Who has come the closest to hitting .400 since Ted Williams became the last batting championship qualifier to do it, in 1941? Well, Tony Gwynn hit .394 in a strike-shortened season (1994), George Brett hit .390 in an injury-shortened season (1980), and Rod Carew hit .388 in a full season (1977), as did Williams himself (1957). These are the batting champion qualifiers who have had the highest averages since Williams' .406 in 1941.
However, there's another way to look at it. There have actually been several .400 hitters since 1941, of course; they just haven't had enough plate appearances to qualify for the championship. So, which .400 hitter since '41 came the closest to qualifying for a batting championship? No one has come really close, but here's a list of all the .400 hitters since '41 with at least 50 plate appearances:
1. Bob Hazle, Mil NL, 1957, 155 PA, .403
2. Ted Williams, Bos NL, 1953, 110 PA, .407
3. Todd Haney, Chi NL, 1995, 81 PA, .411
4. Mike Davis, Oak AL, 1982, 77 PA, .400
5. Phil Clark, Det AL, 1992, 61 PA, .407
6. Craig Wilson, Chi AL, 1998, 53 PA, .468
7. Fred Lynn, Bos AL, 1974, 51 PA, .419
Bob "Hurricane" Hazle was given his nickname in the minors when Hurricane Hazel hit the coast of South Carolina, the state of his birth. He had signed with the Cincinnati Reds out of Wofford College in 1950. In 1955, he played a few games with the Reds, hitting three singles in 31 at-bats. During spring training of 1956, he was traded to Milwaukee, and he spent that year with Wichita, the Braves' AAA team.
In late July of 1957, Bill Bruton, the Braves' centerfielder, was injured. Milwaukee moved Hank Aaron from right to center and called up the 26-year old Hazle to split time with veteran Andy Pafko in right. On July 29, Hazle pinch-hit for Dave Jolly. Facing Stu Miller of the Giants, he bunted to move Pafko from first to second. Two days later, he was in the starting lineup against Pittsburgh, a bad team. In the 6th, he doubled against Bob Purkey, scoring Wes Convington to put Milwaukee up 3-0. He finished the game 1-4. The next time he played, on August 4, he doubled and singled against Carl Erskine of Brooklyn.
On August 9, he homered against the Cardinals' Lindy McDaniel, then singled in his next three at bats to lift his average to .500, 8-16. The next day, he singled twice against Lindy's brother, Von, then doubled against Hoyt Wilhelm. The Braves crushed the Cardinals in both games, 13-2 and 9-0; Hazle went 7-11; he was hitting .550 for the season. After going hitless in the finale against the Cards, Hazle went 7-10 in a three-game sweep of his original team, the Reds. He was at .545 and the Braves had won all 11 games in which he had appeared. August 29, the one-month anniversary of Hazle's arrival in Milwaukee was an off day. The Hurricane was hitting .507 with a .571 OBP and an .836 slugging percentage.
He was now the team's regular right fielder, playing almost every day. On September 2, Hazle hit three doubles and a single against the Cubs; the Braves won by the football-ish score of 23-10. Hazle homered once and singed three times in 10 innings against Chicago on September 22. However, he couldn't sustain his August pace. From August 30 until his last game on September 29, he hit "only" .299. The Braves had gone 28-13 in Hazle's appearances. He finished at .403, 54-134. No player since has finished a season hitting .400 in over 100 at-bats (or, for that matter, 100 plate appearances). Hazle hit only .154 in the World Series against the Yankees, but did get two hits in the seventh game as the Braves won their first championship in Milwaukee and the franchise's first since 1914, when the team played in Boston.
Hazle went to 1958 spring training with the Braves, but was beaned twice and injured his ankle in exhibition games. In May, hitting only .179, he was sold to Detroit. He played in 43 games for the Tigers, hitting .241. He started 1960 in the minors and did not get the call back to the majors, though he hit .291. He retired in 1961. Despite a career that lasted only 110 major-league games, one incredible hot streak made Bob "Hurricane" Hazle a part of baseball lore.
