Most Excitement?

[Appling]

I wonder: which hitting achievement would cause the most excitement if it happened this coming season:

• 75 homeruns
• .430 batting average?
• 195 Runs-Batted In?
• Other?

I do believe timing is everything. A 75 homerun season would probably rank #1 if it occured before 1998, but I'm not so sure today.

[DoubleX]

I think batting .430 would generate a lot of attention. Heck, a player batting .390 but flirted with .400 until the few games, would be extremely interesting.

[torez77]

Gotta give it to the .430 BA. Heck, .400 would cause enough excitement, let alone .430. It's been 65 years since anyone's hit .400. It's been even longer since someone's drove in 190+ runs, but I believe the BA record is more hallowed than the RBI record. 70 HR's was just done four years ago, and that's lost some of its luster now because of all the steroid issues.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

I voted "other" for 56 being broke. As soon as someone gets to 29 or 30 it becomes big news, and it would only build from there. It would be huge, especially if it was a likeable player like Pujols or someone.

[torez77]

I voted "other" for 56 being broke. As soon as someone gets to 29 or 30 it becomes big news, and it would only build from there. It would be huge, especially if it was a likeable player like Pujols or someone.

Well, yeah, I guess I forgot about "The Streak." I just ignored "Other" and chose one of the 4 visible options. "The Streak" and .400 are pretty close in their magnitude. I think .400 is the more impressive achievement, personally. Of course, if someone breaks the streak, they may also hit .400.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Of course, if someone breaks the streak, they may also hit .400.

That's actually very unlikely. In order to get the streak, it's gonna have to be a hitter that doesn't take a lot of walks, and puts the ball in play. If that same hitter doesn't walk a lot, he'll have a high number of AB over the course of the entire season, and his chances for ending up with a high average are very slim. Look at Ichiro, he gets around 700 AB a year. No matter how good a hitter you are, the law of averages just kills you when there's that many AB.

[Appling]

DiMaggio's season of 1941 is probably a good model for the future.
Joe hit over .400 during the streak, but only .357 for the full season.

[west coast orange and black]

Joe hit over .400 during the streak, but only .357 for the full 154... and teddy ballgame hit .407 that same season.

[KHenry14]

I voted for the triple crown only because I think that's the only one that's likely to happen.

KH14

[KCGHOST]

I went with the .430 because it is so far off the chart.

[Blackout]

.406 actually

[mlazar]

I believe the biggest excitement would be after Jason Kendall belts his 76th home run the final game of 2006, keeping Jonny Gomes from winning the Triple Crown after a monster year of .430, 75 Hr's, 195 rbi's...

[west coast orange and black]

i went with a triple crown season. 2 of the 3 legs are "individual" achievements.

75 ding dongs would merely arouse suspicion, even if it was the angelic pujols.
195 rbi has much to do with the team being an incredible machine.
batting .430 would be an amzing achievement, but anticlimatic. now, sittin' on .399 going into the final game is another matter.

[Appling]

I went with the .430 because it is so far off the chart.

It's only four point better than Lajoie did in 1901.

[Appling]

That's actually very unlikely. In order to get the streak, it's gonna have to be a hitter that doesn't take a lot of walks, and puts the ball in play. If that same hitter doesn't walk a lot, he'll have a high number of AB over the course of the entire season, and his chances for ending up with a high average are very slim.

Maybe not. A guy could hit over .400 during a hot spell and maintain a hitting streak -- getting lots of AB in each game -- then get injured and finish the season with barely enough PA to qualify for the batting crown.

Or maybe his hitting streak earns so much respect that he then gets lots of walks (ala Berry Bonds).