With the rise of the “slash line” that displays batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, and specifically with the Moneyball era recognition that on-base percentage is probably a better measure of offensive production, batting average doesn’t hold the lofty status it once did. That said, it’s long been accepted that a .300 career average makes a player a virtual lock for the Hall of Fame.
The legendary Ty Cobb laughed at .300. The only time Cobb was held below it in 24 big league seasons was during a 41-game stretch as an 18-year-old rookie in 1905. By the time he retired in 1928 at the age of 41, Cobb had amassed a big league record .366 batting average that still stands as the greatest in Major League history.
He won the American League batting title 12 times in his career and led the Majors in hitting ten times. He surpassed .400 in three seasons – including a career best .420 in 1911, which is the eighth best single-season average in history.
Rogers Hornsby sits behind Ty Cobb in the record books with a .359 career average – a full seven points lower. The great Ted Williams ranks seventh at .344. The closest anyone has come in the last quarter century was Tony Gwynn at .338, and today’s active leader is Miguel Cabrera at .320. Simply, no one is going to take Cobb’s batting average record anytime soon – probably ever.
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