Charlie Blackmon wants the asterisk if he hits .400
If Charlie Blackmon manages to end the season with a .400 batting average, he knows how he wants it to appear in the MLB record books.
As it currently stands, Charlie Blackmon is on a historical pace. Not only is he looking to become the first player to bat over .400 since Ted Williams in 1941, but he is also destroying the record for batting average in a season. Hugh Duffy‘s .440 batting average in 1894 pales in comparison to Blackmon’s mark thus far.
The question of how his batting average should be viewed, should Blackmon end up hitting over .400 on the season, has become a hot topic. For his part, the Colorado Rockies outfielder feels that, if he reaches that mark, it should be noted with a caveat.
Charlie Blackmon thinks there should be an asterisk if he sets a batting record this season. Unfortunately for him, baseball's record keepers disagree. https://t.co/7x7OQsGrhA
— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) August 13, 2020
For their part, Major League Baseball said that would not happen. If Blackmon hit over .400, it would have the same legitimacy as when Ross Barnes had a .429 batting average in 63 games in 1876. All Blackmon can do is play the games on the schedule, regardless of how many there are.
More Rockies. The last of the .400 hitters. light
Blackmon has put together an impressive season thus far. Heading into Friday, he has posted an incredible .472/.506/.681 batting line with six doubles and three homers in 79 plate appearances. Blackmon is leading the National League in batting average, on base percentage, hits, and RBI. There is no question that he is the early favorite to win the NL MVP award.
He certainly has a reasonable chance to reach that mark. As our own Bill Felber pointed out, assuming that Blackmon received 240 at bats this year, he would need 96 hits to bat .400. At this point, he would need 62 more base knocks to get there. That is not an unreasonable total.
We still have a long way to go in the season. The Rockies have 42 more games to play between now and the scheduled end of the season on September 27. But if Blackmon can continue to hit at close to the clip he has, history could be made on that final day of the season.
Next. Rockies Mount Rushmore. dark
History, if it is made, will not come with an asterisk. Charlie Blackmon will be recognized with the 29th season in which a player batted .400 or better.