68 years since Ted Williams' amazing accomplishment of eclipsing the .400 mark. Williams was penciled in the line-up in that final series against the then Washington Senators needing two hits to finish above the historic mark. He went 2-for-3 that day, finishing the 1941 season at .406.Sixty-eight years later, the purest hitting catcher in the modern era is gracing the game with class and pure skill on the team that used to be the Senators. The Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer is batting a zany .429 as of Sunday morning and has a serious chance to put his name in the record books next to Williams. Yes, it's early in the season for Mauer, but he looks like a changed hitter this year. He's hitting for power and he's slapping base hits through the holes like he's playing in a slow pitch softball league. He is a complete hitter in the box now. With 9 home runs accounting for more than one-fourth of his hits, fielders must respect his power more than year's past.
As a comparison, Williams was batting .383 at this point in the season, tallying 36 hits in 94 at-bats. Yes, Mauer missed the first month, but he's not far behind Williams in the at-bats department. With that in mind, it shouldn't cheapen Mauer's accomplishment this deep in to the season. In 77 at-bats Mauer has 33 hits. Now that he's batting in the No. 2 hole, Mauer should close the gap on Williams in the ABs department in just a few weeks.
During that epic 1941 season, Williams hit a high water mark of .439 in early June before dipping below .400 just after the All-Star break. Williams increased his average to .400 and managed to keep it there after the final game. His final stats in 456 ABs marked him with 185 hits.
If Mauer can stay healthy, he'll easily reach and exceed Williams' officially recorded ABs during '41. The real question is, can an everyday catcher fight off fatigue late in the season and stay focused enough to average .400? If anybody can, it will be Joe Mauer. He has an amazing command of the strike zone and a strong line-up behind him in Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Joe Crede and Jason Kubel that force pitchers to throw him strikes. [Update: Mauer goes 2-for-3 with another homer to up his average on Sunday night. Morneau adds a grand slam. Further proof to the protection in the order argument.]
Just as impressive as Williams' .406 average, he also led the league in home runs (37), base on balls (147), runs (135), slugging average (.735) and on base percentage (.551). Williams' keen eye at the plate is the key contributor to his .406 average, reducing his official ABs.
It's highly unlikely Mauer could ever lead the league in home runs, but the other stats are doable. Right now Mauer has 9 home runs, 16 base on balls, a mind-boggling 22 runs (in 93 plate appearances!), an .844 slugging average and .516 on-base percentage. Stats most beer-league softball players wish they could achieve!
My suggestion, watch and attend as many Twins games as you can while he's hovering around .400 because seats might be hard to come by if this lingers in to August and September. You just might be able to say you watched one of the purest hitters of our time prove .400 can still be done ... without the need for steriods.
