Here's a good question for you. Do you remember the last ballplayer to hit .400 in a season? Here's a clue. It hasn't happened in over 66 years. Give up? It was Ted Williams in 1941. Oh, several ballplayers have flirted with the mark since then. But for the last 67 seasons, no one has equaled Williams' feat.

The most recent ballplayer to even come close to hitting .400 in a season was George Brett back in 1980 when he ended the season with a .390 average. Oftentimes during the season he did top the mark but it didn't last. Several have hit in the .370's and .380's, but none have gotten as close to Williams' mark as Brett did. And it's really no surprise the way the strategies of the game have changed in that period of time.

I'm sure that some of you could contend that baseball has or hasn't seen any hitters equaling the caliber of Ted Williams, but regardless of talent factors, facts are facts. Pitching is the major factor that has seen averages continually shrink. Remember that when Williams did this, there were no middle relievers and very few closers. Oh there were relief pitchers or pitchers who were bestowed that status, but at times, the role of a reliever fell on the shoulders of a starting pitcher, and some would show up as early as two or three innings into the game.

Of all the current (active) ballplayers today, Ichiro Suzuki has a career highest .333 average and is ranked 23rd out of the top 100 hitters. Even Babe Ruth with his .342 career average is ranked 10th. Sitting atop the list of the top 100 averages for a career is a gentleman named Ty Cobb with his .366 ahead of the second place Rogers Hornsby at .358 and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson sits just behind Hornsby at .356 in third place.

Oddly enough, when you look at the highest overall averages in either league each decade from 2000 back to 1910 in 10 year increments, it starts off in 2000 with .372, drops to .335 in 1990, back up to .390 in 1980, slips to .366 in 1970, drops again to .325 in 1960, jumps to .354 in 1950, barely drops to .352 in 1940, jumps to .401 in 1930, jumps again to .407 in 1920, and falls slightly to .383 in 1910.

So there are peaks and valleys when you track this, but if you'll notice the trend from 1970 back to 1910, except for a .002 slip between 1950 and 1940 all it does is climb every year.
Remember also that the Dead Ball Era ended in roughly 1919 or 1920 and the Lively Ball (or Long Ball) Era began in 1921, thank you very much Babe Ruth.

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