Statistics and Probability questions and answers. July 5, 2002 vs. BAL 3 AB, 1 H, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB. One of our favorite websites, Baseball in Wartime, has put together the best biographies on every player who served. MVP Season 142 Runs, 38 HRs, 123 RBIs, 156 BBs, 343 TBs, .342 BA (1946) 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). Williams then attended gunnery training at Jacksonville where he once again set gunnery records. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Back with the Red Sox in 1946, Williams hit the first spring training pitch he saw for a home run on February 26 and then led the team to the World Series. 'Ted Williams was the best pure hitter I ever saw,' Mays said. Answer (1 of 12): Tony Gwynn was a huge fan of Ted Williams and would pick his head for anything that could improve his hitting. Credit: AP. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. 2. Between games, the 41-year-old Grove was honored before taking the mound to start the nightcap. Ed Delahanty, 5. Rather than sitting out one or both of the final two games of the season to protect his .400 average, the precocious slugger put it on the line and went 6-for-8 to secure his place in history. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? 8,629th in major league history) Copyright 1999- 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. He had a . Williams was 20 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 20, 1939, with the Boston Red Sox. Top 10 HIghest Batting Averages Since 1941. 1. 9 - Ted Williams had his number "9" formally retired by the Boston Red Sox on May 29, 1984, the first player in team history to receive the honor and one of two numbers they retired that same day - the other being #4, for Joe Cronin. Most baseball fans know that Ted's last season was 1960 when he famously hit a home run in the last at bat of his legendary career. The aging Red Sox star saw his average fall below .400 for the final time on June 6, and his .295 average in June remarkably was his lowest of any month that season. But instead he chose to play, hitting 6 for 8 in the games, and finished the season at .406. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Standard Batting; Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards; 1936: 17: BOS-min: AA: 42: 107: 107: 18: 29: 8: 2: 0: 11: 2 . In 1958, the year Kubek played with him in the All-Star game, he won his sixth American League batting championship. Williams led off, hitting a grounder to second that was booted by Crash Davis for an error. In 1941, he had the highest batting average of his career when he hit for .406. 20 - Ted Williams opened a Hitters Hall of Fame in Hernando, Florida in 1994, selecting the top twenty all-time hitters using his own "secret formula" which he stated was a combination of on base percentage and slugging average. For three hours. Last day at .400: July 11How short was he? var pfHeaderImgUrl = '';var pfHeaderTagline = '';var pfdisableClickToDel = 0;var pfHideImages = 0;var pfImageDisplayStyle = 'right';var pfDisablePDF = 0;var pfDisableEmail = 0;var pfDisablePrint = 0;var pfCustomCSS = 'https://www.baseball-almanac.com/css/print.css';var pfBtVersion='2';(function(){var js,pf;pf=document.createElement('script');pf.type='text/javascript';pf.src='//cdn.printfriendly.com/printfriendly.js';document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(pf)})(); Did you know that Ted Williams and Andre Dawson are the only two Major League ballplayers to have hit a home run off a father/son pitching duo? When his classification was changed to 1-A following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he made an appeal to his draft board which was upheld. For the casual baseball fan, you may unfortunately remember George Brett best fromwhen he went bonkers during the pine tar game. Aside from that, the career-long Kansas City Royal was one of the best hitters in baseball through the 1970s and 80s, taking the proverbial baton from Carew. He also had an incredible 2,654 hits, which ranks him 11th on the all-time list. Following the 1942 season, which produced his first Triple Crown (.356, 36 HR, 137 RBIs), he joined the V-5 program with a view to becoming a Naval Aviator. 18 - Ted Williams was the eighteenth player in Major League history to end his career, during his last at-bat, with a home run, joining the "club" on September 28, 1960, with some assistance from the opposing pitcher, Jack Fisher. We'll never know how many total at-bats Gwynn would have ended up with if his 1994 season had gone to completion, but he would have needed just three more hits to finish at .400 during his strike-shortened campaign.2. The runner-up in our five-part series documenting the best years of Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams brings us to his 1941 season. The Splendid Splinter led the league in walks eight times. Ted Williams is widely regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, and there is no way to argue with that. Williams was batting cleanup, his customary spot in the lineup during the second half of that season (after generally batting third before the All-Star Game). 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. Lou Gehrig, 5. Ted Williams, 1957: .388 A full 16 years later, Williams proved he had plenty of magic left in his bat in 1957. A left-handed batter, Williams got his start in professional baseball while still a high school senior, playing for the Pacific Coast League's San Diego Padres. Ted went 4-for-5 in the first game [box], bringing his batting average to .404, then went 2-for-3 in the second game [box], ending the season with a .406 batting average, making him the last player to bat over .400 in a season. Note: Ted Williams served in the Armed Forces (WWII & Korea) for almost 5 full seasons during his career, which makes his career stats all the more remarkable. Williams roommate, Wagner, drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single, then shut down the As for a 12-11 victory.). On September 28, 1941, the last day of Major League Baseballs regular season, Boston Red Socks first baseman Ted Williams had six hits in eight at- He becomes the first player in nearly 80 years to hit. Wins Above Replacement 6X (14th All-Time) | On Base Plus Slugging 10X (2nd All-Time) Not saying LH Joe DiMaggio would do better, no way to tell. Helton's average remained at .390 all the way through Sept. 3, but a .284 average over Helton's final 26 games dropped him off the historic pace.Last day at .400: June 10How short was he? Did you know that Ted Williams was actually hitting .401 the day before [box], Red Sox manager Joe Cronin offered him to sit out of the game, Williams refused, went 1-for-4, and had his batting average (before the double header) drop to .3995? Did you know Ted Williams was there at the helm, due to their relocation from D.C. to Arlington, for the last Washington Senators game (September 30, 1971), AND the first Texas Rangers game (April 15, 1972)? despite complaining that the shift cost him 20 to 30 points on his lifetime batting average of . Where what happened yesterday is being preserved today. 454/.655 compared to a .312/.432/.496 line for Williams. 1941 was an iconic year in baseball history, highlighted by the great individual accomplishments of Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees and Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox. 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 . Did you know that Tony Cuccinello (.30845) lost the batting championship in 1945, to Snuffy Stirnweiss (.30854), by .00009 - the closest finish in baseball history? Homer off the blooper pitch . To put it politely, the team didn't have talent like Ted Williams or Jackie Jensen blocking Pearson's path in the outfield. He batted .316 as a 42-year-old in 1960 and his lifetime average of .344 is only topped by Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and Tris Speak. Ted Williams . Ted Williams, 1957: .388 At the age of 38, Williams found out first-hand how hard it is to record a .400 average. Another single: an RBI and a batting average of .405. One of these accomplishments is Ted William's hitting over .400 on the season. He actually led MLB with a .333 batting average the very next season, only playing in 40 games. Cobb, 2. Three Landmarks of baseball achievement are Ty Cobb's batting average of .420 in 1911, Ted Williams's .406 in 1941, and George Brett's .390 in 1980. Ted also led the league in runs (135), walks (147), on-base (.553) and slugging (.735) percentages. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". In 1941, only his third season in the majors, Williams captivated the nation by chasing a .400 season batting average. He was neverbetter than in 1977 though, when he earned his lone AL MVP award. Young Ted Williams, who had turned 23 less than a month earlier, woke up that morning hitting .39955 on the year, just .00045 below the hallowed .400 mark. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. "We were in the same squadron there. In the last three-quarters of a century, no player has had the same kind of consistency needed reach just the .400 plateau, let alone tie Williams' .406.To put it in contemporary terms, think of it this way: If Daniel Murphy, the Majors' current batting average leader at .348, were to finish with 584 at-bats this season (his average over the last three years), he would have to hit roughly .472 (117-for-248) the rest of the way to join Williams in the .400 club. Part of the Baseball Almanac Family, Last-Modified: February 4, 2023 2:34 AM EST, Beerball: A History of St. Louis Baseball, Ted or Teddy or Teddy Ballgame or The Splendid Splinter, Herbert Hoover High School (San Diego, CA). He won 2 MVP awards. And in his 22-year major league career, Williams accomplished things on . As a member of the American League, these achievements have been achieved. Miguel Cabrera currently leads all active players in career batting average with .308, right above both Jose Altuve and Mike Trout. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Williams flew 39 combat missions before being pulled from flight status in June of 1953 after an old ear infection acted up. And yet, despite all those league-leading numbers Williams finished second to DiMaggio for the AL MVP, likely because the Yankees won the pennant by 17 games over the Red Sox and DiMaggio stole the summer with his 56-game hitting streak. 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 1941, he had the highest batting average of his career when he hit for .406. I am going to play ball this season, he announced. The day Ted Williams put his .400 season on the line. Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. Ted Williams. 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 Boston's scheduled doubleheader against the A's, a move that would clinch the first .400 season in 11 years. Williams was also a power hitter, slugging . All Rights Reserved by Baseball Almanac, Inc.Hosted by Hosting 4 Less. Bud still does presentations for groups about Ted Williams but said this year was his final fantasy camp. Interestingly enough, although it has been three-quarters of a century since anybody has hit .400 or better, the top four outputs all happened within a 22-year span, with Carew being the oldest. Albert Pujols ranks 11th with a career batting average of .296 although he is retiring. Mr. Padre saw a batting average of .394 in 1994, actually slumping to end the season as he was above .400 before dropping right below it. Well, it was the year Ted Williams set the record for the highest batting average ever in a MLB season. He had a career batting average of .344, which is the sixth highest in Major League Baseball history. Though Gwynn would not see his average rise above .400 after May 15, he would also not see it dip below .376 after April, suggesting that he was consistent enough to stay in the chase until the very end. Ted Williams had a .344 average over his career. I want to play it all the way. As far as I was concerned, that was it.. "It was something that required a kind of nonstop consistency," Williams said on the 50th anniversary of the feat in 1991. . Ted Williams played 19 seasons for the Red Sox. Luke Appling (94.0% in 1964), 3. The Kid, Teddy Ballgame, Splendid Splinter or Thumper, View Player Bio Ted's batting average was .3996 rounded off by numbers-trackers to .400. We're at 82 years and counting Strikeouts thrown by a pitcher in a . Cobb finished his career with a .366 batting average which is best of all-time. Last day at .400: July 10How short was he? At season's end, Walker stood nine hits shy of history.Last day at .400: May 26How short was he? Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. It does not store any personal data. iUniverse Publishing. Shoeless Joe Jackson, 4. The Splendid Splinter answered when his country called 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. Ted Williams was a legendary hitter who is widely regarded as one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game of baseball. He was right about that and the list of batting champions below, reflects those great hitters who truly dominated during a single season of play. (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum) Williams was 4-for-5 at the plate in the first game raising his batting average to .404. The Red Sox trailed, 11-10, and Mack brought in his third pitcher of the day, Tex Shirley, a 23-year-old right-hander making his fifth appearance. Ted Williams hit .406 with the Boston Red Sox in 1941. . - Batting Champion (1939-1940) Joe DiMaggio in The 100 Greatest American Athletes (Martin Gitlin, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 10/15/2018, They Said It, Page 254), During the 1968 season, Carl Yastrzemski had the lowest batting average that was still high enough to lead the American League. Ted Williams' 0.406 in 1941, and George Brett's 0.390 in 1980. That year, the mean and the standard deviation for batting averages were 0.28062 and 0.03281. . "Ted Williams is in a class by himself this season," said DiMaggio, quoted in . Luke Appling (94.0% in 1964), 3. Highest Batting Average in a Season. Free shipping for many products! Williams, a three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger, hit.344 with 2,654 hits, 521 home runs, and 1,839 runs scored in his career. Ted Williams Batting Average. Did you know that after we heard the audio recording of that historic moment, we immediately created an entire page of research here on Baseball Almanac dedicated to those players who hit a home run in their last at bat? Bergens record-breaking batting average will always be remembered, whereas Cobb will be remembered for his incredible accomplishments and his status as one of the greatest players of all time. Babe Ruth? Ted flew as my wingman on about half the missions he flew in Korea.". The As started 22-year-old Fred Caligiuri, making wanna guess? Part of the Baseball Almanac Family, Current Through End of 2023 Regular Season. Rod Carew, 1977: .388Carew and Williams each batted .388 exactly two decades apart, but we'll start with Carew, who maintained a .400-plus average into July en route to his sixth career batting title. Musial is the best all around hitter.'" 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. During his time in the Major Leagues, Ted Williams hit an impressive 521 home runs and had a career batting average of .344. Born: The 1994 strike interrupted Tony Gwynn's bid to become first player to bat .400 since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941 . He had a .344 batting average, 2,654 hits, 521 home runs, 1,839 RBIs and 1,798 runs scored. That the Red Sox lost, 7-1, in a game called after eight innings because of darkness was secondary. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted . As he crosses home plate, he spits in the direction of the sportswriters. The future Hall of Famer didnt have much, though, giving up three runs in the first in what would be the last inning of his career. 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. Ted Williams career batting statistics for Major League, Minor League, and postseason baseball . The Boston left fielder entered the last game of the season that year with a .3995 batting average. Ty Cobb, 4. Ted Williams was known by the nicknames "Teddy Ballgame . Seven hits shy of .400.T3. On the morning of Sept. 28, 1941, American newspapers headlined the status of Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams" pursuit of a .400 batting average for the season, and these two were typical . LF Ted Williams (1939-1960) . Stan Musial 5. All rights reserved. For hitters though, the home run or bust approach has taken over which has seen a decline in batting averages as a result. Sunday marked the 75th anniversary of the culmination of Joe DiMaggio's record 56-game hitting streak, as the Yankees star went 0-for-3 against Cleveland pitchers Al Smith and Jim Bagby on July 17, 1941.But while Joltin' Joe's record run captured the imagination of the American public, his friendly rival, Ted Williams, may have set an even more untouchable mark when he finished that 1941 season with a .406 average.Consider this: While DiMaggio batted .409 during his streak, Williams actually bested him with a .412 average during that same span.