From this point on, the hitters with six or more half-seasons in the Top 600 (if you're coming in here in media res, we've assembled the Top 300 hitting half-years--1st half/2nd half--as measured by OPS+) are all in the Hall of Fame EXCEPT for those just retired, those still on the ballot, and those who are being punished for one reason or another. Let's dig into our six-timers:
Nap Lajoie's 1901 season is justifiably legendary, with the second half setting records that would take nearly twenty years to eclipse. Hank Greenberg clearly had two modes of "hitting dominance": the high-BA, doubles-heavy version, and the all-out slugger version (as put on display breathtakingly in the second half of 1938, when he made the second serious assault on Babe Ruth's golden number of 60). Ralph Kiner operated at a lower level that his companions, but he was a prodigious, dependable slugger with just enough gas in the tank to top off a ten-year career and make into the Hall of Fame. (Today he might be seen as a much more problematic candidate...)
The three sluggers in the immediate post-expansion period all reflect the changing game that, in the mid-sixties, looked a lot like what we've been struggling through over the past decade or so. All of them saw their BAs dip under .300 on at least one occasion during their half-year peaks. The most electrifying half-season in this display belongs to Willie McCovey, whose first half performance in 1969 ranks 27th all time: it pretty much clinched his MVP award that year. The next year, Harmon Killebrew came out of the blocks on fire to post one of his two Top 100 first-half performances, helping to lead the Minnesota Twins to their second consecutive division title in the AL West. In 1972, Dick Allen finally added a high-level 2nd half performance to his string of five top-notch 1st half performances, capping his MVP season in a year where the AL run scoring level was almost as low as what baseball experienced in "The Year of the Pitcher" (1968). Dick's six appearances here constitute another reason why he belongs in the HOF...but don't hold your breath.
Frank Thomas was an especially punishing hitter, particularly in the first half of his career: his peak in the first half of 1994 is simply delirious, ranking #12 all-time. The pure slugging of Mark McGwire has been unfairly tainted by the steroid police; lost in all the hue and cry is that in 1999, the year after his 70-HR "abomination," he had his most sluggery half-season ever, with a SLG of .810(!).
Coors Field brought out the beast in Larry Walker, and obscured by the McGwire-Sosa homer chase of 1998 is the fact that he hit .402 in the second half. (Voters were finally able to look past the "Denver effect" and enshrine him into the Hall in his final year of eligibility.) His teammate Todd Helton (who specialized in hot second halves) is just a few votes away from joining him. We will wait only until 2028 to do the same for Albert Pujols, whose career looks like a more HR-heavy version of Frank Thomas.
Right-handed hitters dominate this list: eight (Lajoie, Greenberg, Kiner, Killebrew, Allen, Thomas, McGwire and Pujols) as opposed to the three lefties (McCovey, Walker, Helton). We'll put that into overall perspective a bit later on in the series...
