Fansided

Top 25 MLB batting seasons of all time

By Joshua Sadlock

American baseball player George Herman Ruth (1895 - 1948) known as 'Babe' Ruth. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)
American baseball player George Herman Ruth (1895 - 1948) known as 'Babe' Ruth. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images) /
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CLEVELAND, OH – MAY 10, 1935: Lou Gehrig at bat Indians vs, Yankees, League Park. Gehrig homered in the first inning as the Yankees defeated the Indians 6-3. (Photo by Louis Van Oeyen/Western Reserve Historical Society/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – MAY 10, 1935: Lou Gehrig at bat Indians vs, Yankees, League Park. Gehrig homered in the first inning as the Yankees defeated the Indians 6-3. (Photo by Louis Van Oeyen/Western Reserve Historical Society/Getty Images) /

8. Lou Gehrig, 1934

  • The Numbers: MLB Triple Crown, .363/.465/.706, 49 homers, 166 RBI, 409 total bases

Gehrig completed one of the rarest feats in baseball in 1934 — the MLB Triple Crown, not just an individual league Triple Crown. His 166 RBI are the most ever in a Triple Crown season, and his 49 home runs are tied with Frank Robinson who hit 49 while winning the Triple Crown in 1966.

Gehrig also led MLB in on-base and slugging percentage in 1934, but somehow finished fifth in the AL MVP voting behind three members of the Detroit Tigers. Mickey Cochrane won the award while finishing with an OPS that was almost lower than Gehrig’s slugging percentage. Gehrig lost out on the award because 1934 was one of the rare years in the 1930s that the Yankees did not win the World Series.

In 1934, Gehrig batted below .350 in only one month and drove in more than 30 runs in four months. This was perhaps not his best season in terms of the advanced metrics that have been retroactively applied to his statistics, but it is his best season on this list due to the fact that it is his only Triple Crown year and possibly the most dominant Triple Crown season ever. Gehrig’s 1934 season is certainly the biggest MVP snub in MLB history based on who beat him.

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