Hitting .400

I'm gonna take the "road less traveled" and say that I believe "it's only a matter of time before someone breaks the .400 plateau again."

I know that defensive players are better than ever and we play in the era of "pitching specialization." Those factors and smaller parks certainly won't make the task an easy one. But, hitters are working harder than ever, many are students of video analysis, erect/buy their own personal batting cages/pitching machines, and are honing those mechanics "year around."

Furthermore, I'm going way out on a limb and predicting that there is at least a 50/50 chance that he will hit from the Right side!

The pressure today with the intense media following I think will make it only harder. I do believe that it is only a matter of time. Just like all records its only a matter of time. Now, how long who knows? I believe it will be an Ichiro type of guy. Someone who not only is a great hitter but a guy who can reach in many different ways. That player may not even be born yet who knows. But I believe it will happen.

The belief in that it might happen is why we all love the game.

Gotta wonder if the guy to do it will play the last two games or sit out? lol

I belive that the 400 mark and the 56 game hitting streak may never be reached again--it is tough when a hitter, no matter how good he is, faces three to four pitchers a game in every game--nobody faces a tired pitcher anymore

I would say that the 56 game hitting streak is a lot less reachable than the 400 mark. I remember a while back when Luis Castillo got into the 30's maybe and that was getting a lot of press. He was barely over half way there. That isn't to say that both aren't extremely difficult.

An interesting stat would be say, in the last 10 years, how many hitters have hit over .375 compared to how many hitters have had hitting streaks over 30 games. It would be interesting to see and I would assume that there would be more over .375 than over 30 game hitting streaks.

Any record is breakable. With some there's a high degree of improbablity. Travel, todays pitching trends and media pressure are reasons hitting .400 is improbable today. Also most hitters strike out too much to get the ten extra cheap hits that would be needed on top of hitting .380.

The most unlikely record to be broken is 511 wins. Winning twenty games a year for twenty-five years wouldn't be enough. While returning to a four man rotation is always possible, I really doubt any pitcher will ever have 800+ career starts. What you don't hear about is Cy Young is also the all time leader in losses.

Putting limits on any endeavor, athletic or otherwise, is self defeating. It makes no sense. I'm sure many people told Jim Abbott he would never make the majors and if he had listened to them ...

Some day a Tiger or Michael will come along and light it up in baseball.

Will White threw 75 complete games and 680 innings in 1879. Old Hoss Radbourn recorded 60 wins in 1884.

I think the .400 mark will be attained probably within 20 years. Actually in 1994, Tony Gwynn was hitting .394 and on fire at the time of the strike. He was in his prime as a hitter and I honestly think he might have done it that year.

Coach May, I have to disagree that it will be an Ichiro type simply because he doesn't take enough walks and this causes him to have to do it over a period of 680 to 710 official AB's in a full season whereas a guy who takes at least 80 or more BB's a season has many less official AB's to have to maintain the high average. Also anyone who walks 20-40 times a season is often reaching for the first ball he can put in play and this is not condusive to hitting .400 especially without tremendous speed. If Mauer wasn't a catcher I think he is exactly the type that could hit .400

Actually if you look at the records since the 1940's, 30 game hitting streaks are much more common than .375 hitters with only T. Williams(twice), Musial(once), Carew(once), Brett (once) Walker(once), Gwynn(once)attaining .375 or higher. I may have left someone out but this was off the top of my head. There have been more than a dozen 30 plus game streaks. However there has only been one streak in the 40's since Dimaggio and that was Pete Rose with 44.

JH
Those type records will never be broken because baseball was a different game even from what existed in the early 1900's much less now.

"Lou Gehrig's record of 2130 consecutive games will never be broken. It was a different time."

Vin Scully, 1979

"I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done."

Henry Ford

Actually .400 is not a record, only a benchmark. The "modern" record is considered to be Rogers Hornsby's .424 in 1924.

quote:

Originally posted by J H:
Will White threw 75 complete games and 680 innings in 1879. Old Hoss Radbourn recorded 60 wins in 1884.

Not unlike today's softball pitchers. Until 1884, baseball pitchers were required to throw underhand. Radbourn continued to throw underhand until his career ended in 1890.

quote:

Originally posted by Three Bagger:

Actually if you look at the records since the 1940's, 30 game hitting streaks are much more common than .375 hitters with only T. Williams(twice), Musial(once), Carew(once), Brett (once) Walker(once), Gwynn(once)attaining .375 or higher. I may have left someone out but this was off the top of my head.

Bagger, this was off the top of your head? Good Lordy, you're one smart cookie! lol

One illustration of how hard DiMaggio's 56 straight games will be to break is the fact that while there have been hundreds of times as many minor league games as Major league games since the 1880's only two times has that total been surpassed in the minor leagues. Joe Wilhoit in 1919 hit in 69 straight games in the low minors and 18 year old Joe DiMaggio himself in the high minors in 1933 hit in 61 straight games. In case you doubt that there have been that many minor league games just consider that by the late 1940's there were between 45-50 leagues in the minors. That's leagues not teams.

YoungGunDad, I don't know about smart but I have had an interest in baseball history ever since my uncle gave me an old copy of a 1954 Baseball Almanac in 1968 when I was 13 years old.

I think there will be another .400 hitter and I think it will be somebody with the same qualities that Barry Bonds had: high walk rate, lots of HR's and a lefty. I actually think that a good lefty power hitter who has speed and a good eye may be able to do it if they played in Yankee stadium and its 308 feet HR's.

Wade Boggs hit .400 over a 162 game span crossing over two seasons. So it is possible to do at least that. Doing it over a single season would bring the added pressure but with a BA of .420 to .430 heading into the last month it could happen despite the pressure.

George Brett hit .390 over a full season and only needed 5 more hits to do it.

Of course it can be done. And probably will be someday.

The .400 BA and 56 game hitting streak could be broken someday. Difficult but possible...The 511 wins will never ever be broken. That's guarenteed. 0.0% chance it will be broken. Todays pitchers don't pitch enough to do it making it impossible to reach. The only way for 511 to be remotely possible is to revert back to the way pitchers were used in the early 1900s and that's not happening. Unless modern medicine develops injury-free/tire-free arms and players remain healthy and competitive enough to play into their 50s and 60s.

Dad:

I did not know that about Boggs. It is an interesting and probably meaningful stat and puts the discussion in a different context. My answer changes from no to yes. Thanks for letting us know.