Ten years after batting .380 for 51s, James Loney returns to Cashman Field
It has been 75 years since anybody batted .400 in the major leagues.
You think it might be a little easier in the minors. But nobody from the Las Vegas 51s has ever done it. Nobody has come close. The guy who came closest was shagging fungoes during batting practice Tuesday at Cashman Field.
It has been been 10 years since James Loney batted .380 for the 51s. If memory serves, that was a fine Las Vegas team. The 51s also had Matt Kemp (.368) and Andre Ethier (.349), and they, too, went on to star for the Dodgers.
Alas, memory doesn’t serve. The 51s were 67-77 in 2006. Their top pitchers were D.J. Houlton and Eric Stults, neither of which went on to star for the Dodgers. Both wound up pitching in Japan.
After the El Paso Chihuahuas, who have one of the best nicknames in baseball, were done taking batting practice Tuesday before the start of a series with the 51s, James Loney was kind enough to drop by the third base dugout for an interview.
The first thing I wanted to ask was what the heck was he doing playing for a team called the Chihuahuas, because he’s James Loney, 10 years in the big leagues, .285 lifetime average — and he’s only 32 with his birthday last Saturday.
But guys who have spent a meritorious decade in the big leagues sometimes don’t like to be reminded of their surroundings when they’re no longer there. So to break the ice, I asked Loney why nobody hits .400 anymore, not even in the minors.
“It’s a combination of things,” he said after the Chihuahuas had an open-air team meeting in the dugout, because it was so nice outside. “Defense — the guys are just better overall on defense. Shifts on certain people. They know where to play guys.
“The pitching — the pitching is really good. It has evolved a lot.”
Hitters rarely face the same pitcher four times in a game anymore. Just when you get a guy figured out, the opposing manager signals for a right-hander who throws serious gas, or a crafty left-hander. Those left-handers will take 20 points off your batting average with their craftiness. Especially if one bats left-handed, as Loney does.
“Back in the day, the starter would go the full game,” he said. “Now you get guys who are coming in fresh with just as good stuff, if not better. So I would definitely say that the game has gotten a little harder just to get the hits.”
What about Ted Williams, the last man to hit . 400 — he hit .406 in 1941. Could the Splendid Splinter have handled today’s sliders and splitters as well as he handled the shifts and Rip Sewell’s eephus pitch in the All-Star Game?
“Ted Williams was a great hitter,” Loney said. “But he’s probably not gonna hit .400 today. Which is not a knock against him. It’s just the way it is.”
Only two guys have come close to the rarefied plateau since Ted Williams last reached it. George Brett hit. 390 in 1980; Tony Gwynn .394 in 1994 when the season ended in August due to a work stoppage.
Last season, Dee Gordon won the NL batting title with a .333 average. The last time he was above .400 was on May 19. Now he is suspended for having violated baseball’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
As James Loney says, it’s hard to bat .400 in the big leagues.
He’d just love a chance to hit .285 up there again.
Judging by how he has been swinging the bat for the Chihuahuas — Loney is hitting .329 for El Paso after going 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter Tuesday — there’s probably a good chance he’ll be back up before long. If not with the Padres, then with some contender that can use an experienced left-handed bat and a great guy in the clubhouse.
Loney said he is having more fun in El Paso than the cowboy who took up with Felina, the twirling barmaid in country crooner Marty Robbins’ old song about the west Texas town.
“I got released (in spring training) by the Rays and then it was like trying to sign up for college but all the classes were full,” he said about catching on with another team. “I feel great. Timing is everything. I think it’s meant to be, where I am. I’m having a great time with these guys.
”I feel like I’m reliving my youth again. Getting to talk to the younger guys, getting to teach them different things, talk about the game — that’s why I feel like I’m meant to be here. When the time is right for me (to return to the majors), it’ll be the right thing.”
When I asked if he would repeat some of that for an amateur video filmed with a smartphone, he said he would be happy to. James Loney even removed his sunglasses. Perhaps he wanted the Padres or some of these other major league teams to see there still was big league fire in his eye.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski
