Most 5-hit games in a season
Posted by Andy on May 26, 2009
A reader asked so here is the answer. Most 5-hit games in a season since 1954:
Year Games Link to Individual Games +----+-----+-------------------------+ 2008 42 Ind. Games 2004 41 Ind. Games 1999 39 Ind. Games 2000 38 Ind. Games 2007 37 Ind. Games 2005 35 Ind. Games 1996 35 Ind. Games 1970 31 Ind. Games 1991 30 Ind. Games 1986 29 Ind. Games 1980 29 Ind. Games
Well well well....the record was set last year.
That's not such a surprise since A) there are more teams now so it would have to be a recent season and B) more run-scoring means more plate appearances per game, making it easier to get 5 hits in a single game. To some degree, this list would be more meaningful if I at least normalized it by total number of games played each year.
So far in 2009, we've had 10 such 5-hit games. With just over a quarter of the season gone, that means tings are on pace for roughly a typical year from the last several years of 35-40 such games.
Also, in a shameless plug for my external blog, I've got a contest going on with a bonus prize of a whole mess of packs of baseball cards. If you are your kids are into that, you might want to enter it.
May 26th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Ichiro had 4 5-hit games in '04, most of the Retrosheet era. Tony Gwynn joins him with 4 games of at least 5 hits in '93.