Hitting .400 on May 14: Unusual, not unprecedented
For what it's worth, the year Ted Williams hit .406, he wasn't a .400 hitter on May 14.
The year Chad Kreuter hit .286, he was.
So it's more a curiosity than something especially meaningful that both league leaders woke up Monday morning above .400.
Josh Hamilton of the Rangers led the American League at .402. David Wright of the Mets led the National League at .400.
Unusual? Yes.
Unprecedented? Hardly.
Research through retrosheet.org showed that it's the sixth time in the last 50 years that both league leaders have been above .400 through games of May 13. It's actually the seventh, but it's not fair to count 1995, when the season began late due to the spring training lockout.
Again not counting 1995, Hamilton and Wright are the 30th and 31st players in the last 50 years to carry a .400 average into games of May 14. The last one to do it was Chipper Jones in 2008 (when he went on to win the batting title at .364).
The last time it happened in both leagues the same year was 1994, when Tony Gwynn led the National League and Paul O'Neill led the American League. Again, each went on to win a batting title that September, Gwynn at .394 and O'Neill at .359.
It also happened in 1993 (Barry Bonds and Kreuter), in 1976 (Pete Rose and Fred Lynn), in 1971 (Ralph Garr and Tony Oliva) and in 1964 (Willie Mays and Oliva).
The year Chad Kreuter hit .286, he was.
So it's more a curiosity than something especially meaningful that both league leaders woke up Monday morning above .400.
Josh Hamilton of the Rangers led the American League at .402. David Wright of the Mets led the National League at .400.
Unusual? Yes.
Unprecedented? Hardly.
Research through retrosheet.org showed that it's the sixth time in the last 50 years that both league leaders have been above .400 through games of May 13. It's actually the seventh, but it's not fair to count 1995, when the season began late due to the spring training lockout.
Again not counting 1995, Hamilton and Wright are the 30th and 31st players in the last 50 years to carry a .400 average into games of May 14. The last one to do it was Chipper Jones in 2008 (when he went on to win the batting title at .364).
The last time it happened in both leagues the same year was 1994, when Tony Gwynn led the National League and Paul O'Neill led the American League. Again, each went on to win a batting title that September, Gwynn at .394 and O'Neill at .359.
It also happened in 1993 (Barry Bonds and Kreuter), in 1976 (Pete Rose and Fred Lynn), in 1971 (Ralph Garr and Tony Oliva) and in 1964 (Willie Mays and Oliva).
Trout's bomb
