MINNEAPOLIS _ There was a 10-year period in which Joe Mauer was one of the elite hitters in baseball. But even with a line-drive swing, the willingness to hit the ball the other way, a keen eye at the plate and a proven two-strike approach, Mauer never got close to batting .400 or better in a season.
Reaching .400 isn't easy. No one in the major leagues has done it since Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941. Rod Carew hit .388 in 1977. George Brett hit .390 in 1980. Tony Gwynn was batting .394 when the players strike ended the 1994 season in mid-August. Those have been the best runs at the hallowed mark since World War II.
But, as players return to baseball stadiums around the country to train for a coronavirus-shortened season, there is chatter about the conditions being right for someone batting .400.
To do it over 162-game season seems more unreachable as baseball evolves. Launch angles, defensive shifting and power bullpens are a thing now. But how about over a 60-game season?
"There's a better chance of it happening," Mauer said. "It's still a very tough thing to do."
In 2009, Mauer roared out of the gate batting .407 over his first 46 games before dipping under .400 and finishing at a career-high .365 to win his third AL batting title. The next season, Texas' Josh Hamilton batted .359 _ the last player to hit more than .350 in a season.
