Hitting 0.400 is hard. How about 0.390?

Photo Courtesy: SABR

The last player to hit 0.400 was Ted Williams in 1941. It hasn't happened since.

Check out his running batting average throughout the season. With the exception of a 9 game stretch in the middle of the season and the first 28 games, his average was above 0.400 consistently.

Let's lower the bar slightly to 0.390+ and check the list at different periods throughout each season since 1950. 

50 GAMES INTO SEASON

200+ Plate Appearances

*  28 players

*  Rod Carew is on the list 3 times

*  Wade Boggs twice

75 GAMES INTO SEASON

300+ Plate Appearances

*  Tony Gwynn twice

100 GAMES INTO SEASON

400+ Plate Appearances

125 GAMES INTO SEASON

500+ Plate Appearances

AVERAGE AT/ABOVE 0.390 AND UNDER 0.400 AT END OF SEASON SINCE 1950

Tony Gwynn          1994                0.394

George Brett          1980                0.390 

Look at the running averages for Brett and Gwynn. Gwynn had a handful of games in the first month of the season above 0.400 then consistently stayed in the 0.385 range before ending at 0.394.  Brett started off very slow then quickly climbed to 0.401 by game 82 and stayed around 0.400 for roughly 20 games before ending at 0.390