Will Baseball Ever See Another .400 Hitter?

Chattanooga-(WDEF) We saw major league baseball’s first triple crown winner in nearly 50 years last season with Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera.

But will we ever see someone hit .400 again?

Ted Williams was the last to do it in 1941, which was 73 years ago.

Lookouts manager Razor Shines and Lookouts hitting coach Shawn Wooten discuss what it would take to reach that incredible baseball milestone.

 

   Records and stats are part of the history and lore of baseball, and yet, no one seems to talk about hitting .400

Said Wooten,"Yeah, I think part of it is because I don’t think it will ever happen."

   Shawn Wooten says the evolution of the game makes hitting .400 nearly impossible.

All the advance scouting. The size and speed of ballplayers, not to mention the pitching.

Said Wooten,"You have guys now that are starters throwing 95 to 98 miles-an-hour. There might be one or two starters that would do that, but if you had an arm like that, you would put him in the bullpen. Now those guys are starters, and you have those guys in the bullpen."

Reporter-"Who would have a shot to do it. Would it have to be a switch-hitter per say."

Said Shines,"Well I’m not necessarily saying it would have to be a switch-hitter, but it would have to be a guy with tremendous foot-speed. A guy like Miguel Cabrera, who most people think, including myself, may be the best hitter in baseball. He’s just not going to get enough infield hits to accomplish that goal."

Said Wooten,"It would have to be somebody that hits from the left side because of the first baseman holding a runner on more often. So if he does roll one over, there are some cheaper hits."

    Baseball is a long season, so maintaining a healthy hitting clip isn’t easy.

Said Wooten,"I mean if you think about it, you have to hit .400. Basically you have to average .400 for six months in-a-row, which is just mind-boggling."

    But what if someone got to .400 in September?

Said Shines,"If he’s up there in September hitting .400, then he’s going to have a chance to do it. Because first of all, people are not going to pitch to him, and he’s going to take his walks."

Added Wooten,"The .400 mark. Gosh. That would be awesome. It would be awesome to watch."