Post #400 Dedicated to the .400 hitters club

I started this blog a little over three years ago.   Is hard to believe that this is my 400 post.   For someone who never liked writing  in High School or College, well that is something.  It still does not come easy to me, but baseball & the Dodgers are my love so I keep pecking away at the keyboard. 

I looked up the names of players that have hit .400.  There have been only 28!

 In the 19th century there were 19 hitters with a batting average of .400 or better. 

Tip O’Neill  .485    1887 

Pete Browning .457    1887

Bob Caruthers  .456    1887

Hugh Duffy  .440    1894

Yank Robinson  .427    1887

Willie Keeler  .424    1897

Cap Anson  .421    1887

Dan Brouthers  .420    1887

Denny Lyons  .415    1887

Sam Thompson  .414    1894

Fred Dunlap  .412    1884

Reddy Mack  .410    1887

Ed Delahanty(3)  .410    1899.    .404    1895,    .404    1894

Jesse Burkett (2)  .410    1896,    .405    1895

Oyster Burns    .409    1887

Sam Thompson  .407    1887

Ross Barnes  .404    1876

Billy Hamilton   .403    1894

Hughie Jennings.    .401    1896

Note that in 1887, when a player was awarded a walk, he was also awarded a hit in his official statistics.

In the 20th century only eight hitters have hit .400 or better.

Only three players have batted over .400 three times in their career.  Ed Delahanty(19th century), Ty Cobb & Rogers Hornsby> 

Ted William being the last one in 1941 prompted this quote from him:

“I hope somebody hits .400 soon. Then people can start pestering that guy with questions about the last guy to hit .400.” – Ted Williams. in Baseball’s Greatest Quotations (Paul Dickson, Collins Publishers, 10/2008, Page 348)

 Is the  .400 club extinct now?   It has been 71 years since Ted Williams did it in 1941. 

The closest anyone has come to hitting .400 in a season was Tony Gwynn who hit .394 in the strike-shortened 1994. 

So here’s to all the hitters in the .400 club! cheers!

Since there was no Dodger on the list, I just had to look who holds the Dodger record for highest batting average.   Well it is Babe Herman in 1930 with a batting average of .393.  He also has the second highest at .391 in 1929.   Mike Piazza’s .362 in 1997 ranks 8th.