It was 70 years ago Ted Williams set a baseball record that has been untouched by any professional since, hitting .400 for a season. The Boston great actually hit .406 in 1941.
As the 2011 season ended, another record was set that probably won't be broken for a while. LA Dodgers infielder Eugenio Velez set a two dubious marks for futility.
Velez grounded out to second as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning of Dodgers forgettable regular-season finale.
That meant he finished the season with a .000 batting average. That's right.
The LA infielder went 0-for-37 for the year, the most at-bats in a hitless season by a non-pitcher.
But Velez also broke the modern-day major league record for a non-pitcher by going hitless in 46 consecutive at-bats.
Ouch!
Actually, he hasn't recorded a hit since May 2010.
The previous record of 45 straight hit-less at-bats belonged to Pittsburgh's Bill Bergen (1909), Dave Campbell who played for San Diego and St. Louis (1973) and Milwaukee's Craig Counsell (this season).
Velez hasn't always been horrible at the plate. In his first three season with San Francisco, he batted a respectable .264.
So I suggest admiring this recording setting bad season, since the chances are good we won't see a swing do so little for a long time.
1 comment:
So Dodgie
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