Batting Order Position distribution for career Home Runs >= 493.

 Done in 2020 before Miguel Cabrera reached 500 HR.

HomeRunLogInningsBOPdist

ID	Ord	LastName	HR	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
bondsba01	1	Bonds	762	75	2	329	242	108	1	2		3
aaronha01	2	Aaron	755		28	451	261	9	2	3	1
ruthba01	3	Ruth	714			552	149	1	1	1		10
rodrial01	4	Rodriguez	696	2	122	259	257	42	6	2		6
mayswi01	5	Mays	660	7	34	438	111	26	32	8	2	2
pujolal01	6	Pujols	656			500	126	18	10	1	1
griffke02	7	Griffey	630	1	8	530	56	22	7	2	1	3
thomeji01	8	Thome	612			155	208	142	55	33	15	4
sosasa01	9	Sosa	609	21		288	215	43	20	20	2
robinfr02	10	Robinson	586	1	32	196	283	58	11	5
mcgwima01	11	McGwire	583	3	3	166	302	52	39	12	5	1
killeha01	12	Killebrew	573	2		204	286	46	22	5	2	6
palmera01	13	Palmeiro	569	2	34	171	227	116	13	2		4
jacksre01	14	Jackson	563	1	18	181	239	65	47	9	1	2
ramirma02	15	Ramirez	555			76	373	26	40	30	7	3
schmimi01	16	Schmidt	548	2	5	211	237	24	51	15	2	1
ortizda01	17	Ortiz	541			249	169	93	21	6	2	1
mantlmi01	18	Mantle	536	14	10	287	194	22	2		2	5
foxxji01	19	Foxx	534		1	73	229	203	24	2	1	1
mccovwi01	20	McCovey	521		23	86	360	36	5	1	3	7
willite01	20	Williams	521		13	387	95	15	4	1	1	5
thomafr04	20	Thomas	521	1	1	399	76	34	9			1
matheed01	23	Mathews	512	17	85	293	70	21	16	7	1	2
bankser01	23	Banks	512		2	91	195	161	49	11		3
ottme01	25	Ott	511		6	143	243	106	10	1		2
sheffga01	26	Sheffield	509		7	375	93	10	12	6	3	3
murraed02	27	Murray	504			48	348	79	17	10	1	1
mcgrifr01	29	McGriff	493			5	364	91	12	12	9
gehrilo01	29	Gehrig	493			33	383	65	12

1. Bonds 75

2. Rodriguez 122

3. Ruth 552

4, Gehrig 383

5. Foxx 203

6. Thome 55

7. Thome 33

8. Thome 15

9.  Aaron 10

Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson hit .433 in 1925. 2-1 in World Series. Jack Bentley, another pitcher, was next .400 hitter in Hits.

Walter Johnson

Position: Pitcher

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

6-1, 200lb (185cm, 90kg)

Born: November 6, 1887 in Humboldt, KS us

Died: December 10, 1946 (Aged 59-034d) in Washington, DC

In 1957 Bob Hazle hit .403: 54 for 134. Fewest hits (>=50) and .400 BA.  Sunday, June 14, 2026

Another way of putting it: most Hits for a non qualifier.

______________________________

So were there any significant .400 BA with fewer than 50 Hits?

https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/2KZIl

For single seasons, since 1903, Playing in the AL or NL, in the regular season, requiring Batting Average >= .400 and Hits >= 40 and Hits <= 49, sorted by descending Hits.

Rk	Player	H	BA	Season	Age	Team	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	1B	2B	3B	HR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
1	Walter Johnson	42	.433	1925	37	WSH	AL	36	107	97	12	33	6	1	2	.433	.455	.577	1.033	163

Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 6/15/2026.

That's the entire list. One guy and he's a Hall of Fame pitcher.

In the 1925 World Series against Pittsburgh, Walter Johnson pitched 3 complete games: 1,4, 7. He won games 1 and 4 allowing only one run but lost game seven 9-7; only 5 of the 9 runs were earned. Batting, the .433 hitter had only a single in 11 AB.

Just for the heck of it, let's cut the Hits requirement in half.

https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/64ZcS

For single seasons, since 1903, Playing in the AL or NL, in the regular season, requiring Hits >= 20 and Hits <= 39 and Batting Average >= .400, sorted by descending Hits.

Rk	Player	H	BA	Season	Age	Team	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	1B	2B	3B	HR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
1	Jack Bentley	38	.427	1923	28	NYG	NL	52	94	89	9	29	6	2	1	.427	.446	.573	1.019	167
2	Ted Williams	37	.407	1953	34	BOS	AL	37	110	91	17	18	6	0	13	.407	.509	.901	1.410	268
3	Maurice Archdeacon	35	.402	1923	24	CHW	AL	22	94	87	23	29	5	1	0	.402	.441	.483	.924	145
4	Mike Davis	30	.400	1982	23	OAK	AL	23	77	75	12	25	4	0	1	.400	.416	.493	.909	156
5	Todd Haney	30	.411	1995	29	CHC	NL	25	81	73	11	20	8	0	2	.411	.463	.603	1.065	183
6	Phil Clark	22	.407	1992	24	DET	AL	23	61	54	3	17	4	0	1	.407	.467	.537	1.004	182
7	Liván Soto	22	.400	2022	22	LAA	AL	18	59	55	9	15	5	1	1	.400	.414	.582	.996	179
8	Craig Wilson	22	.468	1998	27	CHW	AL	13	53	47	14	14	5	0	3	.468	.490	.766	1.256	225
9	Gil Coan	21	.500	1947	25	WSH	AL	11	47	42	5	16	3	2	0	.500	.553	.667	1.220	243
10	Duke Farrell	21	.404	1903	36	BOS	AL	17	63	52	5	15	5	1	0	.404	.466	.538	1.004	194
11	Babe Ganzel	21	.438	1927	26	WSH	AL	13	59	48	7	14	4	2	1	.438	.509	.667	1.176	206
12	Rudy Pemberton	21	.512	1996	26	BOS	AL	13	45	41	11	12	8	0	1	.512	.556	.780	1.336	233
13	Elmer Valo	21	.420	1941	20	PHA	AL	15	54	50	13	18	0	1	2	.420	.463	.580	1.043	178
14	Stan Musial	20	.426	1941	20	STL	NL	12	49	47	8	15	4	0	1	.426	.449	.574	1.023	179

Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 6/15/2026.

Note Hall of Fame hitters Williams and Musial.

Coan and Pemberton: .500 BA.

#1 Jack Bentley was a pitcher and first baseman. In 1923 he threw 183 innings for the pennant winning Giants in 31 games (27 starts): 13-8. Bentley had his .427 BA exclusively as a pitcher and pinch hitter:

I	Split	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
I	as P	25	69	65	7	27	4	1	0	7	0	0	2	2	.415	.420	.508	.928
I	as PH	20	20	19	2	8	2	1	1	5	0	0	1	2	.421	.450	.789	1.239

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Generated 6/15/2026. 

In at least two games Bentley started but left before batting. In one game,15 inning 13-12 loss in St. Louis, he PH in top 8th and remained to pitch one inning but had only one PA; ironically Bentley was removed for a righty PH, Frank Snyder, who singled to SS. Bentley batted lefty and the Cardinals brought in lefty pitcher Bill Sherdel to face him. Wow, platooning in 1923. Playing CF for the Giants and batting 5th (2 for 7): Casey Stengel, who made platooning famous managing the Yankees 1949-1960: 10 pennants, 7 WS wins.

The Yankees won their first World Series in 1923, beating the Giants 4-2. Bentley pitched in 2 WS games, both losses:

2: no decision; 5 innings in relief, 1 run and 1 for 2 batting, double off Pennock

5: losing pitcher; started: 1.33 innings, 7 Runs, 6 ER, 3 run HR to Joe Dugan. Did not bat.