Toronto Blue Jays’ Ernie Clement and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have both quietly emerged as legitimate contenders for the American League batting title.
Thirty years ago, that would have been one of the biggest stories in baseball.
Today, almost nobody seems to care.
The franchise’s most successful seasons, including the World Series champions of 1992 and 1993 and the club’s recent postseason resurgence, reveal a distinguished list of contact hitters who were vital to the team’s success.
Grinders who worked deep into counts, fouling off pitch after pitch, to ultimately drive the opposing pitcher crazy. Hitting gaps and moving runners from station to station.
More than the big three-run homer, consistent quality at-bats, and getting on base became the emblem of the team’s success.
Power was always present, but it wasn’t the defining characteristic. The Blue Jays were often remembered for the home run, while the quality at-bats and relentless contact hitting quietly drove much of their success. It is no secret that this is the component of the Jays’ offensive profile that has become absent through the first quarter of the season.
The Batting Champs
Batting average, as it was for generations, was the most prominent, sexy stat that a hitter could aspire to. From Pete Rose to Ryne Sandberg, and of course, Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn, the race for the batting title used to be the first and foremost stat to stand out in the sports section of the newspaper. Paul Molitor was once quoted as saying to John Olerud when the Hall of Fame slugger first met the Blue Jays’ first baseman, as a newly acquired free agent.
“When are you going to win your first batting title?”
As fate would have it, Olerud proceeded to do just that, posting a .363 average in 1993, as the Jays cruised to their second consecutive World Series title.
Perhaps this was the beginning of the end for the batting title, as the pre-eminent accolade for an MLB hitter. The strike-shortened years gave way to the PED years of the 90’s and early 2000’s, when inflated home run totals and sponsored mantra to the tune of “Chicks Dig the Long Ball” stole the driver’s seat, while batting average got stuffed in the glove box.
Even the most devoted and informed baseball fans would have trouble identifying a batting crown winner from 2000 onwards. Is this ok? Or have the rapid-fire, shock-jock highlights fed the cravings of our depleted attention spans for too long now? Realistically, nobody wants to see Vladimir Guerrero Jr. work a count and shoot a single to the right side of the infield to move a runner, other than perhaps manager John Schneider.
