Imagine a baseball world where hitting .400 was merely excellent, batting .440 was the pinnacle, and home run kings swung for a different kind of fence entirely.
Key Takeaways
- In 1894, Hugh Duffy of the Boston Beaneaters set the MLB single-season batting average record at .440 (145-for-330).
- Rogers Hornsby hit .424 in 1924 for the St. Louis Cardinals, the highest NL single-season average since 1900.
- Nap Lajoie batted .426 in 1901 for the Philadelphia Athletics, leading MLB.
- Ty Cobb .366 career batting average, highest all-time.
- Rogers Hornsby .358 career average, second all-time.
- Shoeless Joe Jackson .356 career average.
- Pete Rose leads all-time hits with 4256 in 3562 games.
- Ty Cobb holds highest career BA at .366 (4189 AB).
- Rogers Hornsby second at .358 career BA.
- Babe Ruth had a 1920 season with .376 BA, 54 2B, 9 3B, 29 HR.
- Ted Williams 1941: .406 BA, last to hit .400.
- Joe DiMaggio 56-game hit streak in 1941.
- OPS+ for Babe Ruth career 206, highest ever.
- Barry Bonds 2002 OPS+ 231, single-season record.
- Ted Williams career OPS+ 190.
Legendary batting achievements highlight baseball's greatest hitters across history.
Advanced Metrics
- OPS+ for Babe Ruth career 206, highest ever.
- Barry Bonds 2002 OPS+ 231, single-season record.
- Ted Williams career OPS+ 190.
- Lou Gehrig career OPS+ 176.
- Rogers Hornsby career OPS+ 175.
- wOBA leader Babe Ruth .473 career.
- Barry Bonds 2004 wOBA .539.
- Ted Williams 1957 wOBA .513.
- wRC+ Babe Ruth 191 career.
- Barry Bonds 2001 wRC+ 268.
- ISO leader Barry Bonds .320 career.
- Mark McGwire career ISO .315.
- Babe Ruth 1920 ISO .478.
- BABIP Ty Cobb career .387.
- Ichiro Suzuki career BABIP .355.
- Tony Gwynn career BABIP .338.
- WAR leader Babe Ruth 182.6 career.
- Walter Johnson second? Wait, batting WAR Barry Bonds 162.8.
- Willie Mays 156.1 bWAR.
- Hank Aaron 143.2 bWAR.
- Ty Cobb 151.4 bWAR.
- Rogers Hornsby 127.2 bWAR.
- wSB Rickey Henderson career 97.8.
- Tim Raines 83.9 wSB.
- Lou Brock 41.8 wSB.
- UBR Ichiro Suzuki 41.9 career.
- Spd Babe Ruth 86.3 career speed score.
- Hard-hit rate Aaron Judge 57.1% in 2022.
- Exit velocity Giancarlo Stanton career avg 95.3 mph.
- Barrel% Joey Gallo 18.7% career.
- xwOBA Aaron Judge .450 in 2022.
- Swing% Miguel Cabrera low 41.2% career.
- Contact% Tony Gwynn 94.1% career.
- K% Jose Altuve 15.7% career low.
- BB% Barry Bonds 20.9% career.
- WPA Babe Ruth 41.9 career.
- RE24 Lou Gehrig 563.4 career.
Advanced Metrics Interpretation
The staggering and diverse array of hitting records, from Ruth's mountainous career value to Bonds' supercharged peaks and the singular specialties of everyone from Cobb to Gwynn, collectively argues that while we can isolate the components of offensive genius, no single stat can fully contain the chaos of a truly historic bat.
All-Time Leaderboards
- Pete Rose leads all-time hits with 4256 in 3562 games.
- Ty Cobb holds highest career BA at .366 (4189 AB).
- Rogers Hornsby second at .358 career BA.
- Barry Bonds tops home runs with 762.
- Hank Aaron second with 755 HR.
- Babe Ruth third with 714 HR.
- Rickey Henderson leads runs scored with 2295.
- Ty Cobb second with 2245 runs.
- Barry Bonds third with 1625 runs.
- Pete Rose tops hits with 4256.
- Ty Cobb second hits 4189.
- Hank Aaron third 3771 hits.
- Hank Aaron leads RBI with 2297.
- Babe Ruth second 2214 RBI.
- Lou Gehrig third 1995 RBI.
- Rickey Henderson stolen bases record 1406.
- Lou Brock second 938 SB.
- Billy Hamilton third 912 SB.
- Babe Ruth leads walks with 2873.
- Barry Bonds second 2558 BB.
- Ted Williams third 2021 BB.
- Stan Musial fourth all-time hits 3630.
- Tris Speaker fifth hits 3514.
- Dexter Fowler tenth active hits leader with approx 1700.
- Albert Pujols sixth HR 703.
- Willie Mays seventh 660 HR.
- Alex Rodriguez eighth 696 HR.
- Ken Griffey Jr. ninth 630 HR.
- Jim Thome tenth 612 HR.
- Miguel Cabrera leads active BA around .306.
All-Time Leaderboards Interpretation
Despite boasting the all-time hits record, Pete Rose’s enduring legacy is a cautionary tale of how a career built on relentless accumulation can be forever overshadowed by a single, self-inflicted strike.
Career Records
- Ty Cobb .366 career batting average, highest all-time.
- Rogers Hornsby .358 career average, second all-time.
- Shoeless Joe Jackson .356 career average.
- Ed Delahanty .346 career average with 2236 hits.
- Tris Speaker .345 career average over 22 seasons.
- Ted Williams .344 career average with 2654 hits.
- Babe Ruth hit 714 career home runs.
- Hank Aaron slugged 755 home runs over 23 seasons.
- Barry Bonds hit 762 home runs, MLB record.
- Willie Mays had 660 home runs and 338 steals.
- Albert Pujols finished with 703 home runs.
- Rickey Henderson stole 1406 bases, all-time leader.
- Lou Brock swiped 938 bases in 19 seasons.
- Billy Hamilton stole 912 bases in 1890s.
- Ty Cobb had 4189 hits, fourth all-time.
- Pete Rose holds record with 4256 hits.
- Hank Aaron amassed 3771 hits.
- Stan Musial collected 3630 hits with .331 average.
- Lou Gehrig drove in 1995 RBI over 17 seasons.
- Hank Aaron had 2297 RBI, second all-time.
- Babe Ruth knocked in 2214 RBI.
- Alex Rodriguez finished with 2086 RBI.
- Barry Bonds scored 1625 runs.
- Rickey Henderson scored 2295 runs, record.
- Ty Cobb scored 2245 runs.
- Babe Ruth had 135 triples career.
- Sam Crawford leads with 309 triples.
- Ty Cobb had 297 doubles? Wait, 724 doubles.
- Pete Rose had 746 doubles.
- Stan Musial 725 doubles.
- Honus Wagner 1016 extra-base hits.
- Hank Aaron 1477 extra-base hits.
- Barry Bonds 1996 extra-base hits.
- Pete Rose had 156 sacrifice hits career record.
- Ty Cobb 295 sacrifice hits.
- Eddie Collins 438 sacrifice hits.
- Ichiro Suzuki 509 stolen bases.
- Babe Ruth leads MLB with 2873 walks career.
- Barry Bonds 2558 walks.
- Hank Aaron hit .305 with 755 HR over 3298 games.
Career Records Interpretation
The ghost of Ty Cobb is angrily muttering that while everyone else was busy chasing individual records, his .366 career average proves he was the undisputed master of simply reaching base and then, presumably, sharpening his spikes on your infield dirt.
Notable Performances
- Babe Ruth had a 1920 season with .376 BA, 54 2B, 9 3B, 29 HR.
- Ted Williams 1941: .406 BA, last to hit .400.
- Joe DiMaggio 56-game hit streak in 1941.
- Cal Ripken Jr. 2632 consecutive games.
- Barry Bonds 2001: 73 HR, 177 walks, 1.379 OPS.
- Mark McGwire 1998: 70 HR, 162 BB, .752 SLG.
- Sammy Sosa 1998: 66 HR, 416 total bases.
- Ichiro 2004: 262 hits, .372 BA, 36 SB.
- Rickey Henderson 1982: 130 SB, .267 BA, 119 R.
- Lou Brock 1974: 118 SB, 118 R, .274 BA.
- Hack Wilson 1930: 191 RBI, 56 HR, .336 BA.
- Rogers Hornsby 1922: .401 BA, 42 HR, 152 RBI.
- Babe Ruth 1921: 59 HR, 168 RBI, 204 BB.
- Lou Gehrig 1932: .349 BA, 34 2B, 6 3B, 41 HR, 151 RBI.
- Stan Musial 1948: .376 BA, 46 2B, 18 HR, 131 RBI.
- Tony Gwynn 1994: .394 BA in strike-shortened season.
- Wade Boggs 1985: .368 BA, 214 hits.
- George Brett 1980: .390 BA, led AL.
- Rod Carew 1977: .388 BA, AL MVP.
- Nomar Garciaparra 2000: .372 BA, 197 hits.
- Derek Jeter 1999: 219 hits, WS MVP.
- Mookie Betts 2018: .346 BA, 47 2B, 122 RBI.
- Jose Altuve 2014: .341 BA, 201 hits.
- Freddie Freeman 2020: .341 BA in shortened season.
- Luis Arraez 2022: .316 BA batting title win.
- Shohei Ohtani 2021: 46 HR as DH, AL MVP.
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2021: 48 HR, .311 BA.
- Aaron Judge 2022: 62 HR, AL record.
- Barry Bonds' 2004: .362 BA, 45 HR, 232 BB.
- Albert Pujols 2006: 49 HR, 137 RBI.
- Miguel Cabrera 2012: .330 BA, Triple Crown.
Notable Performances Interpretation
When you look at these statistics, you realize baseball's legends spent decades trying to outdo each other not just with power, but with a stubborn, brilliant consistency that turned entire seasons into arguments for their own immortality.
Single-Season Records
- In 1894, Hugh Duffy of the Boston Beaneaters set the MLB single-season batting average record at .440 (145-for-330).
- Rogers Hornsby hit .424 in 1924 for the St. Louis Cardinals, the highest NL single-season average since 1900.
- Nap Lajoie batted .426 in 1901 for the Philadelphia Athletics, leading MLB.
- George Sisler recorded a .420 average in 1922 with the St. Louis Browns (246-for-586).
- Ty Cobb hit .420 in 1911 for the Detroit Tigers (248-for-591).
- Shoeless Joe Jackson batted .408 in 1911 for the Cleveland Naps (233-for-572).
- Tris Speaker hit .383 in 1912 with 90 extra-base hits for Cleveland.
- Babe Ruth set the single-season home run record in 1920 with 29 for the Yankees.
- Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in 2001 for the San Francisco Giants.
- Mark McGwire slammed 70 homers in 1998 for the St. Louis Cardinals.
- Sammy Sosa hit 66 home runs in 1998 for the Chicago Cubs.
- Roger Maris set the AL record with 61 HR in 1961 for the Yankees.
- Ted Williams walked 147 times in 1947, leading MLB.
- Mark McGwire drew 162 walks in 1998.
- Barry Bonds had 232 walks in 2004.
- Rickey Henderson stole 130 bases in 1982 for Oakland.
- Lou Brock swiped 118 bags in 1974 for St. Louis.
- Vince Coleman stole 145 bases in 1985 for the Cardinals.
- Ichiro Suzuki had 262 hits in 2004 for Seattle.
- George Sisler got 257 hits in 1920 for St. Louis Browns.
- Lefty O'Doul recorded 254 hits in 1929 for Phillies.
- Al Simmons had 253 hits in 1925 for Athletics.
- Rogers Hornsby drove in 158 RBI in 1922 for Cardinals.
- Hack Wilson set RBI record with 191 in 1930 for Cubs.
- Lou Gehrig had 184 RBI in 1931 for Yankees.
- Ty Cobb scored 147 runs in 1911.
- Babe Ruth scored 177 runs in 1921.
- Lou Gehrig scored 167 runs in 1936.
- Honus Wagner had 104 doubles in 1900.
- Earl Webb hit 67 doubles in 1931 for Red Sox.
- Ty Cobb tripled 24 times in 1917.
- Pete Rose had 215 hits in 1976 for Reds.
- Pete Rose batted .424 over 10 games in 1976 (min 3.1 PA/game).
Single-Season Records Interpretation
The single-season record book reads like a century-long debate between the contact artist and the power hitter, where hitting .440 was once the pinnacle of achievement, but now a .400 average seems as mythical as a 70-home-run season seems chemically inflated.