batting average

[HMatsui]

Taking into account every single 5-year stretch in the 20th century (ie. 1900-1904, 1901-1905, 1902-1906, etc. etc.), who are the only two players to lead the majors in batting average over a particle 5-year stretch and not be in the Hall of Fame (Hall-eligible players only)?

An example of a 5-year stretch, for clarification: Charlie Gehringer lead all of baseball with a .347 avg. from 1933-1937....but of course, he's in the HOF

[RockieBill]

Hi, HMatsui, and welcome to the boards!
Would this be correct? -
1928-1932 Lefty O'Doul .365
1940-1944 Dixie Walker .315
1941-1945 Dixie Walker .313

:biggrin:

[HMatsui]

Very good Rock,
The often over-looked Dixie Walker, who's 5-year total of .313 from 1941-1945 also happens to be the lowest 5-year total in the century (of course, credit for this goes to war vets Ted Williams, DiMaggio, etc.). And, of course, Lefy O'Doul was correct!
Great work -- I'll work on some more for you

[Baseball Guru]

That was great work Bill...How the heck did you get that??

I had no idea on this one...

Great question...

[RockieBill]

Ha ha, I'm not tellin'! :eviltongu

Actually, known as a "year leader" stat (three or five year leader being most common), one of those great Bill James tools. They've been compiled for every stat you can think of (and maybe some you can't), though not readily available on the web. Besides scrounging for Bill James books and other SABR publications, many of the stats can be found at http://www.thebaseballpage.com/ . Check out the StatsCenter. This is a very informative site.

[Baseball Guru]

Thank you Bill for the site....Very interesting page...Nice and informative....Thanks:biggrin: