Just had 1990 Willie McGee finish a season with 177 hits vs RH and 101 vs LH pitchers.
That's a first for me in 18 years. Often had great seasons from switch hitters but they always failed to get 100 vs LH for obvious reasons.
Too bad he just missed hitting .400 by having a hit taken away by a ++ play. Went 1-5 in last game of the season instead of 2-5, finished at .399.

That is VERY cool.

It also means it's trivia time!! Two questions that are both related to this post (and that in itself is a big hint).

1.) Who was the first MLB player to do it? Hint: it ain't Pete Rose. Honor system here - no fair googling the answer, which will come up very easily.
2.) Which player, with enough PA to qualify, had the highest batting average in the majors but did NOT win the batting title?

I think Tris Speaker hit .388 one year and lost to Cobb.

With a little more thought, I think someone hit 406 or something the year Hornsby (?) hit 426 or something.

Those are cool facts TJ but aren't really answering the question. My wording may be ambiguous. I am not looking for the highest runner-up BA. The guy in question LED THE MAJORS in batting but still did not win the batting title.

Reading....not my strength.

So the dude who didn't win the title must have been traded mid season.

I'll be very surprised if anyone correctly guesses the first answer....you either know it, or you googled it, but you aren't likely to guess correctly.

Re: the second question, TJ is on the right track....

Oh I do know the answer to the first question! I've known it since 1979, cause he was my favorite player back then, Topps even printed a special card for it, Garry Templeton!
Then Willie Wilson repeated the very next season.
There has been controversy regarding both players actual number of hits from the right side, but back when it happened, it was official.

There's even an article that's been called "The case for Garry Templeton's disappearing and reappearing record!" which I found a few years back on the web. The author went through every boxscores and newspaper articles which followed late 1979 Cardinals game to figure out if Templeton actually did get 100 from the right side and concluded that indeed he had!

Found it
Garry Templeton’s Disappearing — and Reappearing — Record | LaptrinhX / News

1990 Eddie Murray.

Posted by Funksteady1 on 8/23/2022 9:34:00 PM (view original):
Oh I do know the answer to the first question! I've known it since 1979, cause he was my favorite player back then, Topps even printed a special card for it, Garry Templeton!
Then Willie Wilson repeated the very next season.
There has been controversy regarding both players actual number of hits from the right side, but back when it happened, it was official.

There's even an article that's been called "The case for Garry Templeton's disappearing and reappearing record!" which I found a few years back on the web. The author went through every boxscores and newspaper articles which followed late 1979 Cardinals game to figure out if Templeton actually did get 100 from the right side and concluded that indeed he had!

Correct! I was 10 years old in 1979, and it was a pretty big deal at the time. That feat, and George Brett's (rare but not unprecedented) feat of hitting 20+ doubles, triples, and homers in the same season received a lot of attention. As you point out, some of the luster of Templeton's achievement was lost when Wilson replicated it in 1980, but historically it's still very year. I am not sure how many players have ever done since those two, but I suspect it can be counted on one hand.

Posted by Sodlsa on 8/23/2022 9:49:00 PM (view original):
1990 Eddie Murray.

Yep. Murray batted .330, the highest average in the majors. George Brett hit .329 to lead the AL. Murray, a national leaguer in '90, lost the NL batting title to none other than...Willie McGee. McGee hit .335 for St. Louis (in 542 PA) before being traded to Oakland late in the season. His NL stats were sufficient for him to qualify for - and win - the NL batting title. However in Oakland, he hit just .274 in 123 PA, dragging his overall season average down to .324.

So Murray hit for the highest average in MLB in 1990...but has no batting title to show for it.

Posted by contrarian23 on 8/23/2022 10:11:00 PM (view original):

Posted by Funksteady1 on 8/23/2022 9:34:00 PM (view original):
Oh I do know the answer to the first question! I've known it since 1979, cause he was my favorite player back then, Topps even printed a special card for it, Garry Templeton!
Then Willie Wilson repeated the very next season.
There has been controversy regarding both players actual number of hits from the right side, but back when it happened, it was official.

There's even an article that's been called "The case for Garry Templeton's disappearing and reappearing record!" which I found a few years back on the web. The author went through every boxscores and newspaper articles which followed late 1979 Cardinals game to figure out if Templeton actually did get 100 from the right side and concluded that indeed he had!

Correct! I was 10 years old in 1979, and it was a pretty big deal at the time. That feat, and George Brett's (rare but not unprecedented) feat of hitting 20+ doubles, triples, and homers in the same season received a lot of attention. As you point out, some of the luster of Templeton's achievement was lost when Wilson replicated it in 1980, but historically it's still very year. I am not sure how many players have ever done since those two, but I suspect it can be counted on one hand.

I turned 12 that summer and as you pointed out, it WAS a big deal. And Brett's season was also something else, 20-20-20, also, he was the only player in MLB to hit more triples than Templeton's 19 who led the NL for a third consecutive year for 3B.

Nobody ever got 100 from both sides of the plate since Templeton and Wilson did it. What are the odds that something that rare would first happen back to back then never again?

I think Brett is also the last guy to hit more HRs than strikeout. That was 1980 though.

Posted by Funksteady1 on 8/23/2022 10:25:00 PM (view original):

Posted by contrarian23 on 8/23/2022 10:11:00 PM (view original):

Posted by Funksteady1 on 8/23/2022 9:34:00 PM (view original):
Oh I do know the answer to the first question! I've known it since 1979, cause he was my favorite player back then, Topps even printed a special card for it, Garry Templeton!
Then Willie Wilson repeated the very next season.
There has been controversy regarding both players actual number of hits from the right side, but back when it happened, it was official.

There's even an article that's been called "The case for Garry Templeton's disappearing and reappearing record!" which I found a few years back on the web. The author went through every boxscores and newspaper articles which followed late 1979 Cardinals game to figure out if Templeton actually did get 100 from the right side and concluded that indeed he had!

Correct! I was 10 years old in 1979, and it was a pretty big deal at the time. That feat, and George Brett's (rare but not unprecedented) feat of hitting 20+ doubles, triples, and homers in the same season received a lot of attention. As you point out, some of the luster of Templeton's achievement was lost when Wilson replicated it in 1980, but historically it's still very year. I am not sure how many players have ever done since those two, but I suspect it can be counted on one hand.

I turned 12 that summer and as you pointed out, it WAS a big deal. And Brett's season was also something else, 20-20-20, also, he was the only player in MLB to hit more triples than Templeton's 19 who led the NL for a third consecutive year for 3B.

Nobody ever got 100 from both sides of the plate since Templeton and Wilson did it. What are the odds that something that rare would first happen back to back then never again?

Wilson and Templeton never walked, right? Those guys don’t really exist any more!

I think Wilson was the first guy with 700+ Abs as well.

You're totally right Trentonjoe, both Templeton and Wilson were free swingers and rarely ever walked, and yeah, there's also a Topps special card about Wilson's "At Bat record" for 1980.