The Hitters
This season should maybe be fitted with an asterisk; short careers and, in the case of Christian Yelich, an early career due to using the 2015 version of Strat-O-Matic Baseball’s career historical files, definitely give an advantage to Benny Kauff (short career due to being banned and a two-year number boost for playing in the Federal League), Ralph Kiner (back injury shortened but HOF career), and Albert Belle (osteoarthritis). They will face stiff competition from Jim Edmonds, Richie Ashburn (HOF), David Ortiz (HOF), and Dave Winfield (HOF).
As always, Fourth Place or better or a .500 record moves a hitter on to Round 9. The others get another shot at it in Round 8.
Learn more about the Round 7 pitchers
See the current ranking of the 600
| Benny Kauff Round One S62 Round Two Round 3 S19 Round 4 Round 5 S19 Round 6 | W – L 103-51 BYE 104-50 BYE 114-40 BYE |  |
| Ralph Kiner Round One S42 Round Two Round 3 S21 Round 4 Round 5 S23 Round 6 | W – L 82-72 BYE 85-69 BYE 93-61 BYE |  |
| Jim Edmonds Round One S19 Round Two S6 Round 3 S44 Round 4 S6 Round 5 S41 Round 6 | W – L 68-86 89-65 76-78 100-54 86-68 BYE |  |
| Christian Yelich Round One S73 Round Two Round 3 S3 Round 4 S12 Round 5 S46 Round 6 | W – L 80-74 BYE 67-87 84-70 82-72 BYE |  |
| Richie Ashburn Round One S30 Round Two Round 3 S17 Round 4 S19 Round 5 S24 Round 6 | W – L 82-72 BYE 69-85 90-64 75-79 BYE |  |
| David Ortiz Round One S41 Round Two S25 Round 3 S37 Round 4 Round 5 S20 Round 6 | W – L 69-85 100-54 73-81 BYE 79-75 BYE |  |
| Dave Winfield Round One S36 Round Two Round 3 S48 Round 4 Round 5 S14 Round 6 S20 | W – L 84-70 BYE 86-68 BYE 66-88 90-64 |  |
| Albert Belle Round One S36 Round Two S19 Round 3 S53 Round 4 Round 5 S30 Round 6 S8 | W – L 67-87 86-68 77-77 BYE 71-83 80-74 |  |
The Results
Benny Kauff started hot and never cooled down, easily distancing the competition. I guess we have to start taking him seriously in this tournament. Ralph Kiner and Albert Belle finished within a game of each other and played to an 11-11 head-to-head record – maybe to be expected considering how close their lifetime batting statistics are. Does that mean Belle should be in the Hall-of-Fame? I’m not certain, but there is definitely enough evidence to warrant a discussion. Richie Ashburn chugged into fourth place to be the final qualifier for Round 9 this season.
HOFers Big Papi and Dave Winfield will join Edmonds and Yelich in the Round 8 Elimination Round.
Season Highlights
- Benny Kauff led all teams with a .308 batting average and Kauff99 topped the individuals with .348. Ironically, Kauff also led all teams in steals.
- Kiner3 led the league with 39 home runs and ten different Kiners were in the league’s top 12. Albert Belle did not make the list!
- Billy Wagner6, pitching for the Ralph Kiner team, topped the league with 40 saves, while Virgil Trucks3 of the Dave Winfield squad appeared in 63 games.
- Belle8, Kiner3, Kiner4, and Winfield3 all had 3-HR games.
- There were nine 5-hit games.
- No-Hitters
None