u/UpsetBackground9093

Excuse me while I reminisce about the good ole days as a Cardinals fan, watching Albert Pujols do things at the plate I’ve never seen anybody do. I can remember reading and hearing from media pundits, not only in St. Louis, but nationally, that Pujols was a throwback to the sluggers of the past like Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, and Cards own legend Stan Musial, he can get you homers and not strike out a ton. And that’s not a bunch of media exaggeration- he really didn’t strike out a lot. Never once did he strike out 100 times. His first year in 2001 he struck out 93 times. He would tie that in 2017, but after that his next highest was 76. Prime Pujols, striking out 50-60 times in a season. Unreal compared to what we see now. And yes, I know, he hit into the most double plays ever, certainly a down fall of being a contact hitter with power.

Anyway, I saw in 2006 he had 50 strikeouts while crushing 49 homers. That’s his lowest total of a qualified season in his career, which got me thinking about who else has done that in recent memory and of course going back through history. List below.

Highlights, DiMaggio leads everyone with 7 seasons of 30 or more home runs with 50 or fewer strikeouts. Gehrig, Williams and Musial had 6.
Ken Williams was the first to achieve the marks in 1922.
Victor Martinez in 2014 has been the last player to achieve the feat.

=>30 Home Runs
=<50 strikeouts 

Victor Martinez 14 Tigers
Albert Pujols 06 Cardinals
Vladimir Guerrero 05 Angels
Barry Bonds 04 Giants
Barry Bonds 02 Giants 
Moises Alou 00 Astros
Gary Sheffield 92 Padres
Cal Ripken 91 Orioles
Don Mattingly 87 Yankees 
Don mattingly 86 Yankees
Don Mattingly 85 Yankees
Gary Carter 85 Mets
George Brett 85 Royals
Bob Horner 80 Braves
Hank Aaron 69 Braves
Felix Mantilla 64 Red Sox
Hank Aaron 58 Braves
Ted Williams 57 Red Sox 
Ted Kluszewski 56 Reds
Yogi Berra  56 Yankees
Ted Kluszewski 55 Reds
Stan Musial 55 Cardinals
Roy Campanella 55 Dodgers
Ted Kluszewski 54 Reds
Stan Musial 54 Cardinals 
Al Rosen 53 Indians
Ted Kluszewski 53 Reds
Stan Musial 53 Cardinals
Yogi Berra 52 Yankees
Stan Musial 51 Cardinals
Andy Pafko 51 Cubs/Dodgers
Ted Williams 51 Red Sox
Andy Pafko 50 Cubs
Joe DiMaggio 50 Yankees
Vern Stephens 50 Red Sox 
Ted Williams 49 Red Sox
Stan Musial 49 Cardinals 
Johnny Mize 48 Giants 
Stan Musial 48 Cardinals
Joe DiMaggio 48 Yankees
Sid Gordon 48 Giants
Johnny Mize 47 Giants
Willard Marshall 47 Giants
Walker Cooper 47 Giants
Ted Williams 47 Red Sox
Ted Williams 46 Red Sox 
Ted Williams 41 Red Sox
Tommy Henrich 41 Yankees 
Joe DiMaggio 41 Yankees
Johnny Mize 40 Cardinals
Joe DiMaggio 40 Yankees
Joe DiMaggio 39 Yankees 
Joe DiMaggio 38 Yankees
Mel Ott 38 Giants
Joe DiMaggio 37 Yankees
Lou Gehrig 37 Yankees
Joe Medwick 37 Cardinals
Lou Gehrig 36 Yankees
Mel Ott 36 Yankees
Lou Gehrig 35 Yankees
Lou Gehrig 34 Yankees
Hal Trotsky 34 Indians
Ripper Collins 34 Cardinals
Mel Ott 34 Giants
Earl Averill 34 Indians 
Zeke Bonura 34 White Sox
Lou Gehrig 33 Yankees
Lou Gehrig 32 Yankees
Chuck Klein 32 Phillies 
Earl Averill 32 Indians 
Mel Ott 32 Giants 
Chuck Klein 31 Phillies 
Earl Averill 31 Indians 
Chuck Klein 30 Phillies
Al Simmons 30 A’s
Mel Ott 29 Giants
Al Simmons 29 A’s
Lefty O’Doul 29 Phillies 
Don Hurst 29 Phillies
Rogers Hornsby 25 Cardinals
Ken Williams 22 Browns

Another Hall of Fame ceremony came and went and Bobby Abreu still sits on the outside. I believe he got a 30% vote this past year. I do believe he is worthy of the hall of fame and here might be one of the best examples of the type of player he was.

Abreu is the last player in a single season (2000) to hit 10+ Doubles, triples and home runs, while also walking 100+ times. In fact, he also achieved the feat the prior year (99). To put this achievement in perspective, by my research only 16 other players have reached this mark in a season going back to the 1890’s.
Take it a step further, besides Abreu, 5 other players have done it multiple times in their career: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Dolph Camilli, Charlie Keller and Mickey Mantle.

To be on a short list with Ruth, Gehrig and Mantle is pretty special.

BAbip is a stat you can find on baseball reference. It stands for batting average on balls in play. Pretty straight forward right. Ty Cobb, highest career batting average of all time. No surprise he had a .400 BAbip 7 times in his career. Rogers Hornsby, George Sisler, Joe Jackson all achieved this feat twice in their career. If you know baseball history that shouldn’t come as a surprise. But Yoan Moncada and Jose Hernandez hit over .400 in a single season…say what! This is what I love about baseball!

In 2019 Moncada had a 406 BAbip. Before that magical season, the last player to hit 400 was Jose Hernandez in 2002. Hernandez, a 252 career hitter did something that Tony Gwynn, Ichiro, Ted Williams, Sam Musial etc., couldn’t do in a season.

Side note, Moncada’s teammate Tim Anderson hit 399 that year. Something going on in that ballpark that year haha.

For those curious, a list of MLB players since 1900 to hit .400 or greater in a single season working backwards:

Manny Ramirez 2000-403
Rod Carew 1977-408
Roberto Clemente 1967-403
Luke Appling 1936-400
Bill Terry 1930-400
Rogers Hornsby 1924-422, 1921-409
Babe Ruth 1923-423
Harry Heilmann 1923-414
George Sisler 1922-422, 1920-401
Ty Cobb 1922-416, 1919-400, 1917-400, 1913-414, 1912-424, 1911-443, 1910-410
Joe Jackson 1912-405, 1911-433
Heinie Zimmerman 1912-400
George Stone 1906-416
Jesse Burkett 1901-415
Nap Lajoie 1901-418

I also looked at players that hit 390 or greater but I won’t dive into that today.

BAbip is a stat you can find on baseball reference. It stands for batting average on balls in play. Pretty straight forward right. Ty Cobb, highest career batting average of all time. No surprise he had a .400 BAbip 7 times in his career. Rogers Hornsby, George Sisler, Joe Jackson all achieved this feat twice in their career. If you know baseball history that shouldn’t come as a surprise. But Yoan Moncada and Jose Hernandez hit over .400 in a single season…say what! This is what I love about baseball!

In 2019 Moncada had a 406 BAbip. Before that magical season, the last player to hit 400 was Jose Hernandez in 2002. Hernandez, a 252 career hitter did something that Tony Gwynn, Ichiro, Ted Williams, Sam Musial etc., couldn’t do in a season.

Side note, Moncada’s teammate Tim Anderson hit 399 that year. Something going on in that ballpark that year haha.

For those curious, a list of MLB players since 1900 to hit .400 or greater in a single season working backwards:

Manny Ramirez 2000-403
Rod Carew 1977-408
Roberto Clemente 1967-403
Luke Appling 1936-400
Bill Terry 1930-400
Rogers Hornsby 1924-422, 1921-409
Babe Ruth 1923-423
Harry Heilmann 1923-414
George Sisler 1922-422, 1920-401
Ty Cobb 1922-416, 1919-400, 1917-400, 1913-414, 1912-424, 1911-443, 1910-410
Joe Jackson 1912-405, 1911-433
Heinie Zimmerman 1912-400
George Stone 1906-416
Jesse Burkett 1901-415
Nap Lajoie 1901-418

I also looked at players that hit 390 or greater but I won’t dive into that today.