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Best Year in Baseball History?

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Sloopy45

Sloopy45

Pimp Minister Sinister
I don't think these two can be topped, but if you want to post some good ones to go along with it or some notable ones, feel free:

Babe Ruth, 1921: 177 Runs, 204 Hits, 44 2B, 16 3B, 59 HR, 171 RBI, 17 Stolen Bases, 145 BB, .378 AVG, .512 OBP, .846 SLG, & 457 Total Bases.

By far the best season in baseball history. And as # 2, I'll take this one, even though he's light on the HRs (not for the time, however):

Ty Cobb, 1911: 147 Runs, 248 Hits, 47 2B, 24 3B, 8 HR, 127 RBI, 83 Stolen Bases, 44 BB, .420 AVG, .467 OBP, .621 SLG, & 367 Total Bases.
 
I like Teddy Ballgame's 1941 season but I'm a little biased:

135 runs, 185 hits, 33 2B, 3 3B, 37 HR, 120 RBIs, 2 SB, 145 BB, 27 SO, .406 AVG, .551 OBP, .735 SLG, & 335 TB (143 games played)

The following year ('42) Ted went on to win a triple crown with compareable HR & RBI stats but batted 50 points less.


As much as I hate Barry Bonds, the seasons he's been putting up over the last 3 years deserve some mention.
 
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Sears,

The 56-game streak was also in 1941, and it gets way too much attention. JoeD didn't come close to winning the batting title, so what was the point? Hitting streaks are so loved by the media, though.
 
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BB: "The 56-game streak was also in 1941, and it gets way too much attention."

No way, dude. 56 & .406 are both MONUMENTAL accomplishments. No one's come close to either in over 60 years!!

To put it in better perspective, if George Brett had gotten 5 more hits in 1980, he would've hit .400. If the players hadn't gone on strike in 1994, Tony Gwynn would've had a shot at .400. No one's even approached 56: Rose had 44 and Molitor had 39 and that's still a long way's away.

sears: "As much as I hate Barry Bonds, the seasons he's been putting up over the last 3 years deserve some mention."

Bonds, 2001: 129 Runs, 156 Hits, 32 2B, 73 HR, 137 RBI, 13 SB, 177 BB, .328 AVG, .515 OBP, .863(!) SLG, and 411 Total Bases. Monster Year.

Outside of Homers, this one might be better:

Bonds, 2002: 117 Runs, 149 Hits, 31 2B, 46 HR, 110 RBI, 198(!) BB, .370 AVG, .582(!) OBP, .799(!) SLG, and 322 Total Bases.

In two years, Bonds set the single season record in Homers, Walks, OBP (which was .582, think about that: he gets on base in 58% of his plate appearences!), and SLG PCT. He's the only man in baseball history to slug .800 or better besides Babe Ruth.
 
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Here's a curve.....

Johnny Vander Meer's 1938 season... 15-10 with 16 complete games, a 3.12 era and of course........Back to back no-hitters.

Well, maybe not the greatest numbers ever but I just had to mention Vander Meer. Really an underated pitcher. No one will EVER throw three straight no-hitters.

I'm sorry guys....I shouldn't be trying to hijack your thread.
 
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ash: "I'm sorry guys....I shouldn't be trying to hijack your thread."

Post away, my man. This thread would be pretty boring if only two people responded.

A funny thing about VanderMeer's record: one of the no-hitters came during the first night game ever at Ebbett's Field.
 
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Orel Hershiser 1988...he was amazing all year

23-8 267 IP 2.26 ERA


Hershiser was close to unstoppable in 1988. Perhaps no other pitcher has ever finished a season the way Hershiser finished his remarkable 1988 campaign. After pitching five consecutive shutouts, the sinkerballer broke former Dodger Don Drysdale's record 58.2-inning scoreless streak by one out (giving him 59 innings) with a ten-inning scoreless, no-decision effort in his final start of the season at San Diego. With his eight shutout innings in the LCS opener against the Mets, he went 67 innings without being scored upon. He picked up a save against the Mets in Game Four the day after a start, finished the Mets off with a shutout in Game Seven, and followed with another against the Athletics in the World Series en route to becoming the first NL player to win the MVP in both postseason series. In the one series game he batted in (Game Two), he went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a run, and an RBI while surrendering only three hits, all to Dave Parker.
 
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We could get really nostalgic... but one of my favorites... (And I hate this guy, and I hate the Bo Sox... Sorry Sears)

Pedro in 2000, went 18-6... 1.74 ERA opponents hit .167 against him 284 K's.

'99 was similiar at 23-4 and 2.07, 313K's

You can find numbers in history that compare to these, but they mostly happend in 1968... these numbers are so far belwo the league average those years... it ridiculous.

Elias Sports Bureau ranked 2000 Pedro is the second greatest season ever after the aforementioned Babe Ruth tilt.

FWIW, I would take Ruth '21 as the best.
 
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As far as pitching goes, I'd like to nominate Bob Gibson's 1968 season:

22-9, 28 CG, 13 SHO, 304.7 IP, 0.853 WHIP, 268 SO, 1.12 ERA

Another interesting note about Gibson's year was that his manager never had to come to the mound to take the ball from him in any game. Gibson started 34 games in 1968 and completed 28 of them. The other 6 games he was pinch-hit for.
 
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AKAK: "Elias Sports Bureau ranked 2000 Pedro is the second greatest season ever after the aforementioned Babe Ruth tilt."

Really? I had no idea .. Ruth '21 has to top the list. I mean, all around, you just can't beat it. He tops every big mark by a mile: 100+ runs (170+ Runs, in fact), 200+ Hits, .378 AVG, etc. AND HE EVEN HAD 16 TRIPLES!!

Pedro should've won the MVP in '99 and '00 (Pudge and Giambi beat him out those years). On the days that he took the mound those years, the Red Sox were the best team in baseball (and was one of the worst on the other four, but that's another story).

How bout a couple of Randy Johnson years to compare with Pedro?

RJ, '01: 21-6, 372 K's, 2.49 ERA
RJ, '02: 24-5, 334 K's 2.32 ERA

One last thing about Pedro: IMO (not counting a salary dump), the worst trade of the 90's: In 1994, the L.A. Dodgers trade a 21 year old pitcher, Pedro Martinez to the Expos for Journeyman 2B Delino DeShields. That was bad.
 
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Like I said "Mostly they happened in '68"

Well... On The Unit... To be honest I didn't eve really view the guy as a serious HOFcandidate until after 2002... Anyhow we're talking seasons... they were great records for RJ... I tend to think that K's are one of the more overrated stats in Baseball... (and Underrated for hitters)... I tink those were good years, but not necessarily monumental.
 
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AKAK: "On The Unit... To be honest I didn't eve really view the guy as a serious HOFcandidate until after 2002... "

That may be true, but he's beyond a shoe-in no-doubter now. Five Cy Youngs (including 4 straight), a World Series MVP, a Pitching Triple Crown in 2002, 4 ERA Titles, EIGHT strikeout Titles, six seasons with 300+ K's, and fourth all-time in strikeouts. That's a pretty impressive resume.
 
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This is the best statistical season (for a hitter) outside of Bonds in our lifetime. Its Colorado-inflated, but still fun to look at:

Larry Walker, '97: 143 Runs, 208 Hits, 46 2B, 49 HR, 130 RBI, 33 Stolen Bases, 78 BB, .366 AVG, .452 OBP, .720 SLG, & 409 TB.
 
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