that year, his efforts fell short in the league's Most Valuable Player Award voting. Ted Williams is widely recognized as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. Ted Williams served as a Naval Aviator during World War II and the Korean War. During his 24-year career, he compiled a .366 batting average, which is the highest in Major League Baseball history. Foxx, 5. by Retrosheet. His season . The highest batting average ever recorded was by Ted Williams in 1941 when he hit .406. Ruth, 2. Average hits per week: 6.7 Extra hits needed per week: 0.2 T3. Thanks to the MLB strike of 1994, we never got the chance to see if the late Tony Gwynncould reach .400 that year. Ironically, along with Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak that has stood the test of time since 1941, Boston Red Sox icon Ted Williams' .406 average put up that very same year is unsurpassed. For WWII, 4 years - 1942-1945; for the Korean War, he effectively lost 1952 and 1953. . Or write about sports? 1941 is a very important year for baseball fans. (Sunday was also scheduled to be Lefty Grove Day as Philadelphia feted the 41-year-old Red Sox hurler who had spent his first nine seasons with the Athletics. In addition to his .406 batting averageno major league player since Williams has hit .400the left fielder led the big leagues with 37 homers, 135 runs and a slugging average of .735. He then returned to Pensacola where he served as an instructor with the United States Marine Corps Reserve at Bronson Field. .406 Batting Average (1941) | .388 Batting Average (1957) . Last day at .400: July 10How short was he? The now-70 year-old posted career-highs in pretty much every offensive category and led the league too, in runs scored (128), hits (239), triples (16), batting average (.388), on-base percentage (.449), and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.019). He won three National League batting titles, hit .350 or higher four times (in five seasons,mind you), and won the 1997 NL MVP. Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and . Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941, going 6-for-8 on the season's last day to raise his average from .3995. Ted Williams once commented about those that fail 'only' seven times out of ten attempts will be the greatest in the game. The next four months were spent in the Preflight School at Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he turned out in the spring for the Chapel Hill Cloudbusters baseball team, featuring Pesky, Harry Craft, Buddy Hassett and Johnny Sain. He won 2 MVP awards. He was the last player to hit .400 in Major . Do you have a blog? In 1941, only his third season in the majors, Williams captivated the nation by chasing a .400 season batting average. He led the American League in batting average six times and is one of only three players to hit over .400 in a single season with a .406 average . and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. update=copyright.getFullYear(); Did you know that Christian Yelich was the first Milwaukee Brewers player to win a batting title? MVP Season 150 Runs, 43 HRs, 159 RBIs, 162 BBs, 368 TBs, .343 BA (1949), Official Site for "The Splendid Splinter", MLB Hall Of Famer Ted Williams #9. The day Ted Williams put his .400 season on the line. Williams had one more at-bat coming, in the ninth. ), Latest-in-season .400 bids since Ted Williams. However, the press and the fans were not happy and he enlisted in the Navy on May 22, 1942. Ted Williams had done it. In 1977 Carew played in 85 total games and is the only player to have multiple league-leading batting average seasons with over 85 games played. The ride out was quiet, Wagner said. No other player has crossed the .400 line in a season since then, and probably never will. Ted wanted to play in the worst way.. Carew saw his average drop to .374 on Aug. 26, but the eventual American League MVP made one last run, batting .441 over his final 31 games to finish seven hits shy of .400. (Age 20-233d, Ted Williams was born on Friday, August 30, 1918, in San Diego, California. Why? Posting at least a .400 batting average across a full Major League Baseball season remains one of the most difficult tasks in the game.