Yasiel Puig went 3 for 4 Wednesday night to raise his batting average to .435. He’s now in a very good position to be hitting .400 in his first 100 at bats, as he only needs three more hits in his next 15 AB to get there. Of course, a two for 15 slump would not be that unusual.
It’s been 56 years since Bob Hazel hit .403 in 134 at bats for the Milwaukee Braves. That remains the most at bats in a season for someone hitting .400 since Ted Williams‘s .406 in 1941. While Puig should get many more than 134 AB this season, it will be a nice milestone if he can stay above the magic mark after reaching 134 AB.
The Dodgers beat the Giants 4-2. While Los Angeles still sits in last place, they are now six games out as the four other division opponents lost at least two in the row while the Dodgers won their last five. Like the AL East, the NL West remains any team’s division.
How about we note that Jose iglesias is currently hitting .419 after 117 at bats this year? He would have to go 5 for his next 17 ti stay abie .400 for 134 at bats, but he has made it well past that 100 mark.
Lee
Leonidas Jones » Well, do you really expect Jose to continue to be that good? There is nothing in his hitting record to indicate this is anything but a fluke. Puig tore apart every level he played in the minors.
Puig’s CAREER batting average is, of course, the same as this year’s BA.
I know that Hazel’s career BA stayed above .400 through his 117th AB (47 for 117). I haven’t done much research on this question, though, so does anyone know if anyone managed to hit .400 longer than Hazel? Possibly someone like Ross Barnes or Levi Meyerle back in the 1870s, but that’d be a slog to verify.
Iglesias has 16 IF hits among his 50 hits.
I did not realize he was so close to Hazels record (or that Hazel had a record of note for that matter)
Every non-Dodger pitcher in MLB had a moment of terror last night when they watched Puig *pull* an 0-2 low and outside slider through the hole between third and short for the game winning two run single. How in the world are they going to pitch to him now? Carl Erskine’s quote about Stan Musial comes to mind: “I’ve had pretty good success with Stan by throwing him my best pitch and backing up third.”
pft » Hazel’s record is for the entire season. I don’t know what the record is for most AB into the season hitting .400. I suspect it’s held by Brett or Carew or Gwynn.
M. Scott Eiland » Great comment. The upside for Puig is Vlad Guerrero, which is very good.
Bill Terry finished at .401 in 1930 with 254 hits in 633 AB (the last .400 season in NL history up to now, of course). In terms of AB, that just edges out George Sisler’s 257 hit season with 631 AB (.407). Lefty O’Doul could *theoretically* have exceeded the 633 mark if he went 0-5 or 1-5 for the last five AB of his .398 season in 1929 (254 for 638), but I can’t find anything that indicated he did and I suspect that it would have been a story at the time that would be remembered to this day if he dropped below .400 on the last day of the season.
I was wrong about Hazel’s *CAREER* mark being the best. Tony Oliva’s *CAREER* BA didn’t dip below .400 until his 151st AB, which is the best I’ve found since the 19th century. Puig’s only got another 50 AB to go!
Earle Combs made it to his 157th AB.