Finally, I've had some time to pull together the stats for some of the best hitters of 1932.
Code:
PLAYER, TEAM G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
Chick Hafey, BOS (A) 142 478 164 37 8 21 87 102 60 36 3 1 .343 .418 .586 1.004
Lou Gehrig, BOS (A) 152 521 151 37 6 44 122 134 130 51 2 0 .290 .428 .637 1.065
Martin Dihigo, BOS (A) 149 586 179 35 19 10 68 110 57 117 25 15 .305 .367 .481 .849
Babe Ruth, NY (A) 148 492 152 27 8 41 108 131 129 120 13 10 .309 .453 .646 1.099
Jimmie Foxx, CHI (A) 149 524 152 48 1 37 99 118 116 76 0 0 .290 .417 .597 1.015
Dale Alexander, DET 149 557 184 31 9 17 96 95 56 43 0 1 .330 .387 .510 .897
Al Simmons, PHI (A) 144 492 160 36 6 14 93 83 55 31 1 3 .325 .391 .508 .899
Cool Papa Bell, DET 146 602 159 34 10 6 47 86 31 93 69 14 .264 .301 .384 .685
Buck Leonard, NY (N) 148 541 191 34 12 39 115 125 113 65 18 3 .353 .462 .677 1.139
Lloyd Waner, PIT 138 476 166 28 7 9 70 83 24 11 25 11 .349 .381 .494 .875
Paul Waner, PIT 149 580 188 45 14 20 110 113 80 15 13 8 .324 .408 .553 .962
Oscar Charleston, CHI(N) 154 641 207 50 14 30 124 123 47 47 10 6 .323 .367 .585 .952
Chuck Klein, PHI (N) 138 528 183 41 15 25 102 92 46 15 0 2 .347 .397 .623 1.020
Archie Graham, CHI (N) 154 646 192 34 16 12 69 122 65 98 64 22 .297 .368 .455 .823
Wally Berger, BOS (N) 150 591 159 32 6 37 127 80 38 102 2 3 .269 .316 .531 .847
Mel Ott, BOS (N) 152 532 153 42 5 32 112 91 88 47 1 2 .288 .388 .566 .954
* The acquisition of Chick Hafey might have been the key to the Red Sox' World Series victory. He settled into the cleanup spot in the Sox lineup, and forced their opponents to pitch to Gehrig honestly.
* Gehrig's lower batting average reflects a trend throughout the game in 1932. The 44 homers and that sweet OPS earned him another Most Outstanding Batter award.
* This was Dihigo's breakthrough year; the patience O'Farrell and Carrigan have shown with him has finally paid off.
* The Babe bounced back somewhat and nearly won another home run title. He did lead the AL in slugging, and he's ten homers away from 600 in his career.
* Foxx appeared to adjust well to his new home in Chicago, and the White Sox are showing signs of life as a team.
* Another solid year for Alexander, who is quietly building a very nice career in the Motor City.
* Simmons hit for less power; did the loss of Foxx hitting behind him make a difference?
* Cool Papa had a ghastly year. He lost 104 points off his batting average and 269 off his OPS. Ouch.
* The best offensive performance of the year was Buck Leonard's. He earned another Most Outstanding Batter, and he deserved it.
* If Lloyd Waner would draw some walks, he would be the perfect leadoff man. Even without the walks, he was the best in the business in 1932.
* Big brother Paul is cranking out seasons like this with amazing regularity. He has over 1350 hits at age 29, and it looks like 3000 might be a real possibility.
* This is the first time in Oscar's career that his OPS has fallen below 1.000. He's far from finished, however, and he picked up hit #2000 this season.
* Klein is the newest National League hitting star, hidden on a poor Philly team. The next two men on the list know a little about that predicament, too.
* Berger's batting average fell, but he's still hitting them over the fence.
* Ott is still only 23 years old, and looks like he's on his way to a great career.
Coming up next: some of the best performances from one of the better pitchers' years in recent memory.