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Greatest batters of 1996-2000 – by G. Scott Thomas

August 5, 2022

Ken Griffey Jr. and Larry Walker have been hitting on all cylinders as the 20th century drew to a detailed.

Each have been excellent gamers, after all, although each additionally had some assist. Griffey benefited from the robust baseball genes he inherited from his father, who had starred for the Cincinnati Reds within the Nineteen Seventies. Walker profited from taking part in within the final hitters’ park, Coors Discipline.

Their greatness was mirrored of their numbers. No person within the American League blasted extra homers between 1996 and 2000 than Griffey’s 209. (He amassed that whole in simply 4 years with the Seattle Mariners earlier than being traded throughout leagues to the Cincinnati Reds in 2000.) No person within the Nationwide League posted a better batting common over the five-year interval than Walker’s .348 for the Colorado Rockies.

Is it any marvel that my newest half-decade breakdown signifies that Griffey and Walker have been the most effective batters of their respective leagues throughout the 1996-2000 interval?

They each peaked in 1997, after they gained the Most Invaluable Participant Awards for his or her leagues. Griffey paced the AL with 56 homers, 147 runs batted in, and a .646 slugging common. Walker led the NL with 49 homers and a .720 slugging common. His .366 batting common was second to Tony Gwynn’s .372.

I’ve been issuing scores of the highest batters for consecutive half-decades since June 17, when I began with 1961-1965. I’ll maintain going every Friday till I attain 2016-2020, the final full five-year interval within the Fashionable Period.

The rankings for each leagues are based mostly on my Five-Year Test, which analyzes each hitter in six key statistical classes.

Batting common
Slugging common
Bases per out (BPO)
Runs scored per 500 plate appearances
Runs batted in per 500 plate appearances
Wins above substitute (WAR) per 500 plate appearances

The rankings for 1996-2000 encompassed each batter who crossed the minimal threshold of two plate appearances per recreation, the equal of 1,620 appearances in 5 162-game seasons. A complete of 92 batters within the American League and 96 within the Nationwide League certified for the 5-Yr Check for that half-decade.

The everyday AL batter in these rankings had a five-season batting common of .283 and an .819 ratio of bases per out. The corresponding figures within the NL have been .283 and .823. These stats stamped this because the zenith for hitters, the one half-decade through which the collective batting averages for each leagues topped .280 and their collective BPOs exceeded .800.

It might turn into identified, after all, because the steroids period, although Griffey and Walker have been by no means accused of utilizing performance-enhancing medicine. Each at the moment are enshrined within the Baseball Corridor of Fame.

The runners-up within the 1996-2000 standings have been Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez within the American League, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds within the Nationwide. All 4 have been the focuses of PED investigations. And all 4 stay outdoors the Corridor of Fame.

Scroll under to see my lists of the highest 20 hitters in every league. Every batter is adopted by a breakdown of his 1996-2000 statistics: video games, hits, house runs, batting common, and bases per out. The primary three stats weren’t a part of the 5-Yr Check, although they’re included right here so as to add context.

This collection will proceed subsequent Friday (August 12) with my rankings of batters in each leagues throughout the span of 2001-2005. You’ll be able to see the earlier standings by means of these hyperlinks:

A brand new installment will arrive in your e mail every Tuesday and Friday morning