TSN Archives: Ted Williams, 22 atlanta braves jersey custom , hits .406 for Red Sox (Nov. 20, 1941)

This story, by Hall of Famer writer Dan Daniel, first appeared in the Nov. 20, 1941, issue of The Sporting News, shortly after Boston icon Ted Williams, at 22, batted .406 for the Red Sox. Under the headline "Nearly Too Good To Be True • Some Famous Few • In Fabulous .400s," Daniel chronicled the players who had hit .400 and speculated about who might be the next to do accomplish the feat. It’s been 81 years, and we’re still waiting.

IN ACHIEVING the major league batting championship of 1941 with an average of .406, Theodore Samuel Williams of the atlanta braves jersey mens medium Boston Red Sox and San Diego, Calif., turned in a classic performance, which had not been matched in his circuit since 1923, when Harry Heilmann of the Tigers hit .403, and in the Big Time since 1930, when Bill Terry reached the .401 level for the Giants. 

To hit .400 is the ambition of every major leaguer who owns any pretensions to outstanding skill. Confront a star with this question: "Which of the three power titles would you rather have the runs driven in, the homers, or the batting laurels at .400?" and he would reply, without hesitation, that he would choose the distinction which today belongs to Williams.

At first blush, hitting .400 seems unattainable. When you consider how severe is the task for the majority of major league hitters in striving for the .300 mark, you appreciate that .400 is something to attain only after an arduous climb to the Matterhorn peak — if a player has power, physique, fortitude, luck, stick-to-itiveness, proper environment, and gameness. And he must get the breaks. Investigation proves that while .400 is fabulous, that average really has been accomplished no fewer than 30 times in the major leagues as we know them today. If you wish to include the old American Association, which was the National League's running mate in the days when grandpa was a boy, the total is 41. The trick was accomplished 11 times in that loop of the eighties.

National League Has Seen Figure Reached 21 Times

IN THE National League, from Ross Barnes in the circuit's first season of 1876, to Terry in 1939, the .400 level has been gained 21 times. Williams is only the ninth hitter to make that figure in the American League — the ninth .400 entry and the sixth individual. For Ty Cobb accomplished the feat thrice, and George Sisler twice.

Yes, we DID say thrice! Tyrus, the Georgia Peach, started on his little series of charges among the Four Hundred in 1911, with a neat .420. In 1912, he suffered a terrific slump, and hit a measly .410. Ten seasons rolled along, and in 1922, the now-no-longer callow and youthful, but yet fiery, Ty came through with .401.

That third entry among the Four Hundred always gets a rise out of John Kieran, who, in 1922, was the official scorer for the Yankees, and who now is the eminent sports columnist of the New York Times, and walking encyclopedia and poetry rememberer of "Information, Please" radio feature.

After the 1922 season had closed one of Kieran's scores came in for a second scrutiny by Ban Johnson, president of the American League, who had been informed that John had neglected to score a hit for Cobb and had given someone on the New York club an error, instead. The day was rainy, Kieran had left the unprotected Polo Grounds press box and had gone on hearsay, Johnson said.

By making it a hit, Johnson landed Cobb among the .400 a third time. Kieran protested. He carried his case into the meeting of the Baseball Writers' Association. But, as he still shouts, there was political skullduggery afoot, and Kieran failed to get the Association's vote of confidence.

Burkett, Cobb, Hornsby — Three-Time Repeaters

IN BATTING .400 three seasons, Cobb did what atlanta braves world series t shirts only one major leaguer before him had achieved, and what only one since 1922 has accomplished. Jess Burkett hit .423 in 1895 for Cleveland in the National League. He hit .410 the next season, and in 1899, for St. Louis, he batted .402.

Rogers Hornsby, later Cardinal hero, was the third slugger to gain the triple Four Hundred distinction. He reached that figure first in 1922, with .401. Note, please, that the ’22 season produced no fewer than three .400 hitters — Hornsby, George Sisler of the Browns, who won the American League title with .420, and the .401 Cobb. That year perhaps marked the height of the lively era of the jackrabbit ball. But, in justice to Rog, George and Ty, it also marked the high level of batting achievement in the majors by three types whom the big circuits never again may see in action in one season.

Hornsby broke into the Four Hundred a second time in 1924, with an incredible .424, and in 1925, he hit .403.

It should interest Williams and his rivals in the American League that every one of the three hitters who accomplished the .400 average thrice had two successive seasons in which they attained that mark — Burkett in 1895 and 1896, Cobb in 1911 and 1912, and Hornsby in 1924 and 1925.

Four batters arrived among the Four Hundred aristocracy twice — Cap Anson, with the old Chicago Nationals, .407 in 1879 and .421 in 1881; Ed Delahanty of the Phillies, .400 in 1894 and .408 in 1899; Sisler with the Browns, .407 in 1920 and .420 in 1922; Harry Stovey, Athletics in the Association, .404 in 1884 and .402 in 1887, and Sam Thompson, for Detroit in the National League, .406 in 1887 and .403 in 1894.

You will note that while those who thrice batted .400 or bet atlanta braves jersey youth riley ter were able to hit the target twice in succession, those who achieved the feat just twice could not repeat in straight years.

It is sweet satisfaction to hit .400. It is a noble distinction to win a major league title with any average, but thrice noble to scale the .400 heights for the championship. But how would you like to fight into the .400 class and then discover, to your chagrin and dismay, that you were beaten for the league laurels?

This strange — yes, it could be harrowing — experience befell a player for the first time in 1887, with good old Dan Brouthers of Detroit as the victim, and it was to happen again to Sam Thompson and Ed Delahanty in 1894, Fred Clarke in 1897, JessMLB Jackets Burkett in 1899, to Joe Jackson when he was with Cleveland in 1911, and to Ty Cobb in 1922.

Talk about Pete Reiser of the Dodgers winning the National League batting championship as a rookie this year — how about Jackson hitting .408 In his first season in the American League? Joe came up wit atlanta braves jersey kids boys h the Indians late in 1910 and played only 20 games with them. But in 1911 the South Carolinian gave Cobb all kinds of trouble, hitting only a dozen points behind Ty's .420.

Cobb now admits that it was not his bat, not his speed, not his eye, which beat Jackson for the 1911 championship. Jackson was a raw, uncouth, uneducated lad of 23. Cobb was a glib, slick, smart bird with a ready tongue, a quick wit.

Ty saw he had more than a worthy rival in Shoeless Joe from the seething metropolis of Brandon Mill, S.C. Cobb recognized that in Jackson the Indians had a batting genius. So Tyrus went to work on Jackson. He flattered Joe. He told him he was a wonder. But Cobb did it in a patronizing way.

Ty said, in effect: "Jackson, you are a great hitter. But don't get too confident. I like you and I want to steer you right. I, too, am from Dixie. I, too, came up from the sticks, and I want to give you the benefit of my experience. Don't let overconfidence ruin you. Don't start too high and then skid. I don't mind showing you a few tricks with the bat."

Ty Cobb built up in Jackson a feeling that this man with the Tigers was the greatest hitter in the history of baseball — which very likely he was Stephen Strasburg Nationals Jerseys — but more to the point, INVINCIBLE.

As Jackson, despite an inferiority complex, would not be shaken off, Cobb resorted to sarcasm, then to downright riding.

In 1887, Dan Brothers, from Wappingers Falls, N.Y., hit .419 for Detroit, but Cap Anson batted .421. How is that for a batting race? And in 1899, Jess Burkett, from Worcester, Mass.. batting .402 for St. Louis, found that he had been outdone by Ed Delahanty's .408 for the Phillies. Fred Clarke of Louisville, hit .400 in 1897, but Willie Keeler’s .432 for the Baltimore Orioles distanced the future Pirate skipper.

The golden era of the Four Hundred stretched from 1894 through 1899, with a break in the Spanish War season of 1898. The batting feats accomplished in this skein of half a dozen seasons is incredible.

In 1893, Hugh Duffy of the Boston Nationals hit .378. High enough. But not so exceptional for Duffy, as he was about to do something downright astonishing. In 1894, Duffy set the major high with .438. This was the first big reDooney & Bourke action from the important changes in the rules for 18 atlanta braves gear 93. The pitching distance had been increased that year from 50 feet to the present 60 feet, six inches. Thompson, runnerup, batted .423 and Delahanty hit .400.

In 1895, Burkett hit .423 and in 1896, he batted .410. The 1897 season produced Keeler's startling .432

Just imagine — four straight years in which the batting champion of the National League hit better than .400. Add to this Clarke's .406 in 1897. Whew!

In 1898, Keeler won the National title with .379, but in 1899 the championship figCarlos Rodon Giants Jerseys ht once more produced a Four Hundred star — Ed Delahanty, with his .408. The 1900 season saw batting in the National League move into a more normal channel. Honus Wagner hit .380. The pitching began to get stronger. And in 1901, the entry of the American League made competition keener, and helped to develop the hurling to dizzy heights of skill. Larry Mike Trout Angels Jerseys Lajoie won the title in the American League that season, with a mark of .405.

What does a man have to do to hit .400? Let us examine Ted Williams' record for 1941. It is as follows: Games 143, at-bats 456, hits 185, runs 135, home runs 37, triples three, doubles 31. average .406, runs batted in 120, stolen bases two.

Ted was out of competition for a while with a bad foot. He suffered the injury way back in March at the Sarasota, Fla., training camp of the Red Sox. But for this handicap, Ted doubtless would have been even more effective. He played many a game while the injury yet hampered him.

Let us run back, at random, to another .400 performance. Let's take Rogers Hornsby's job in 1924, when he hit .424. Here is a detailed record of his achievements: Games 143, at-bats 536, hits 227, doubles 43, triples 14, home runs 25, total bases 373, average .424, bases on balls 89, runs batted in 94.

When you consider that in the same number of games as Hornsby, Williams this past season beat him by 12 home runs and 26 runs driver in. Master Theodore apparently need not concede anything to the heroes of the past.

Remember, please, that Williams won the home-run championship of the major leagues, as well as the batting title. Those honors seldom come together. True, Hornsby won the double crown in 1922, with .401 and 42 circuit drives, and again in 1925, with .403 and 39. But when you're swinging for the bleachers, you are not doing your average much good. It must be that Ted got those homers in the natural course of events — just as he got that ninth-inning homer which beat the National League in the All-Star game last July in Detroit.

To hit .400, you must make four hits in every 10 times at bat. Arithmetically, this seems rather a simple process. In fact, it is a terrific job. To hit .400, you must scale that height early in the season and refuse to slide into any serious slumps. A survey of the batting race in the American League for 1941 proves that this is exactly what Theodore did.

As you know, Williams is a lefthanded socker, and playing at Fenway Park, with its vast right field, he is not favored by the contours of his home lot. For a lefthanded pull hitter, the Boston yard is about as discouraging a spot as can be found in the major leagues. Yet, Theodore reached the magic .400 mark when not yet 23, for he did not attain that age until October 30.

No finer young man plays baseball in the United States. Ted has been surrounded with a lot of hooey publicity about wanting to be a fireman, and other bologna which has done him no good. He is a grand guy, liked by his teammates, admired by all players. And coveted even by the world champion Yankees. How that thumping kid would go in Yankee Stadium!

Who'll be the next .400 hitter — Williams again, Joe DiMaggio, Cecil Travis, Pete Reiser, a 1942 rookie — or some future star not yet on a major league roster? It's a lofty height, but not too high to be reached occasionally by a favored few, among the many who dig in for their toeholds at the start of each season.