[chucksabr]

Greatest Batting Season Ever.

There can be few words to describe the season that young Reg Lawrence of Grimsby Town delivered for Mariners in 1923. A look at his record and one can be fairly rendered speechless by what he sees.

Lawrence closed the season with a hits average of .460, which smashed all previous records for both the Second Division (Joshua Lloyd, .411, 1907) and the entire Baseball League (Harrison Whittington, .436, 1905). To say that Lawrence found the pitching at the lower level to his liking after having joined Mariners in demotion after the 1922 season would be an understatement of gross proportions. His batting average was still at .500 as late as July 28, and he finished the season with a hit streak of 28 games which he will take into next season.

There was no question that Lawrence had become one of the best young batsmen in the League, having batsman .365 in 1921 before dropping off to .301 last season. But the spectacular performance awaiting him in the Second Division this season simply could not be foreseen. In addition to setting a new Division “record” for base hits with 229, he also had his best year in twos (22); home runs (6); runs batted in (75); runs scored (88); stolen bases (64); and strikeouts (only seven).

There are some rumblings that perhaps Lawrence benefitted from signals from the outfield of Blundell Park informing him of the nature of incoming pitches, and a look at the record might seem to indicate such: his hits average was .520 in home matches, while “only” .402 in visiting matches. If true, then he would have been the only beneficiary of such succour, as the two next best batsmen on the squad, Will Russell and Christopher Barton, both batted far better on the road than at home, so such allegations do not seem to hold water. So, hats off to Reg Lawrence for producing a season for the ages!