The off-season is upon us (sigh). Yeah, I know. It’s a letdown.
For some distraction, here’s a quirky bit of trivia. The players below have the only seasons since 1901 with a particular batting feat. And, if you look closely, only one of these players has had such a season in the expansion era. What is this feat that has become so rare?
Rk | Player |
---|---|
1 | Nap Lajoie |
2 | Heinie Zimmerman |
3 | Babe Ruth |
4 | Tris Speaker |
5 | Ty Cobb |
6 | Zack Wheat |
7 | Bob Fothergill |
8 | Paul Waner |
9 | Mickey Vernon |
10 | Enos Slaughter |
11 | Keith Hernandez |
Hint: each of these players accomplished this feat only once
Congratulations to Christopher Kamka! He correctly identified that these are the only players having a qualifying .300/.400/.500 season with an equal number of HRs and triples. Those seasons are after the jump.
Rk | Player | Year | 3B | HR | Age | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | RBI | BB | SO | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nap Lajoie | 1901 | .426 | .463 | .643 | 198 | 14 | 14 | 26 | PHA | 131 | 582 | 544 | 145 | 232 | 48 | 125 | 24 | 9 |
2 | Heinie Zimmerman | 1912 | .372 | .418 | .571 | 169 | 14 | 14 | 25 | CHC | 145 | 619 | 557 | 95 | 207 | 41 | 99 | 38 | 60 |
3 | Babe Ruth | 1918 | .300 | .411 | .555 | 192 | 11 | 11 | 23 | BOS | 95 | 382 | 317 | 50 | 95 | 26 | 66 | 58 | 58 |
4 | Tris Speaker | 1924 | .344 | .432 | .510 | 141 | 9 | 9 | 36 | CLE | 136 | 575 | 486 | 94 | 167 | 36 | 65 | 72 | 13 |
5 | Ty Cobb | 1925 | .378 | .468 | .598 | 171 | 12 | 12 | 38 | DET | 121 | 492 | 415 | 97 | 157 | 31 | 102 | 65 | 12 |
6 | Zack Wheat | 1925 | .359 | .403 | .541 | 142 | 14 | 14 | 37 | BRO | 150 | 671 | 616 | 125 | 221 | 42 | 103 | 45 | 22 |
7 | Bob Fothergill | 1927 | .359 | .413 | .516 | 139 | 9 | 9 | 29 | DET | 142 | 592 | 527 | 93 | 189 | 38 | 114 | 47 | 31 |
8 | Paul Waner | 1929 | .336 | .424 | .534 | 133 | 15 | 15 | 26 | PIT | 151 | 704 | 596 | 131 | 200 | 43 | 100 | 89 | 24 |
9 | Mickey Vernon | 1946 | .353 | .403 | .508 | 160 | 8 | 8 | 28 | WSH | 148 | 637 | 587 | 88 | 207 | 51 | 85 | 49 | 64 |
10 | Enos Slaughter | 1949 | .336 | .418 | .511 | 144 | 13 | 13 | 33 | STL | 151 | 655 | 568 | 92 | 191 | 34 | 96 | 79 | 37 |
11 | Keith Hernandez | 1979 | .344 | .417 | .513 | 151 | 11 | 11 | 25 | STL | 161 | 698 | 610 | 116 | 210 | 48 | 105 | 80 | 78 |