Chipper Jones went 3-for-6 today to raise his Major League-leading batting average to .425, driving in five runs, which tied his career high for one day, with a three-run homer and a two-run single. He hit .538 (7-for-13) in the weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds.
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THE BEST PART OF CHIPPER'S PERFORMANCE
Here is Chipper's quote for the newspapers following the game:
"When we learn to play on the road like we did (this weekend), the same aggressiveness, step on somebody's throat when we get them down,* when we learn to do that ... I think wins on the road will come," Jones said.
*Oh, Yeah!!!!!
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Chipper is one of three people during the last 25 years to hit above .420 this late in the season; the other two batters were Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez (Texas Rangers, 2000) and Jon Olerud (Toronto Blue Jays, 1993). So, that means if Chipper keeps up this pace for another week or two we are going to start reading about his chances of hitting above .400 for the entire season.
To answer your question, the last person to finish the season hitting above .400 was Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox who hit .406 in 1941. Yes, you are reading that correctly -- no one has hit .400 for an entire season since 1941.
Here is the .400 Club: (for more fun checking out stats click on this big, bad, orange link.
*Note -- In 1887, when a player received a base on balls (walk) he was also awarded a hit in the official statistics. Major League Baseball continues to recognize the statistics as they were recorded in 1887, but had to put in that asterisk for Maris and his 61 home runs. Ridiculous.
Also, you also have to keep in mind that before 1901, which is considered the cusp of baseball's "modern era," (you could also consider the beginning of the modern era 1919, the year Babe Ruth started playing for the Yankees, which is when people started hitting home runs. Before that year people would lead the majors in home runs with 11 or 12 per season) they used one ball as long as possible, rather than switching out a ball every time the pitcher requested it, so often times the ball was lumpy, black and literally coming apart at the seams, making it easier for a batter to get a hit once contact was made -- can you imagine trying to field one of those balls??
Still, looking at Hugh Duffy in 1894 batting .440 for the year, that's fucking incredible. That's almost one hit every two times at bat. It comes out to 44 hits out of every 100 at-bats. On top of that, the next closest player to Duffy hit .427 -- a 13-point differential.
| .400 Hitters Club In Order By Highest Average | |||||
| Rank | Name(s) | AVG (Raw AVG) | Year | Team(s) | |
| 1 | .485 (.48500) | 1887 | St. Louis | ||
| 2 | .457 (.45681) | 1887 | Louisville | ||
| 3 | .456 (.45581) | 1887 | St. Louis | ||
| 4 | .440 (.43970) | 1894 | Boston | ||
| 5 | .427 (.42720) | 1887 | St. Louis | ||
| 6 | .426 (.42647) | 1901 | Philadelphia | ||
| 7 | .424 (.42376) | 1897 | Baltimore | ||
| 8 | .424 (.42351) | 1924 | St. Louis | ||
| 9 | .421 (.42105) | 1887 | Chicago | ||
| 10 | .420 (.42031) | 1887 | Detroit | ||
| 11 | .420 (.41980) | 1922 | St. Louis | ||
| 12 | .420 (.41963) | 1911 | Detroit | ||
| 13 | .415 (.41491) | 1887 | Philadelphia | ||
| 14 | .414 (.41463) | 1894 | Philadelphia | ||
| 15 | .412 (.41202) | 1884 | St. Louis | ||
| 16 | .410 (.40998) | 1887 | Louisville | ||
| 17 | .410 (.40964) | 1899 | Philadelphia | ||
| 18 | .410 (.40956) | 1896 | Cleveland | ||
| 19 | .409 (.40879) | 1887 | Baltimore | ||
| 20 | .409 (.40868) | 1912 | Detroit | ||
| 21 | .408 (.40806) | 1911 | Cleveland | ||
| 22 | .407 (.40729) | 1920 | St. Louis | ||
| 23 | .407 (.40727) | 1887 | Detroit | ||
| 24 | .406 (.40570) | 1941 | Boston | ||
| 25 | .405 (.40540) | 1895 | Cleveland | ||
| 26 | .404 (.40417) | 1895 | Philadelphia | ||
| 27 | .404 (.40404) | 1894 | Philadelphia | ||
| 28 | .404 (.40350) | 1876 | Chicago | ||
| 29 | .403 (.40322) | 1894 | Philadelphia | ||
| 30 | .403 (.40278) | 1925 | St. Louis | ||
| 31 | .403 (.40267) | 1923 | Detroit | ||
| 32 | .401 (.40128) | 1922 | St. Louis | ||
| 33 | .401 (.40126) | 1930 | New York | ||
| 34 | .401 (.40115) | 1896 | Baltimore | ||
| 35 | .401 (.40114) | 1922 | Detroit | ||
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