Right-handed hitters are at a distinct disadvantage compared to lefties at the dish. Not only are southpaws about two feet closer to first base before a pitch is even thrown, but the momentum of their swing almost always takes them down the rightfield line, giving them precious extra inches to beat out, say, the throw from the hole. Conversely, a righty can only really get a running start hitting inside-out on pitches away; a right-hander trying a bump-and-run on an inside fastball is asking for a hammer in the teeth.If you’ve ever seen Ichiro Suzuki take two running steps out of the box before he’s even made contact, you know there’s no secret to why the highest single-season averages in history were smacked by lefties. So, what of righties? Where do they fit in the pantheon of high-average hitters? I checked: of the 64 times the .350-mark has been crested in the last 61 years, only 21 times has the hitter been right-handed. (For the record, switch-hitters have accounted for but four of the above-mentioned seasons, two of those the direct result of Mickey Mantle killing it.)
Of those 21 seasons, I’ve compiled the ten most impressive, and though "impressive" is as subjective a term as "valuable", I'm sliding on my big-boy pants and packing a sack of statistics to pillow-fight/counter-balance any possibly spurious logic. Speaking of which, how about those who didn’t make the list?
- Nomar Garciaparra is one of three right-handers to go north of .350 twice, the only one to do it consecutive-seasons, and holder of the highest single-season average of those considered (.372). His feats, however, were mitigated somewhat by his comparatively-low EqA and OPS+, his success greatly enhanced by hitting primarily in Fenway Park.
- Andres Galarraga also hurdled the .370 barrier, though his .307 EqA gives all the credit to playing half his games in Colorado, thus his banishment from this list and inclusion amongst the gang of Coors Field also-rans who turned into baseball gods overnight, trading video-game numbers for respect.
- Kirby Puckett peaked in ’88, winning a batting-title by virtue of his .356 average, but was felled by an atrocious .375 on-base percentage, the only time in which a righty hit over .350 yet failed to get on-base more than 40% of the time; Puck totaled a paltry 19 unintentional-walks that year, making his high-average the result of a little skill and a whole lot of luck.
- Alex Rodriguez won a batting-title as a 20-year-old in 1996, hitting .358 with 36 rockets and 54 doubles well before he became a serial 50-homer threat, but that season was plagued by the same stat that did in Garciaparra: relatively-low EqA.
A few others (Harvey Kuenn, Bill Madlock, Moises Alou) surprisingly slipped over .350 with otherwise unspectacular supporting-stats, but rather than dwell on the also-rans, as well as the omission of 1994’s incomplete-stats (including Jeff Bagwell’s .368 and Frank Thomas’ .353) let’s delve in the top ten .350-righty-seasons since 1947, in descending order:
10. Magglio Ordonez, .363, 2007
Owner of the prettiest right-handed swing in the game, a long, loopy affair that owes a debt to Fred McGriff’s patented helicopter finish, Ordonez was known as 30-HR basher who hit between .301 and .320 for the White Sox from ’99 to ‘03. In his second full-season with the Tigers, however, Mags jumped up and over any expectations that Detroit might have had for him, pumping out a career-year in ’07 at the age of 33. For an idea of how over his head Ordonez was playing, his .363 average was 13-points higher than his previous season’s on-base percentage, and though his rocket-totals subsided a little since his heady days in Chicago, I can’t imagine anyone complaining about 28 homeruns... especially when they come gift-wrapped with 54 doubles.
9. Joe Torre, .363, 1971
Though more well-known as coach of the 4-time World Champion Yankees, "The Godfather" was a cabbie in ’71, driving everyone home and sneaking 137 ribbies past Willie Stargell to take the RBI Crown along with the batting-title. It was the 30-year-old converted-catcher’s first full year at third, and Torre responded by smacking the second (and last) of his 200-hit seasons, the sixth (and last) of his 20-HR seasons, and the fifth (and, yes, last) of his 100-RBI seasons. With a previous career-high average of .325 set the season before, Torre obviously never even sniffed these numbers again in the final six years of his career.
8. Rico Carty, .366, 1970
Everything came together for the 30-year-old Braves outfielder in 1970, as he pounded-out a 31-game hitting-streak, snagged a batting-title, made his lone all-star appearance, and set personal-bests in hits, RBI, runs scored, on-base & slugging percentage; his 25-bombs stood as a peak until he came out of nowhere to tong 31 between Toronto and Oakland in ’78. This was about as high as high-water marks get, as the oft-injured Carty flirted with greatness only once more during 1974 with a .363 average... in 91 at-bats.
7. Roberto Clemente, .357, 1967
Clemente bookended his 4 batting-titles in 6 years with two .350-seasons (squeezing an MVP in to boot), and this .357 represented the peak of the outfielder’s illustrious career. Never a true power-hitter, maxing-out at 29 homeruns, his 23 bombs that year nevertheless led his Pirates, as did his totals in every other hitting-category save for at-bats. The first right-hander since 1947 to hit .350+ twice, Clemente’s 10 triples in 1967 came towards the end of a six-year run of double-digit three-baggers, and his .355 EqA that year cements his place on this list.
6. Edgar Martinez, .356, 1995
In this, the best of his two batting-title seasons, Edgar was the anti-Torre: the designated-hitter’s 1995 was the first of six times he drove in 100, the first of his eight 20-HR seasons, and the first time he crossed the 50-double threshold. As patient as they come (.479 OBP), Martinez doubtlessly benefitted from playing in a lineup featuring 71-combined homeruns from Tino Martinez and Jay Buhner, but took his hitting to this next level in the season before future-batting champ Alex Rodriguez became an undeniable talent, and despite playing in only 72 games with Ken Griffey Jr. Edgar will get consideration as the greatest designated-hitter ever, and proponents will point to this season as a starting point.
5. Manny Ramirez, .351, 2000
Before Manny was "Being Manny" in Boston, he was lighting it up in Cleveland, making the most of his last season with the Tribe in 2000. On top of his sky-high batting-average, Ramirez hit 38 bombs, ripped 34 doubles, and drove in 122 runs in just 118 games; for those curious, that amounts to a 52-homerun, 164-RBI season over 162 games. Interestingly, Paul Molitor also topped .350 for a season in which he only played in 118 contests, swatting hits in 39-straight games in 1987 and scoring 114 runs... but while Molitor’s 44 missed-games ended up excluding him from this list, Ramirez’ similar absence only relegated him to fifth spot, highlighting the difference between simply hitting for a high-average and producing offense right across the board.
4. Lou Boudreau, .355, 1948
1948 was a career-year in every way imaginable for Mr. Boudreau; not only did the 30-year-old shortstop/manager of the Cleveland Indians set personal marks in hits, homeruns, RBI, runs scored, on-base percentage and slugging average, but he won himself an American League MVP award and literally led his Indians to a world-championship, cracking 2 homeruns in a 4-for-4 performance in a one-game playoff against the Red Sox to make the World Series. Take this season off the books, and li’l Lou never even makes the Hall of Fame, much less, obviously, this list. As for his .355 average, it stands as a 60-point bulge over his career mark, and sits 28-points higher than his next-best season average. In 1948, Boudreau was, indeed, living the dream.
3. Albert Pujols, .357, 2008
Nobody’s ever done what Phat Albert’s doing right now: on top of hitting .300 with at least 30 homers, 30 doubles, and 100 RBI in each of his first 8 seasons in the big-leagues, Pujols has actually finished top 7 in hitting every year as well, and if not for Chipper Jones sitting on his .365 for all but 66 trips to the plate in September, El Hombre would be polishing two batting-titles. Joining Clemente and Garciaparra as the only righties to go for .350+ twice, Pujols’ 2008 was just a little better than his colossal 2003, especially since he played through an elbow-injury throughout all of this past year. If Ramirez is going to be considered the greatest right-handed hitter of the past 60 years, it will probably only last until Albert Pujols has gotten a few more seasons under his belt.
2. Mike Piazza, .362, 1997
Catchers just don’t hit any better than Piazza did in ’97, regardless of what side of the plate he stands on, and the Marlins’ backstop didn’t just leg-out a bunch of singles that year, either: 73 of his 201 hits went for extra-bases, and 40 of those left the ballpark entirely. Somehow, the future record-holder for homeruns by a signal-caller, came in third for the batting-title that year and, according to Baseball Prospectus’ Baseball Between the Numbers, got snookered by Larry Walker in the MVP race as well. Joe Mauer can win all the batting-titles he wants, but until he comes within even 20 of Piazza’s two-time sum of 40 dingers, he’ll be a side-note on the list of juggernaut-catchers.
1. Hank Aaron, .355, 1959
Aaron was 25 by the time he won this, his second batting-title, and he did so by destroying almost anything that was thrown at him: 223 hits, 92 extra-base bashes (including 39 round-trippers for the future Homerun King), a 1.037 OPS to go with a .366 EqA, 400 total bases... the Hammer simply made pitchers look like belly-itchers in 1959, and no-one has topped this singular season from, perhaps, the greatest right-handed hitter of them all.
