Roto Baseball Guru

One of the more exciting stories that has been developing this year in Major League Baseball is Chipper Jones’ ongoing chase of .400.  Not since Boston Red Sox legend, Ted Williams, who hit .406 in 1941, has there been another hitter able to repeat this incredible feat in a full season.  There have been a few players that have come close, the closest would have been George Brett in 1980 when he ended up the year hitting .390.  In more recent years, we have seen other great hitters flirt with this baseball landmark, including Ichiro Suzuki who hit .372 in 2004, and Joe Mauer who kept the .400 pace up to the all-star break in 2006 until he cooled off in the second half and ended the year with a .347 batting average.  As a Blue Jays fan, I also remember good old John Olerud flirting with that mystical .400 mark in the magical season of 1993 when the Jays repeated as World Series champs (oh the good ole days!).  Johnny “O” ended up batting .363 that year, and if my memory serves me correctly, I believe he was still above the .400 mark in August of that year.  It just shows how difficult the feat is … which also probably explains why it hasn’t been accomplished in over 65 years!

Which goes back to the developing story of this year, Chipper Jones’ ongoing quest to inscribe himself into the history books, and with that most likely securing his place into baseball’s hall of fame.  As of July 6th, Chipper is batting at .390 and has recently cooled down a bit since his torrid pace he was having in May and early June.  In fact, the last time he was hitting over .400 was on June 18th, and since then he has dipped as low as .389.  However, he’s just another hot streak from getting over .400 and I’m sure that will get all the talk started again about the likelihood of whether or not this will be the year it actually happens. 

But regardless of whether or not Chipper makes history this year, has the 15 year legacy of his career and arguably the best player to ever put on an Atlanta Braves uniform, qualified him for Baseball’s Hall of Fame?  Speak your mind or forever hold your peace!

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