.406

BY KEVIN KERNAN

The best thing about Aaron Judge flirting with .400 after Memorial Day is that it brings the spotlight back on Ted Williams batting .406 in 1941, the last major league player to hit .400.

Amazingly, Ted did not even win AL MVP that year.

That award went to Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio for his 56-game hitting streak, .406 and 56, two forever baseball numbers from 1941.

I was around the great Tony Gwynn in 1994 in San Diego and Tony gave .400 a go, batting .394 and as only baseball can do, it ruined the party with the players’ strike.

Those were contentious times in MLB and Gwynn’s Padres had just gone through another fire-sale, thanks to owner Tom Werner, who still is weaving his baseball tapestry with the dysfunctional Red Sox – who cannot even get their highest paid player Rafael Devers to put on a baseball glove. Gwynn’s Padres were 47-70 in that strike-shortened season, and I truly believe Gwynn would have hit .400 that year if it were a full season.

Gwynn was that team’s only bright spot. Ted and Tony spent time together talking hitting and those conversations were precious.

“Sooner or later, somebody is going to do it,’’ Gwynn offered at the time of someone hitting .400 someday.

We are still waiting. And here we are with Aaron Judge, another player I covered on a daily basis, flirting with .400. Yes, Judge is a massive power hitter, but he has worked to become a tremendous overall hitter, too. The Hall of Famer Gwynn, who died in 2014, used a bat he called a “pea shooter,’ shooting the baseball where he wanted to place it on the field. That is how he won eight batting titles. One of Tony’s wonderful hitting observations was “There’s a lot of green out there.’’

Tony Gwynn would find the green.

That is something Aaron Judge is doing more of this year and that is why he has a chance to hit .400 if he takes his walks and takes his singles. Judge went into Wednesday night’s action batting .395 and although Judge gets a ton of media attention, I don’t think he is getting nearly as much attention as he should for hovering around .400, especially in this day and age where hitters cannot hit for average.

Judge owns a 1.234 OPS going into Wednesday. Ted Williams finished the 1941 campaign with a 1.287 OPS.

The Splendid Splinter was a slugger too, although he did not match up physically with Judge – no one does–  for Judge is baseball’s Paul Bunyan. In 1941, Williams hit 37 home runs, 33 doubles and three triples. Williams walked 147 times that season as well.

Judge is capable of having that many walks this year, especially when you consider he walked 133 times in 2024.

Again, the last 84 years no one in baseball has hit .400 and that is why I’m surprised there is not more attention on Judge’s batting average.

When it comes to offense right now, Judge is the better player.

What he is doing this season is stunning in so many ways. The way the World Series ended for the Yankees and Judge has added another emotional gear to Judge’s game this season. Juan Soto jumping to the Mets has also supplied an added boost in productivity and focus. As I write this, Judge’s batting average is. 171 points higher than Soto’s average and I get the feeling that Judge is just fine with how the Soto Saga worked out for the Yankees.

To top it off, the Yankees and Dodgers will meet this weekend at Dodger Stadium for the first time since the World Series so the attention on Judge will ramp with Judge and Shohei Ohtani facing off again.

When it comes to offense right now, Judge is the better player. Ohtani leads baseball with 20 home runs, but Judge is right behind with 18. Ohtani has 35 RBIs, Judge has 47. Ohtani is batting .292 so Judge is 103 points higher. Ohtani does have 11 stolen bases, but Judge can steal a base when needed and has four.

Judge signed a nine-year, $360 million contract with the Yankees after becoming a free agent. Ohtani, a designated hitter, signed that 10-year, $700 million contract.

“Ohtani signed that contract under the premise he was going to be a pitcher too,’’ a top talent evaluator told BallNine on Wednesday. “Aaron Judge goes out and plays a Gold Glove caliber right field, is a better hitter, hits as many home runs and drives in more runs. He is a leader on the field and in the clubhouse, Ohtani is not, so if one is more valuable than the other, in my opinion, it’s Aaron Judge.’’

That is one strong statement. Ohtani will be back on the mound this season at some point and that will be fascinating to watch.

Judge will be in right field at Dodger Stadium over the weekend for the first time since tearing a ligament in his big toe in 2023 when he slammed into a curb-like feature out there, an injury that cost him 42 games. In the World Series, Judge was in center field, and Soto was in right. Judge made a critical error in Game 5, but he is back where he belongs back in right field.

Ohtani has the World Series ring that Judge so desperately wants to win.

Ted Williams’ Red Sox never won a World Series on his way to the Hall of Fame. Aaron Judge needs the Yankees to be back in the World Series this year and win it, something the Yankees have not done since 2009.

The Yankees are on an EZ-Pass Road to the postseason because the AL East is basically now the AL Central. They have a huge lead already, as the 28-27 Rays are the only other AL East team over .500. That is so embarrassing for the once mighty division, but it goes along with what I have been saying for years, eventually all the Nerd teams are going cancel each other out and that is certainly the case in the AL East.

The Red Sox, led by a Yalie, who used to be called the Smartest Man in Baseball by a number of writers when he was an MLB relief pitcher, Craig Breslow, is Ivy League smart but has shown himself not to be “baseball smart’’ and there is a big difference as the Red Sox stumble along with a 27-31 record.

The Red Sox inefficiencies and re-inventing of the wheel are present everywhere, especially after Breslow forced out many of those in the Red Sox who were responsible for acquiring the young talent the Red Sox are bragging about now and the fans are eagerly awaiting to come up to the majors like Roman Anthony.

Boston, though, has a Dr. FrankenNerd approach to hitting that clearly is driving Hall of Famer Jim Rice a bit crazy. Nearly every night he is on the Red Sox postgame, Rice blurts out he does not understand the Red Sox approach to hitting, saying they often swing too hard, do not hit the ball to all fields and have way too big of swings up and down the lineup.

He is only a Hall of Famer, so what does he know?

The Red Sox are 21st in baseball with runners in scoring position with a .232 average and collectively their No. 4 hitter is 28th with a .190 average.

That lack of clutch hitting has shown itself in the Red Sox 6-15 record in one-run games.

The Nerds believe RBIs are a matter of luck and they do not believe in the importance of batting average, either. I have not even started talking about the Red Sox pitching woes. I will save that for a future column.

The Orioles were supposed to contend in the AL East and they are even a bigger joke than the Red Sox, dead last in the division. The Blue Jays, as usual, are not even worth talking about, and the Rays continue to be a nice little baseball sideshow, that is who they are because ownership does not pay to keep big talent around.

Think of the Rays as the AL East’s forever summer intern.

Judge is succeeding for himself and his team, and for Judge to be even around .400 after Memorial Day is an amazing story. There is double pressure on Judge from a team and personal perspective and clearly team success is his No. 1 goal.

In 1941 there was no such team pressure on young Ted Williams, who turned 23 on August 30th of that season. Yes, they finished in second place, but the 101-win Yankees won the AL pennant by 17 games over the 84-win Red Sox.

Boston writer Leigh Montville, who I knew from my many days spent covering Boston teams, especially the Larry Bird Celtics, did some wonderful reporting in his book “Ted Williams’’ which had a fascinating chapter on the 1941 .406 masterpiece.

This is a small point, but it is something I forgot.

In 1941, sacrifice flies were counted as a time at-bat, not like today, and then Red Sox manager Joe Cronin estimated that in that season Ted produced “at least’’ 12 sacrifice flies, which would have driven his average all the way up to .419 from .406.

Ted not only hit .406 in 1941, but his on-base percentage was .553.

Williams, famously could have sat out the final day of the 1941 season, missing a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, managed by Connie Mack, because he was technically at .400, but Teddy Ballgame went for the gold. Picking up six hits on the final day, four in the first game to seal the .400 deal. Only 10,268 fans were there to witness Ted’s .406 finish on a 6-for-8 day and some of them ran onto the field to congratulate him. Montville wrote Williams had to grab his hat so it wouldn’t be stolen and had to fight his way to the clubhouse to celebrate with his teammates.

At the time, Williams was really proud of the achievement but not over the moon. Eleven years earlier the New York Giants Bill Terry had hit .401.

“I’ll tell you this,’’ Williams, always hardcore honest, said years later, “If I had known how much it was going to mean, I would have thought about (sitting out) a lot more.’’

But on the last day of the regular season in 1941 the goal was in his sights. A’s owner and manager Connie Mack changed the schedule that final weekend, dropping the Friday night game and making Sunday a doubleheader with the hopes of drawing a bigger crowd to Shibe Park.

Instead of sitting around or going to a western on Friday to relax, Williams went to the ballpark for extra batting practice. It paid off in a way no one would have guessed back then for the world was about to drastically change.

The 1941 season ended with Ted Williams batting a magical .406. Eight decades later baseball is still waiting for its next .400 hitter.