List of Major League Baseball players with a .400 batting average in a season


In baseball, batting average is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat, and is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats. The achievement of a.400 batting average in a season is recognized as "the standard of hitting excellence", in light of how batting.300 in a season is already regarded as solid. Twenty players have recorded a batting average of at least.400 in a single Major League Baseball season as of 2018, the last being Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox in 1941. Three players – Ed Delahanty, Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby – have accomplished the feat in three different seasons, and no player has ever hit over.440, a single-season record established by Hugh Duffy in 1894. Ross Barnes was the first player to bat.400 in a season, posting a.429 batting average in the National League's inaugural 1876 season.
In total, 20 players have reached the.400 mark in MLB history and five have done so more than once. Of these, ten were right-handed batters, nine were left-handed, and one was a switch hitter, meaning he could bat from either side of the plate. Two of these players played for only one major league team. The Philadelphia Phillies are the only franchise to have four players reach the milestone while on their roster: Delahanty, Billy Hamilton, Sam Thompson, and Tuck Turner, all of whom attained a batting average over.400 during the 1894 season. Three players won the Most Valuable Player Award in the same year as their.400 season. Tip O'Neill, Nap Lajoie, and Hornsby are the only players to have earned the Triple Crown alongside achieving a.400 batting average, leading their respective leagues in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. Although Shoeless Joe Jackson's.408 batting average in 1911 did not earn him the American League's batting title, it established a major league record for a rookie that stands to this day. Fred Dunlap has the lowest career batting average among players who have batted.400 in a season with.292, while Cobb – with.366 – recorded the highest career average in major league history.
Due to the 75 years that have elapsed since Williams became the last player to achieve the feat and the integral changes to the way the game of baseball is played since then – such as the increased utilization of specialized relief pitchers – a writer for The Washington Post called the mark "both mystical and unattainable". Consequently, modern day attempts to reach the hallowed mark by Rod Carew, George Brett and Tony Gwynn have generated considerable hype among fans and in the media. Of the seventeen players eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame who have batted.400 in a season, fourteen have been elected and two were elected on the first ballot. Players are eligible for the Hall of Fame if they have played in at least 10 MLB seasons, and have either been retired for five seasons or deceased for at least six months. These requirements leave two players ineligible – Barnes and Turner – who did not play in at least 10 seasons. Shoeless Joe Jackson is ineligible for the Hall of Fame because he was permanently banned from baseball in 1921 for his involvement in the Black Sox Scandal.

Players

YearThe year of the player's.400 season
Player Name of the player and number of.400 seasons they had at that point
TeamThe player's team for his.400 season
NLNational League
ALAmerican League
AAAmerican Association
UAUnion Association
AVGThe player's batting average in that season
Career AVGThe player's batting average in his MLB career
§Denotes batting average that was part of a Triple Crown season
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

YearPlayerTeamLeagueAVGCareer AVGRef
Chicago White StockingsNL.429.360
St. Louis MaroonsUA.412.292
St. Louis BrownsAA.435.326
Louisville ColonelsAA.402.341
Boston BeaneatersNL.440.326
Philadelphia PhilliesNL.418.320
Philadelphia PhilliesNL.415.331
Philadelphia PhilliesNL.404.346
Philadelphia PhilliesNL.403.344
Cleveland SpidersNL.405.338
Philadelphia PhilliesNL.404.346
Cleveland SpidersNL.410.338
Baltimore OriolesNL.401.312
Baltimore OriolesNL.424.341
Philadelphia PhilliesNL.410.346
Philadelphia AthleticsAL.426.338
Detroit TigersAL.420.366
Cleveland NapsAL.408.356
Detroit TigersAL.409.366
St. Louis BrownsAL.407.340
St. Louis BrownsAL.420.340
St. Louis CardinalsNL.401.358
Detroit TigersAL.401.366
Detroit TigersAL.403.342
St. Louis CardinalsNL.424.358
St. Louis CardinalsNL.403.358
New York GiantsNL.401.341
Boston Red SoxAL.406.344