I think we all know that Babe Ruth was probably the greatest offensive player in the history of baseball. Ted Williams was probably second, and Ty Cobb, Barry Bonds, and Lou Gehrig round out my own personal top five. The numbers these guys put up during their careers were astounding, but are sometimes difficult to fully appreciate out of context.
What’s not difficult to appreciate is a truly great season. Last year, Albert Pujols led baseball with 47 homers. Joe Mauer led baseball with a .365 average, and Ryan Howard led baseball with 145 RBI. What if I told you a player had hit over .380, with 40 homers, and 170 RBI, and still missed this list? It happened. That was Chuck Klein in 1930. Of course, that was the year of the hitter. The league average BA was over .300, and he didn’t lead the league in any of the three categories. Someone else was better (and that someone made the list). But even so, Klein hit .386, with 40 and 170, and didn’t make this list. These seasons are really, really good.