Off all the Fall Classics played, only three times have each's league's batting champion met in the grand finale. 1909, 1954, and 2012. But it did make for some interesting storylines when it happend.
1909 featured Ty Cobb of the Tigers vs. Honus Wagner of the Pirates. The Series was billed as a head-to-head matchup of not only the batting title leaders, but also the two most feared speedsters. Ty ran into George Gibson, the first Canadian-born player ever to play in the World Series. He was held to just two stolen bases the entire World Series. He also hit just .231, but did contribute five RBIs. It was not enough to stop The Flying Dutchman's Pittsburgh Pirates from winning it all. He hit .333 with six stolen bases and six RBIs. Jim Delahanty and Donie were the only two hitting stars on Detroit, as Pittsburgh needed seven game to win it all.
Willie Mays's New York Giants needed just four games to beat Bobby Avila's Cleveland Indians in 1954. Mays only hit .286, and failed to get a home run. But, of course, no one remembers Mays' hitting in that Fall Classic. The only thing anyone remembers is The Catch. Willie robbed Vic Wertz of at least a triple in game one with a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch. Wertz, if you can believe it, had four hits in that game and hit .500 for the series. He out-hit both Mays (Who'd hit .345 for his only batting title) and Avila (AL-leading .341 in 1954, but just .133 in the Fall Classic). Mays also collected three RBIs. But, nothing tops, The Catch!
2012 saw Detroit's Miguel Cabrera and San Francisco's Busty Possey face off. It was all San Francisco in this World Series, as they swept through Detroit in the minimum required games. Possey hit .267 (Compared to .316 in the regular season), but did collect a home run and three RBIs. Cabrera and hit teammates were stymied by the Giants' pitching. Cabrera hit just .231 (.330 in the regular season, but matched Possey's output with a home run and three RBIs of his own. Pablo Sandoval hit .500 for the Giants and Delmon Young hit .333 for the losing Tigers.
Seems to me winning the batting title doesn't always carry over to the postseason, now does it?
References
Baseball Almanac, Inc. “Baseball Almanac: Baseball History, Baseball Records and Baseball Research. Baseball Almanac, Inc. Web. 8 May 2015, <http://www.baseball-almanac.com/>.
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Retrosheet. Web. 08 May. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 8 May. 2015.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 8 May 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/>.
Youtube. Web. 8 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>.
1909 featured Ty Cobb of the Tigers vs. Honus Wagner of the Pirates. The Series was billed as a head-to-head matchup of not only the batting title leaders, but also the two most feared speedsters. Ty ran into George Gibson, the first Canadian-born player ever to play in the World Series. He was held to just two stolen bases the entire World Series. He also hit just .231, but did contribute five RBIs. It was not enough to stop The Flying Dutchman's Pittsburgh Pirates from winning it all. He hit .333 with six stolen bases and six RBIs. Jim Delahanty and Donie were the only two hitting stars on Detroit, as Pittsburgh needed seven game to win it all.
2012 saw Detroit's Miguel Cabrera and San Francisco's Busty Possey face off. It was all San Francisco in this World Series, as they swept through Detroit in the minimum required games. Possey hit .267 (Compared to .316 in the regular season), but did collect a home run and three RBIs. Cabrera and hit teammates were stymied by the Giants' pitching. Cabrera hit just .231 (.330 in the regular season, but matched Possey's output with a home run and three RBIs of his own. Pablo Sandoval hit .500 for the Giants and Delmon Young hit .333 for the losing Tigers.
Seems to me winning the batting title doesn't always carry over to the postseason, now does it?
References
Baseball Almanac, Inc. “Baseball Almanac: Baseball History, Baseball Records and Baseball Research. Baseball Almanac, Inc. Web. 8 May 2015, <http://www.baseball-almanac.com/>.
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Retrosheet. Web. 08 May. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 8 May. 2015.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 8 May 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/>.
Youtube. Web. 8 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>.
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