The .400 batting average remains the domain of only the greatest hitters baseball has known.
Jesse Burkett visited that rarefied air twice in his career, helping him lay claim to the title as one of baseball’s best hitters.
Born Dec. 4, 1868, in Wheeling, W.Va., Burkett made his pro baseball debut in 1888 as a pitcher, winning 27 games for a minor league team in Scranton, Pa. The next season, Burkett went 39-6 for a team in Worcester, Mass., then surfaced in the big leagues in 1890 with the New York Giants.
