The Five Best Hitting Seasons in Baseball History
By Jimmy Ray
It’s impossible to identify with any certainty who had the greatest single season in baseball history. There are too many factors to be considered, too many personal tastes, and too much hometown bias to be injected into the analysis. Yup, trying to pick the single best season in the game’s history is indeed a futile exercise, and for that matter, so is picking the top five best seasons.
However, simply because something is futile and pointless does not mean that it can’t be fun. So let’s give it a shot. Here is a pretty subjective list of what could be the five best seasons ever enjoyed by batsmen in the history of Major League Baseball.
Number 5. Jimmie Foxx – 1932 Philadelphia A’s
(.364 Batting Average, 58 Home Runs, 169 RBI, 151 Runs, 438 Total Bases)
A monster season for a beast of a player. Double X, as he was known, made the first really serious run at Babe Ruth’s home run record in 1932, falling just two short of the mark. Although he came up short on that front, Foxx did end up leading the American League in RBI, runs, total bases, slugging, and extra base hits. He also finished second in batting, falling just three points away from a Triple Crown award. He did win the first of his three American League MVP awards, though. The only downside to the season for Foxx was that his Athletics finished second to the New York Yankees.
Number 4. Sammy Sosa – 2001 Chicago Cubs
(.328 Batting Average, 64 Home Runs, 160 RBI, 146 Runs, .737 Slg. %, 425 Total Bases)
Like Barry Bonds below, some people want to erase, limit, or otherwise qualify the records of Sammy Sosa. Whether or not that will happen is a matter for the future. But for as long as Sosa’s numbers are part of the official record, he will deserve a very high place on any great MLB seasons list. Just take a look at those numbers. They speak for themselves.
3. Lou Gehrig – 1927 New York Yankees
(.373 Batting Average, 52 Doubles, 18 Triples, 47 Home Runs, 175 RBI, 149 Runs, 447 Total Bases)
By most accounts, it was Gehrig, and not Babe Ruth, who was the straw that stirred that intoxicating concoction known as the 1927 Yankees. While Ruth hit a then-record 60 home runs, Gehrig outdid the Bambino in hits, doubles, triples, RBI and total bases. He also won the AL MVP ahead of Ruth. To win the Most Valuable Player Award ahead of Babe Ruth in 1927 is to have one of the ten greatest MLB seasons of all time. Ipso facto whatever. That’s just the way it is.
2. Barry Bonds – 2001 San Francisco Giants.
(.328 Batting Average, 73 HR, 137 RBI, 122 Runs, .515 OBP, .863 Slg. %, 411 Total Bases, 177 BB)
Until further notice, this still has to be considered one of the best MLB hitting seasons in history. Bonds hit the most home runs ever with 73. He posted the greatest-ever slugging percentage with .863, beating Babe Ruth’s 80-year old record of .849. Bonds also collected 411 Total Bases, the third most since 1950. Lord knows what he would have done if National League hurlers hadn’t pitched around him all season: Bonds also set the new Major League record for walks with 177, breaking another of Ruth’s age-old records.
1. Babe Ruth – 1921 New York Yankees
(.378 Batting Average, 59 Home Runs, 171 RBI, 177 Runs, .846 Slg. %, .512 OBP, 457 Total Bases, 44 Doubles, 16 Triples, 17 Stolen Bases, 145 BB, 1.359 OPS)
Now, this was a season. In 1921, Ruth set new MLB records for home runs, slugging percentage, runs scored, extra-base hits and total bases. The home run record would last until he broke it in 1927. The slugging percentage record stood until Barry Bonds broke it in 2001. The runs scored, extra base hits and total bases records still stand.
Plus, the guy hit .378, which was third best in baseball, and he stole 17 bases. Babe Ruth stole 17 bases. That last little fact pushed Ruth just ahead of Bonds for the top spot.
Of course, that is just one baseball historian’s opinion.
