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leatherman
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Last year when the Phillies won the World Series, they did it with 5 players who had accumulated enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. In case you are wondering what that means, a player must have 3.1 plate appearances (not At Bats) for every game their team played in order to qualify. Typically that means 502 plate appearances (for a 162 game season). However, sometimes teams don't make up missed games and they may only play 161, which means a player on that team only needs 499 plate appearances to qualify, and so on.
Most teams that win championships have quite a few everyday players that accumulate enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title:
2008 Phillies - 5
2007 Red Sox - 9
2006 Cardinals - 4
2005 White Sox - 7
2004 Red Sox - 6
and so on.
Since 1901, there have only been 6 teams that only had one player qualify for the batting title: 2007 Cardinals (3rd place in their division), 2006 Devil Rays (6th place), 2005 Dodgers (4th place), 2003 Reds (5th place), 1991 Indians (7th place), and the 1986 Dodgers (5th place). Obviously, none of these teams made the playoffs.
There have been many teams with only 2 players that qualified for the batting title. The 1991 Braves came very close to winning the World Series with only Ron Gant and Terry Pendleton (who won the batting title and the MVP).
However, the only team to win the World Series with only 2 players who qualified for the batting title was the 1969 Mets (Tommie Agee and Cleon Jones, who finished 3rd in batting). That team was known for its platoons: Ken Boswell and Wayne Garrett would play 2nd base. Al Weis would play 2nd base too, and sometimes sub for shortstop Bud Harrelson (who had to leave on some weekends for military duty - Nolan Ryan had to occasionally leave for the same reason). Ron Swoboda and Art Shamsky would split time in right field. Ed Kranepool and midseason acquisition Donn Clendenon would split time at 1st base. It's amazing that Gil Hodges was able to juggle players so well. He certainly would have been Manager of the Year had it been an award in 1969 (first year was 1983).
Oh, and the 1969 Mets and the 2009 Mets both started the season 9-12. I'm just sayin'...
David
Most teams that win championships have quite a few everyday players that accumulate enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title:
2008 Phillies - 5
2007 Red Sox - 9
2006 Cardinals - 4
2005 White Sox - 7
2004 Red Sox - 6
and so on.
Since 1901, there have only been 6 teams that only had one player qualify for the batting title: 2007 Cardinals (3rd place in their division), 2006 Devil Rays (6th place), 2005 Dodgers (4th place), 2003 Reds (5th place), 1991 Indians (7th place), and the 1986 Dodgers (5th place). Obviously, none of these teams made the playoffs.
There have been many teams with only 2 players that qualified for the batting title. The 1991 Braves came very close to winning the World Series with only Ron Gant and Terry Pendleton (who won the batting title and the MVP).
However, the only team to win the World Series with only 2 players who qualified for the batting title was the 1969 Mets (Tommie Agee and Cleon Jones, who finished 3rd in batting). That team was known for its platoons: Ken Boswell and Wayne Garrett would play 2nd base. Al Weis would play 2nd base too, and sometimes sub for shortstop Bud Harrelson (who had to leave on some weekends for military duty - Nolan Ryan had to occasionally leave for the same reason). Ron Swoboda and Art Shamsky would split time in right field. Ed Kranepool and midseason acquisition Donn Clendenon would split time at 1st base. It's amazing that Gil Hodges was able to juggle players so well. He certainly would have been Manager of the Year had it been an award in 1969 (first year was 1983).
Oh, and the 1969 Mets and the 2009 Mets both started the season 9-12. I'm just sayin'...
David
