Friday nite TRIVIA QUIZ....1st correct answer wins a T206 or DIA STAR or 1933 GOUDEY
 

This should be an easy one. OK.... name the Major League player with the all-time HIGHEST single-season Batting Average ?

The number of Plate Appearances (PA) by the Batter is an important factor in arriving at the correct answer. Officially, the PA
stat should not be less than 500.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Hugh Duffy?

Hugh Duffy, although Josh Gibson batted .466 one year, albeit in less than 500 plate appearances.

Hope you are doing well, Ted!!

Tip O'neil

Ted Williams

Friday nite TRIVIA QUIZ....1st correct answer wins a T206 or DIA STAR or 1933 GOUDEY
 

Hi Jonathan

Very close, but not quite. Tip O'Neill batted .435 in 1887 (PA = 572).

https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...packONeill.jpg


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

If it's a trick question the answer is Bill Krieg but not sure of his plate appearances.

TV
 

Hugh Duffy

Tetelo Vargas

Friday nite TRIVIA QUIZ....1st correct answer wins a T206 or DIA STAR or 1933 GOUDEY
 

We have two WINNERS......

Hi Steve.....I'm fine, thanks. How are you doing ?

Due to the closeness of Bobby's and Steve's response times......I think it is only fair that I declare both the winners.....Hugh Duffy batted .440 in 1894 (PA = 616).


https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...uHughDuffy.jpg https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...HughDuffyB.jpg

https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...HughDuffyX.jpg https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...HughDuffyB.jpg


Bobby and Steve, please email me directly.... tedzan11@comcast.net
And, we will discuss the card each one of you will receive from me.

Thanks for participating in this Trivia game.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Nap Lajoie

I'm going to go with Hugh Duffy at 5:12 PT

Friday nite TRIVIA QUIZ....1st correct answer wins a T206 or DIA STAR or 1933 GOUDEY
 

Hi Frank

You always bring a :) to my face.

Take care....good buddy.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Hi Frank You always bring a to my face.

Same! Frank cracks me up. Every single comment. So witty!

The amazing thing is that Duffy hit .440, but finished 3rd in OBP. Billy Hamilton hit .403 and drew 128 walks in 132 games. They both had monster seasons even in the context of 1894.

Duffy also has one of my favorite T206 poses. I have his Piedmont and Polar Bear, I'd try a run but some of those backs are a little out of my budget for T206's.

However, we live in days where some history is being cancelled, while other history is being re-written. According to Wikipedia:

[Tetelo]Vargas holds the major league record for best batting average in a single season. He hit .471 while playing for the New York Cubans in the Negro National League in 1943.

The Major League criteria for eligibility for a batting title is not a hard 502 PA. It is defined (and has been for a long time) as 3.1 PA per scheduled game. This way, minor leagues and even colleges can have batting leaders, although they don't have enough games for anyone to get 502 AB.

I'll leave it at stating that I think rewriting history to better suit contemporary politics is never a good thing. Vargas' 121 at bats in the the Negro National League II might be the major league record being written into the books, but it's not one I will ever place any reasonable value on as an actual major league record. Duffy holds the true mark, albeit in a period where it was a lot easier to hit .440 (true of most any record). 237 hits in 125 National League games even in high offense 1894 is a heck of a mark.

Friday nite TRIVIA QUIZ....1st correct answer wins a T206 or DIA STAR or 1933 GOUDEY
 

Mark

The criteria for At Bats (AB's) is 400 for a batter's Batting Average to qualify as leader in this stat. This ruling has been established many, many years ago. You cannot in all respects
argue that a batter with less than 400 AB's (or less than 200, etc., etc. AB's) should be considered a leader in this category. The undeniable nature of this great game is such.... that
as your AB's increase, invariably your BA will decrease (as the season progresses).
Unless, of course, your name is Ted Williams.

Hugh Duffy in 1894 batted .440 with 616 Plate Appearances (237 Hits)....do you realize what an achievement that is ? It is absolutely amazing.



https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...HughDuffyX.jpghttps://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...vereign460.jpghttps://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...uHughDuffy.jpg

https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...HughDuffyB.jpg .https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...ereign460b.jpghttps://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...HughDuffyB.jpg



TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Yes I realize it. I'm well aware that it's a lot harder to hit for high average with 616 PA than with a third of that.

From the Baseball Rules Academy:

https://baseballrulesacademy.com/off...championships/

9.22 Minimum Standards for Individual Championships

To assure uniformity in establishing the batting, pitching and fielding championships of professional leagues, such champions shall meet the following minimum performance standards:

(a) The individual batting, slugging or on-base percentage champion shall be the player with the highest batting average, slugging percentage or on-base percentage, as the case may be, provided the player is credited with as many or more total appearances at the plate in league championship games as the number of games scheduled for each Club in his Club’s league that season, multiplied by 3.1 in the case of a Major League player and by 2.7 in the case of a National Association player. Total appearances at the plate shall include official times at bat, plus bases on balls, times hit by pitcher, sacrifice hits, sacrifice flies and times awarded first base because of interference or obstruction. Notwithstanding the foregoing requirement of minimum appearances at the plate, any player with fewer than the required number of plate appearances whose average would be the highest, if he were charged with the required number of plate appearances shall be awarded the batting, slugging or on-base percentage championship, as the case may be.

Ted, your argument is not with me. I'm just pointing out the rule, and the fact MLB has decided to "integrate" Negro League stats into the Major Leagues. These 2 things combine to bump Duffy's great performance down to 4th place:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...ovq-story.html

The modern-day single-season record was held by the Philadelphia Athletics’ Nap Lajoie, who hit .427 in 1901, the AL’s inaugural season. The all-time record belonged to the Boston Beaneaters’ Hugh Duffy, who hit .440 in 1894. But now Duffy is fourth behind three Negro Leaguers — Vargas, Gibson and Charlie Smith (.451 in 1929). Lajoie’s 1901 record also fell, as he dropped from first in the modern era to ninth.

Move over, guys.


I didn't make the rules, and I didn't re-write them. If you don't like MLB's decision to integrate NL stats, again, your argument isn't with me - it's with them. And by the way, there were Major League Batting Champions last year, who had far fewer AB than the 400 number you gave.

Friday nite TRIVIA QUIZ....1st correct answer wins a T206 or DIA STAR or 1933 GOUDEY
 

Mark

I'm not going to clutter-up this thread with a lengthy dissertation. Instead, I'll make this short and sweet.

I consider myself very fortunate to have been born at a time to have seen some of the greatest Baseball played. It began with the 1947 World Series (Dodgers vs Yankees).
Arguably, one of the most exciting W.S. ever played. From 1948 - 1960 (either at Yankee Stadium, Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds, or watching TV), I saw some really great
Baseball (including Don Larsen's PERFECT W.S. game). And some great players....Berra, DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, Mantle, Mays, Snider, Ted Williams, etc., etc.).
Then, I enlisted in the US Air Force.

My views on the game are quite traditional. So, I will leave it at that.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Ted,

Fortunate and unfortunate.

Fortunate that you got to see all that, as they say, when baseball truly was the national pastime.

Unfortunate that folks like me can only read about it, watch what little actually exists of old game telecasts, and collect cards in a weak effort to somehow recapture that era.

Friday nite TRIVIA QUIZ....1st correct answer wins a T206 or DIA STAR or 1933 GOUDEY
 

James

There's a Net54 member in the Chicago area who is a great source of many videos of classic MLB and NFL games. Doak Ewing can be reached at...... doakewing@raresportsfilms.com

Over the years, I have acquired quite a number of BB and FB videos from Doak. One of my favorites is the NY Jets vs Baltimore Colts, Sept 24, 1972. I was at that game in Baltimore.
It was an amazing football game. Joe Namath completed 15 passes for 496 yards (6 TDs)....Johnny Unitas 26 passes for 376 yards....Jets 44 Colts 34.
Sometimes, seeing a film of an event after you experienced it live many years before can be almost as enjoyable.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

You are right, Ted. I have heard of Doak Ewing. They say he has perhaps the biggest collection of sports films from the past there is. I will get an email to him and see what baseball telecast films he has available. Many thanks!

Ted, since we are contemporaries, I will admit watching the 1951 Playoff Game for the National League pennant between 'Dem Bums and the hated NY Giants on a TV the size of a postage stamp. I can still hear, "The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant". Some memories never die.

Friday nite TRIVIA QUIZ....1st correct answer wins a T206 or DIA STAR or 1933 GOUDEY
 

John....ole buddy

I too, still remember that event as if it was just yesterday.

My two schoolmates (both Brooklyn Dodger fans) and I scooted out of school (at 3 PM) and ran to my house and turned on the TV. Bobby Thomson was at bat.
Then Bobby hit.... "the shot heard around the world".... to win the National League Pennant for the NY Giants.

My two school buddies didn't talk to for 2 weeks, since I was rooting for the Giants.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

I have the entire 9 inning radio broadcast of that game. But it's Gordon McClendon on the call, not Russ Hodges. Now that would be really something if telecast video footage of that game ever turned up! McClendon was something, but every time I listen to the beginning or pre-game of that broadcast I get the chills with his history of the Giants, "Big Jim" Mutrie and John McGraw...

I work with John Miley and have been for 20 years, selling his audio broadcasts. In fact I'm the guy who got him started with putting his material onto CDs. If your recording is on tape, it's before I got involved with John; if it's on CD, I'm the guy who originally transferred it from cassette to digital, cleaned it, cut it into innings, and put it onto CD. John and I have had kind of a running joke, because back then, I thought Gordon's voice sounded a bit slow in places, like the tape speed wasn't always quite right. But yes, it's a great game. One of the first half dozen we put out on CD.

I love Gordon's talking about Maglie right before the first pitch, and his describing Don Newcombe as "elephantine."

Friday nite TRIVIA QUIZ....1st correct answer wins a T206 or DIA STAR or 1933 GOUDEY
 

Hi James......one more video suggestion:

Whether or not, you are a Yankees fan, I highly recommend the 1956 World Series game #5. Don Larsen's "Perfect" No-Hitter is a tremendous game to watch.
And, Sal Maglie pitched a great game, allowing 5 hits. Especially, you will see some amazing plays by the Yankees' defense which preserved Larsen's No-Hitter.
Check-it-out.


https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...photoAutog.jpg

TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Ted, I have the radio broadcast. But to be able to actually see the actual telecast would be something else! Does Doak Ewing have the telecast of that game? I will search the www...

Friday nite TRIVIA QUIZ....1st correct answer wins a T206 or DIA STAR or 1933 GOUDEY
 

James

It has been many years since I acquired videos from Doak. However, I would think he still has extras of the 1956 World Series Don Larsen "Perfect" No-Hit game.
There are 2 plays you have to see to believe....early in the game, Shortstop Gil McDougald picks up an "errant hit" and rifles it to 1st Base to get Jackie Robinson
out by half a step.
And, Mickey Mantle running from Centerfield deep into "death valley" (440+ feet in Left-Centerfield) to catch Gil Hodges tremendous drive.

After the game the New York Sports media raved about about Mickey's catch....and, Mickey simply told them.... "Awe Shucks ! Casey (Stengel) signaled to me to
shade a little over to Left Field when Gil came to bat".


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Ted,

I just found Doak Ewing's Rare Sportsfilms web site. What a treasure trove! I just now officially put the 1956 World Series Game 5 "Larsen's Perfect Game" on my Christmas list. If the stars will now line up...

Many thanks, Ted!