Baseball’s rich history has a way of cultivating something resembling the opposite of recency bias – to treat with greater reverence the exploits of previous generations, and perhaps sell short what we witness with our own eyes.
So it’s easy to gloss over that Boston Red Sox sluggers Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez joined Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio as the lone set of teammates in the last 81 years to bat at least .330 and hit at least 30 home runs.
Yet, this anomaly belies the accomplishment, given the era in which Betts and Martinez are performing, and the strides they’ve taken to reign supreme among a dying breed in Major League Baseball.
The complete hitter.
Oh, power is easy to come by these days. A record 6,105 home runs were struck last season, and swinging out of your shoes is accepted practice, no matter the cost in strikeouts.
And while the major league batting average dipped to .248 this season – the lowest since 1972 – 16 players still managed a .300 or better average.
At the top of the list are Betts and Martinez, who batted .346 and .330 respectively, hit 32 and 43 homers, respectively, and in Betts’ case struck out just 91 times. NL MVP favorite Christian Yelich (.326, 36 homers) and the generationally great Mike Trout (.312, 39) were the only others who paired a .300 average and at least 30 home runs.
Betts and Martinez are hitting unicorns, playing for the same team, and represent the Red Sox’s best chance to follow their 108-win season with their first World Series championship since 2013.
The quest begins against the New York Yankees on Friday at Fenway Park, home of the greatest hitting show in the game.
“We’re playing in an era when it’s really hard to hit,” says St. Louis Cardinals slugger Matt Carpenter, who finished third in the National League with 36 home runs, but batted just .257 five years after hitting .318. “A lot of guys throw hard and strike out people; they’re paid to strike guys out.
“Watching both of them hit – and what they’re able to accomplish – is just a marvel.”
And while both were highly accomplished hitters before Martinez united them in signing a five-year, $110 million deal with the Red Sox, joining forces has only made both more potent.
'I need to remind him how good he is'
Martinez’s rebranding from struggling power hitter on the big leagues’ fringes to All-Star slugger was more profound than Dunkin’ dropping the Donuts from its title – and probably more chronicled. Now, five years into being this J.D. Martinez, the one who averages 34 home runs a season, the greater impact lies in spreading his hitting savant methods to others.
Last summer, it was Paul Goldschmidt, with whom Martinez joined forces for two months after a trade to Arizona. This year, the force was with Betts.
Already a two-time All-Star and the 2016 AL MVP runner-up, Betts arrived to spring training with several new faces around him: Martinez and hitting coaches Tim Hyers and Andy Barkett.
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