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Williams' Epic Final Day: Hit .406!
17 Mar
Summary
- Ted Williams finished 1941 hitting .406 after a 6-for-8 final day.
- He chose to play rather than rest and preserve his average.
- This feat made him the first to hit over .400 since 1930.
In 1941, Ted Williams faced a significant choice on the final day of the baseball season. With his team out of contention, the young slugger was on the cusp of a historic .400 batting average. His average of .39955 would have been rounded up to .400 had he sat out the day's games.
However, Williams opted to play, demonstrating his commitment to hitting excellence. He went 6-for-8 in the doubleheader, including his 37th home run, ultimately finishing the season with an outstanding .406 average. This made him the first player in over a decade to achieve such a feat.
Since 1941, only a few players have come close to this .400 mark. In 1957, Ted Williams himself hit .388, and Rod Carew achieved the same .388 average in 1977. These instances highlight the rarity and difficulty of maintaining such a high batting average over an entire season.
