It’s September 28, 1941 and a young Ted Williams has his eyes set on history. Entering this doubleheader Williams sat at an unheard of average of .39955 just .00045 below the hallowed .400 mark. In eight at-bats against the Athletics at Shibe Park that day, he cemented his legacy.
With Williams being the last hitter to surpass the .400 mark in the last 79 years many believe it won’t ever happen again. That is until Charlie “Chuck Nasty” Blackmon decided to rake.
After a “slow” start to the season blackmon has since been a man on a mission. Since July 26th Blackmon is on a 15 game hitting streak. With a stat line of .472/.506/1.187 Blackmon might just mess around and become the first hitter to break the .500 mark while hes at it. This should come as no surprise since he has consistently displayed himself as an elite hitter. Chuck Nasty is so elite that his lowest career average is .287. Don’t believe that Charlie Blackmon is next in line to be a .400 king? Just take a look at how he is approaching each at-bat this season.
Not only is his approach going all over the field beating the wretched lefty shift but his strike outs are down and his walk are actually up. I know what your thinking ” Seymour how are you saying this its only been 17 games of course his strike outs are down and his walks are up”. To that I say this “Lets break this down from a fundamental stand point”.
Charlie Blackmon a man on a Rampage
for this we will only account for his last two seasons (2018 and 2019). In each of those seasons Blackmons first 17 games are as different as night and day when comparing his SO and BB’s. Combining 2018 and 2019 his split of SO and BB’s are 31/13. That means out of 64 AB’s Blackmon struck out 48% of the time. meaning he was hit or SO. Now in 2020 Blackmon has only struck out eight times out of 68 at bats bringing his strikeout percentage to an absolute mind boggling 12%. For a better picture lets compare this to the G.O.A.T.
MIke Trout as great as he is must bend the knee to Chuck Nasty. Through Trouts first 15 games he has struck out 18 times out of 61 ABs. Displaying a nearly 30% strike out percentage compare that to Blackmons 11% and its like comparing apples to oranges.
Why His Season Should Count
I understand that its only 60 games and that Blackmons season shouldn’t be counted but i believe people are missing the point. Hes not doing this on pure luck. Just take a look at these splits. Chuck Nasty is doing it no matter the count.
Also for all of you Coors Field haters out there here is his home and away splits.
Nearly identical! so you can take that “Coors Park Buff” talk and take it somewhere else.
The Wrap-Up
what really needs to happen is we need to step back and appreciate the history we are witnessing. Blackmons 2020 season should be one that is remembered in the histroy books with the likes of Williams. For those that are saying that its just a 60 game season need to realize that he still has to go out there and preform. In 17 games hes had 72 ABs and if he continues to play like he has he’ll finish the season with 252 ABs. Which should be seen as more then enough to be considered a legit season.
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