Baseball's Best Decade (3 page)

New York Giants first baseman
Bill Terry batted .401 in 1930 (on 254 hits) … the last .400 hitter in the National League.

Al Simmons
batted .356 during the 1920s and was the American League batting champion in both 1930 and 1931.

1920s –
Was Rogers Hornsby the greatest right-handed hitter ever? Yea, probably. The best of the 1920s, certainly. Consider that Hornsby
averaged
.382 for the decade. Since the 1920s, only 8 players have had a higher average than that during a single season, let alone a decade. (Ted Williams did it twice.) In the 1920s, Hornsby won 7 National League batting titles, 3 times winning with an average of .401 or better. His 2,085 hits during the decade led all hitters in the hitting-crazy ‘20s, 161 better than Harry Heilmann, who won a “mere” four batting crowns over in the American League during the 1920s, and hit better than .400 only once (.403 in 1923).

Who almost made the list?
George Sisler at .347, Eddie Collins at .346, Jimmie Foxx at .342.

1930s –
Though the averages might have been down, the offensive onslaught continued in the 1930s. Bill Terry’s .352 decade average included only one batting title, when he hit .401 in 1930. Four other times during the decade Terry hit .340 or better, 3 times only to finish second to the likes of Chick Hafey, Lefty O’Doul and Paul Waner. Terry’s .341 average in 1935 was only sixth best in the National League (Arky Vaughn was batting champion that year at .385). But none of these batting champions could match Terry’s hitting consistency for the decade.

Who almost made the list?
Jimmie Foxx and Paul Waner at .336, Babe Ruth and Charlie Gehringer at .331.

1940s –
Despite losing three seasons to the Second World War, Ted Williams won 4 batting titles during the 1940s and finished second twice to post the highest average during the decade. He also finished fifth in total hits for the decade (Lou Boudreau had the most with 1,578 hits). Stan Musial’s performance during the decade was almost as impressive, winning 3 of his 7 career batting titles during the 1940s.

Who almost made the list?
Tommy Holmes and Johnny Mize at .304, Stan Hack at .303.

Harry Heilmann
was the American League’s leading hitter during the 1920s, and second among all hitters only to the great “Rajah,” Rogers Hornsby. Heilmann won 4 AL batting titles, hitting a career-best .403 in 1923.

Babe Ruth
won his only batting title in 1924, hitting .378. He also led the American League with 46 home runs, but didn’t win the Triple Crown that season. His 121 runs batted in put him second to Goose Goslin, who had 129 RBIs.

Lefty O’Doul
was the National League batting champion in 1929 (.398) and 1932 (.368).

The 1927 National League batting champion and Most Valuable Player, Paul Waner won 2 more NL batting titles in the 1930s.

The Top Player Batting Averages for Each Decade: 1950s-1970s

When Ted Williams won his first Triple Crown in 1942 (.356, 36 home runs, 137 RBIs), he finished second in the MVP voting to the Yankees’ Joe Gordon.