so you think you know baseball............

Isn't that the last time a player hit over .400? I think I remember reading about that if that was the last year he did it? But then, who knew back then that nobody would hit over .400 again......

 

yes igloo--no one has done it since. george brett hit .390 in 1980 and in the strike year, tony gwynn hit .394.

 

Teddy Ballgame's .406 was the last. George Brett came close (.390), as did Rod Carew (.388).

It hadn't happened since 1930 (Bill Terry), so it was getting more rare, but it did happen 7 times in the 1920s, so I'm sure no one was thinking "well, that's the last we'll see of that."

 

... and those guys did it with a bigger strike zone. which begs the question - are today's pitchers that much better, or do today's batters really suck?

 

batters suck and the pitchers are diluted to all hell.

 

whats scarier is i think either nap lajoie or rogers hornsby batted .424 once. holy cow thats insane. i know cobb batted over .400 a few times and shoeless joe jackson did it too but .424 is insane bigger strikezone or not.

 

the other answer is lou gehrig won the tc but mickey cochrane won the mvp.

 

I think today's era of specialization hurts batting averages - batters are now facing "fresh" pitchers almost every inning after the 5th or 6th inning these days. Plus, I think today's big money era hurts players motivation a bit. Ty Cobb generally made about 15x what the average man made per year. Teddy Ballgame never made more than $90,000 a year -- a great salary no doubt, 30x what the "average" guy was bringing home. But today the top players are making 500 timesthe average household income. Cash in, and you're on easy street.

 

I don't see how you can compare era's, seriously Lulz. There are so many rule changes and strategies, espeially from back then that it's impossible to compare players. As Axe said, if a pitcher goes past the 5th or 6th ining the hitters are seeing a different pitcher every inning. Not sure there were very many closers back then either. Stadiums are different, how many rules changed? Now they are considering more instant replay. I always believed it's impossible to compare era's. After all, we weren't there, haha.....

 

I still think it's easier to compare baseball players from say the 1920's forward (1901-1919 being the "deadball era") than it is to compare basketball players (who have grown significantly bigger, faster, and more athletic) and football players (not only have they gotten bigger and faster, but the game has clearly moved from a running focus to a passing one).

In a way it's a shame. There are still great hitters and pitchers, but there are some marks we'll never see again (i.e., there will never be another 300-game winner).

 

axe--the math and longevity and wanting to play that long is against anyone winning 300 games. glavine will be the last.

i still think the better players are from before 1965. many greats after that, but the more expansion that happened and other factors - the more open it got in many facets. today's rosters are a joke. john mayberry jr shouldn't be allowed on a mlb bench let alone making over a million dollars a year. he sucks to no end.

ted williams never made more than $90,000 ? wow. he needed a better agent.

 

what 2 teammates hit their 400th homeruns in the same season?

 

but the game has clearly moved from a running focus to a passing one

i think with manning this year it was passing, but a few years ago adrien peterson was a few yrs away from breaking the all-time single season record for rushes. i think it goes back and forth.

 

It was the second-highest salary in the league at that point (behind Joltin' Joe).

 

what 2 teammates hit their 400th homeruns in the same season?
Aaron and Matthews...?

 

Disagree completely. Peterson definitely had a rushing season for the ages, but the rules clearly favor more passing. The number of pass plays per year keeps going up, while running plays decrease.

 

easier to be injured as a rb too axe. acls, mcls, etc. it's harder to be a stud rb than a qb and most rbs don't last more than 4-5 yrs. terrell davis, jamal lewis, priest holmes, larry robinson, etc. above average rbs who crapped out quickly due to injury.

yeah i can see it a pass happy league.

 

no on aaron and matthews. it happened last year believe it or not.

 

Are you sure...?

 

I think I got this one. Konerko and Dunn of the White Sox.