The man I am going to write about today didn't win the League MVP award that season, nor did his team even make the playoffs. What he did do is something that still hasn't been done since he did it in 1941. At the age of 22, Ted Williams did something that to this day is so remarkable that I really don't think that this could ever be done again. He was the last player to hit the elusive .400! In fact it was .406! For those of you that never heard the story, going into the last day of the regular season Williams' average was sitting at .39955, which of course rounds up to .400. He was asked if he wanted to sit the doubleheader and get his name stitched with the .400 mark but he said, "No, I want to play!". Well anyhow, he went 6 for 8 for the day and finished with a .406 average. As I mentioned earlier he didn't win the AL MVP Award that season which went to Joe DiMaggio, though it is hard to see how. Williams led the league also in homeruns, runs scored, and slugging percentage; missing the Triple Crown by 5 RBI to Joe D. DiMaggio and the New York Yankees did win the Pennant that year while the Red Sox finished in second, but Williams was unstoppable against the Bronx Bombers that year hitting .471 in 22 games. Also, his .553 on-base-percentage was the best ever until Barry Bonds broke it in 2004. This in my opinion is such a great season that it was difficult for me to keep this out of the top 10. There will never ever be a hitter like Williams, that's what made him so special!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment