Baseball's Best Decade Read Online Free PDF Page A

114 RBIs in 1919. He raised his league-leading total to 137 in 1920, and broke the major league record with 171 RBIs in 1921. (He also scored 177 runs that season.) Ruth averaged over 133 RBIs per season during the 1920s, but 3 other players – Rogers Hornsby, Harry Heilmann and Bob Meusel – also drove in more than 1,000 runs during that decade. (Lou Gehrig averaged 138 RBIs during the 4 full seasons that he played in the 1920s.)
    In the years since the 1920s, the only time that the league RBI leaders have failed to drive in 100 or more was during the strike-shortened season of 1981, when Mike Schmidt led the National League with 91 RBIs and Eddie Murray topped the American League with 78. Though total run scoring in the major leagues has consistently increased with each decade except the 1940s, average runs per game reached its peak at 9.86 in the 1930s, when the single-season RBI records were set by Hack Wilson (NL) with 191 in 1930, and Lou Gehrig (AL) with 184 in 1931. They have not been bettered since.
     

     
    The other aspect of power hitting examined in the pages that follow is slugging average – the percentage of extra-base hits out of total hits and at-bats. While batting averages have generally declined over the last 8 decades, slugging averages have been at .370 or better in every decade except the 1940s.
    Babe Ruth was the first player to break the .700 barrier in slugging average, which he accomplished 9 times. Rogers Hornsby was the first National Leaguer to top .700 in slugging average, which he did twice. Lou Gehrig slugged for an average of .700 or better 3 times. Barry Bonds reached that mark 4 times … all after 2000.
     

     
    Half the decades have recorded slugging averages of .390 or better, with the 1980s coming close at .388. The most recent 2 decades are the first where the combined major league slugging averages topped .400. The major league slugging average has risen steadily since the 1960s, and dramatically in the last 3 decades – when the designated hitter has been in effect for the full decades.
     

     
    The presence of the designated hitter in American League lineups probably accounts more than any other single factor for the disparity in slugging percentages between the 2 major leagues during the last 3 decades. Another factor may be the American League expansion from 12 to 14 teams in 1977.
    This unilateral expansion necessarily diluted the talent pool among American League pitching staffs, and that – combined with a full decade of designated hitters – resulted in American League teams amassing over 60,000 more total bases than National League teams during the 1980s. The National League did not increase to 14 teams until 1993.
     
     

    After smashing the major league home run record with 29 in 1919, Babe Ruth averaged 47 home runs per season through the 1920s, while batting a combined .355 for the decade. He hit more than 50 home runs 4 times between 1920 and 1928.
     

    The Top Home Run Hitters for Each Decade: 1920s-1940s
     
    1920s
Babe Ruth
467
Rogers Hornsby
250
Lou Gehrig
146
Jim Bottomley
146
Bob Meusel
146
     
     
    193 0s
Jimmie Foxx
415
Lou Gehrig
347
Mel Ott
308
Wally Berger
241
Chuck Klein
238
     
     
    1940s
Ted Williams
234
Johnny Mize
217
Rudy York
189
Joe Gordon
181
Joe DiMaggio
180
     

    During the 1920s, Rogers Hornsby led the National League in home runs twice and in runs batted in 4 times. He led the league in slugging average 8 times during that decade.
     

    Babe Ruth tops all major league hitters in the number of seasons batting .300 or better with at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. The Babe had 12 such seasons. Lou Gehrig had 10.
     
      
    During the 1920s, the only two players to hit more home runs in a season than Babe Ruth were Ken Williams (left) of the St. Louis Browns in 1922 and fellow Yankee Bob Meusel in 1925.
     

    As a home run hitter in the 1930s, Jimmie Foxx was a worthy successor to Babe Ruth. Foxx averaged 42 home runs per season, topping