George Brett's Crazy July in 1980

by Freneau on Feb 15, 2012 11:16 AM EST in Honoring & Remembering Former Kansas City Royals

In 1980, George Brett hit .390, flirting with the magical .400 line all season long. He was hitting .406 on August 30th and was at .400 as late as September 19, game number 148 on the season. In the last forty years, we've really only seen a handful of players get this close to .400.

What drove Brett's quest that season was an absolutely insane July. Brett played regularly through June 10, before hitting the DL. To that point, he was having a MVP-level season, but not necessarily an all-time great campaign, hitting .337/.407/.609. Ho, hum.

On July 10th Brett returned, going 2-4 in a 3-2 Royals win (Splitt picked up the win). The next day he went 3-5 as Jack Morris expertly pitched to the score in a 7-3 Royals win. And that was pretty much the entire month. Brett hit .586/.636/.862 in his first seven games back, raising his batting average to .374. A 2-3 game on the final day of the month pushed him all the way up to .390.

Overall his July line was .494/.541/.812 in 98 PAs. Crazy.

In August he hit .430 and got over .400 on the season. Too bad he only hit .324 in September.

So really, we should just pause and reflect on that month. One of the greatest players of all time, in one of his best seasons, in the middle of an absolutely insane hot streak. Your homework assignment is to find other singularly great Brett months.

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Comments

July, 1985

Brett hit .432/.534/.726 in 116 PAs

by Discolando on Feb 15, 2012 11:23 AM EST reply actions

He slumped in August of 1985...

… and only hit .365/.458/.708 in 118 PAs

by Discolando on Feb 15, 2012 11:24 AM EST up reply actions

They totally squandered his effort that season

batter nine you sucky

by marbotty on Feb 15, 2012 2:46 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

In 1990 George was having a pretty crummy season

He was 37, and perhaps his career was winding down. On June 30, he was hitting .256/.331/.325 in 266 PAs.

He then hit .388/.442/.716 in the month of July in 129 PAs.

He hit .369/.416/.602 in the month of August in 113 PAs

And finished up hitting .396/.434/.638 in September in 99 PAs.

He won his third batting title.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Feb 15, 2012 11:24 AM EST reply actions 3 recs

was this after a trip to the A's clubhouse where he met Jose Canseco?

I am the one who knocks.

by PhattStairs on Feb 17, 2012 10:16 PM EST up reply actions

May 1979 .388/.431/.636 in 130 PAs

March/April 1983 .460/.528/.921 in 72 PAs – he began the year with a 24 game hitting streak.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Feb 15, 2012 11:29 AM EST reply actions

Think about how much "trim" he was able to pickup

at Kelley’s that month. It must have been astronomical.

“Wilt the Stilt” would have been proud.

by Bronzillo on Feb 15, 2012 11:30 AM EST reply actions 2 recs

3,000 hits

batter nine you sucky

by marbotty on Feb 16, 2012 4:46 AM EST up reply actions

Brett's seasons

July 1985 = .432/.534/.726
August 1977 = .356/.438/.731
August 1985 = .365/.458/.708
June 1982 = .379/.471/.641
August 1982 = .342/.386/.724
May 1979 = .388/.431/.636
August 1986 = .364/.425/.636

by RoyalsFan on Feb 15, 2012 11:39 AM EST reply actions

Whoops… Forgot about:

July 1990 = .388/.442/.716
June 1988 = .333/.426/.602
August 1987 = .309/.418/.609

by RoyalsFan on Feb 15, 2012 11:51 AM EST up reply actions

More again

and forgot about:

August 1979 = .358/.403/.624
July 1983 = .336/.395/.655
May 1985 = .350/.415/.621

by RoyalsFan on Feb 15, 2012 11:53 AM EST up reply actions

Let us also commemorate

May and June of 1976 – May was .384/.435/.520, followed by a June of .375/.402/.550.

May 1976 was when he had 6 3-hit games in a row, May 8-13, which is why that month sticks in my memory. No one has had a longer streak of consecutive 3-hit games going back to 1954.

by 2X2L on Feb 15, 2012 8:08 PM EST up reply actions

I wonder what his best 162 game stretch was

That spanned more than one season?

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Feb 15, 2012 9:49 PM EST up reply actions

I remember that July

I was almost 10 years old and I started tracking his BA on a daily basis. It was the first time I ever calculated stats (I had to calculate his BA after every game because there was no internet to show his current stats. It wasn’t even on the box score in the next day’s newspaper).

You may know me as NYRoyal.

by Scott McKinney on Feb 15, 2012 11:43 AM EST reply actions

I'm pretty sure I learned...

…basic math due to baseball.

"Sir,--It has been wittily remarked that there are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third and most aggravated is statistics." *The National Observer* (June 13, 1891): p. 93-94.

by timlacy on Feb 15, 2012 1:13 PM EST up reply actions 5 recs

the table showing the top BAs in each league

was only a weekly inclusion. and they wouldn’t always include both leagues for some reason. i’d be so bummed when it was the NL.

by billexgordler on Feb 15, 2012 10:57 PM EST up reply actions

How About A

Best composite season based on his best career April, May, June, etc.?

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Feb 15, 2012 12:36 PM EST reply actions

.407/.471/.729

"Trying is the first step to sucking" -Jimmy Chance

by KHAZAD on Feb 15, 2012 3:06 PM EST up reply actions

Thanks, I Think

He’d pass the audition with that.

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Feb 15, 2012 6:14 PM EST up reply actions

WOW. These numbers are getting into...

Chuck Norris/Bill Brasky meme territory.

The greatest moment of my childhood was when [insert name] did [insert insane thing].

by 2motley4thetitle on Feb 15, 2012 12:52 PM EST reply actions 4 recs

by Scott McKinney on Feb 15, 2012 3:00 PM EST up reply actions

by WaywardSaint on Feb 15, 2012 3:32 PM EST up reply actions

"ned i need a trainer, my changeup is sick"-bruce chen

-Danny Duffy’s twitter, we fanshotted it should you need the link.

And with that BC totally earned his entire contract.

PARADEBULATE!

by Official Arrowhead Pride Parade on Feb 15, 2012 4:45 PM EST up reply actions

that joke is terrible

pure velveeta

by Bronzillo on Feb 16, 2012 10:51 AM EST up reply actions

Hey

his OBP was only 69 points below Brett’s batting average.

"Trying is the first step to sucking" -Jimmy Chance

by KHAZAD on Feb 16, 2012 2:48 AM EST up reply actions

Given the lack of a good catcher-defense metric

Who’s to say he might not have been more valuable?

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Feb 16, 2012 8:27 PM EST up reply actions

I'll give it a try.

“Rick Cerone was not a more valuable baseball player than George Brett in 1980. The voter who decided that he was should have been whipped, broken, and driven across the land.”

by WaywardSaint on Feb 16, 2012 11:45 PM EST up reply actions