Hitters Go Wild.

In 1930 the National League batting average was just over .300, with almost 900 home runs. Chicago's diminutive powerhouse Hack Wilson hit 56 homers and 190 RBIs. Bill Terry of the Giants became the last National Leaguer to hit over .400. Even the last-place "Futile" Phillies batted .315 as a team. The American League overall hit less well, but the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Athletics matched the older league in most respects. Some folks insisted that the ball was juiced up. Whatever the reason, fans loved it and came to the ballparks in record numbers. The following year the ball was deadened with a looser covering and higher stitching. As a result, what Ring Lardner (in a 1930 New Yorker piece) called "B'rer Rabbit Ball" came to an abrupt end. Averages and run production dropped markedly (run-scoring sacrifice flies were now counted as a time at bat, though, too...