1941 Washington Senators -- Part 2
At the time, DiMaggio's streak garnered much more media attention than another accomplishment which has since gained greater prominence. Nineteen forty-one was the year that Ted Williams hit .406, the first time the .400 barrier had been surpassed in the league since 1923, when Harry Heilmann reached .403 for the Tigers. Bill Terry had been the last to bat .400 in the majors, posting a .401 mark in 1930. Williams' on-base percentage of .551 achieved in this season will likely stand as a record forever. But in 1941, much more was made of DiMag's streak, which, after all, had shattered a mark which had stayed on the books for 44 years. Over the entire season, however, Ted Williams' batting average was just two points lower than DiMaggio's had been during the 56-game streak.
Ted Williams was a young man who did not lack in confidence, and this quality was exemplified on September 28, when manager Joe Cronin offered him the possibility of sitting out both games of a doubleheader on the last day of the season. Ted's average stood at .39955, which would round out to an even .400. Ted's answer was to the effect that he didn't care to become known as a .400 hitter with a lousy average of .39955.
The true hero that he was (he would become one in the military sphere during World War II, and again in Korea, as a Marine flier), Williams, just 23 years old, went 6-for-8 and finished the season at .4057. The Splendid Splinter asked writers following that last game, "Ain't I the best hitter you ever saw?" Nearly 30 years later, Ted would write in his book My Turn at Bat, "I want people to say, "There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived."
But it was neither Joe DiMaggio nor Ted Williams who led the American League in base hits in 1941. The distinction went to Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators, who managed 219 safeties. Travis placed between the Splendid Splinter and the Yankee Clipper in batting average, with .359. His 316 total bases, only 32 behind DiMaggio, were the result of seven homers, a huge improvement, and 19 triples, which placed him just behind Jeff Heath of Cleveland, who led the league in that department with 20.
The third base experiment ended for Travis, and his wonderful offensive year brought the 28-year-old's career batting average to .327. He was named to the Major-League All-Star team at shortstop by the Sporting News, the first Washington player to be named among the elite since Joe Cronin had been designated, at the same position, seven years before.
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