Sox duo in batting champ race… again
Posted on August 18, 2008
Filed Under 2008 Season | 2 Comments
‘Bottom Line Rob’ will be chiming in from time to time with the occasional tid-bit or Sox-related ramble… Check in daily for more from BL Rob at The Bottom Line blog.
In 2003 the unlikely duo of Bill Mueller and Manny Ramirez battled through September for the AL batting title… Mueller eventually squeezed out the trophy, beating Manny by one point – .326 to .325. On the second to last day of the season, Mueller went 1 for 3, putting him at .327, and Manny 1 for 2 leaving him at .325… Both players were given the final game of the year off, but Mueller was called off the bench to pinch hit for David Ortiz – he did not get a hit, but managed to keep his average one point higher than Manny’s and win the title.
Fast forward to 2008 and you’ll find two Red Sox players leading the AL in batting average – Dustin Pedroia tied for 1st with Joe Mauer at .321 and Kevin Youkilis right behind them at .320. Both players have been OBP machines in their short careers (.363 OPB & 3.84 – respectively), but Youkilis has made a habit of tapering off in the second half of the season… Even with his insane numbers this August (.396 BA, 1.269 OPS), Youk currently owns a mediocre .258 career BA after the All-Star break.
When you couple that factoid with Pedroia’s .317 BA in 2007 (10th in AL), you have to wonder if this will eventually become a battle between Pedey and Mauer… but Youk has defined laws of statistics so far this half and is showing no signs of slowing down…
Bottom Line: Mauer will likely remain in the mix, and you can find familiar names like Kinsler (.319), Ordonez (.317) and Polanco (.313) just a few points behind, but the Sox can only benefit from a little teamate vs. teammate challenge down the stretch… although a competitive battle between two of the most competitive guys in baseball could scare the children… Earmuffs!
Who do you think will take home the AL Batting Champion Title – “Pedroia the Destroyah” or “Yooouuukk!” ??
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Excellent first post. I’m glad Youkilis has made some steps in figuring out how to endure the grind of a whole season. Unfortunately I still think he’ll slip a bit and while he is the better hitter of the two, Pedroia is a better ‘hit-for-avg’ guy. So I think if anyone in a Boston uniform wins it, it’ll be the Destroyah.
My money is on Pedroier too. I think the reason most people were so shocked at his poor performance at the beginning of last season is because they know that he’s a good solid contact hitter.