Babe Herman Marquee

In 1930 he hit .393 with 241 hits, 35 home runs, 130 runs batted in and 48 doubles, and finished second in the National League to Bill Terry's .401. He hit .381 the year before. His career average, .324, is higher than most of the men in the Hall of Fame.

What everyone repeats instead is an afternoon in August 1926 when he hit a drive to right field with the bases loaded and three Brooklyn runners ended on third base at the same time, two of them out. He always insisted he had doubled into a double play, not a triple play, which is accurate and did not help.

Thirteen seasons gave him 1,818 hits, 399 doubles, 181 home runs, 997 runs batted in and 94 stolen bases, and he was never chosen for an All-Star team because the game did not exist until his last full year. He came back from the Pacific Coast League at forty-two in 1945 to fill a wartime roster. Twelve writers' ballots and thirteen committees have considered him. He died in 1987, at eighty-four.