Joe Christensen's Sunday Insider: .400 tough even in minors

If Ben Revere can raise his average to .400 by season's end, he will have done something not done since 1961.

Last update: August 12, 2008 - 4:09 PM

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For four months, Ben Revere's batting average hovered near the magical .400 mark.

The Twins' prospect kept hitting and hitting for Class A Beloit until this past week, when he slipped to .388.

With 22 games remaining in Beloit's season, we finally gained some perspective on Revere's accomplishments.

It's common knowledge that no major leaguer has batted .400 since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941.

What's less known is that nobody has done it in the minor leagues, over a full season with the same team, since 1961, when Aaron Pointer batted .402 for Salisbury, N.C., in what was then the Class D Western Carolina League.

Others have topped .400 in the short-season leagues. Tony Oliva, for example, batted .410 in 64 games for Wytheville, Va., in 1961.

Others have done it with multiple stops. Erubiel Durazo batted .404 in 1999, but that included 64 games at Class AA El Paso and 30 games at Class AAA Tucson.

Pointer is the last to do it while qualifying for his league's batting title, something Revere is on pace to do in the Midwest League.

"I wish [Revere] a lot of luck," Pointer said by phone this week from his home in Tacoma, Wash. "It'd be nice to have someone do it again."

Pointer went on to play 40 games in the majors over three seasons for the Houston Colt .45's-Astros franchise. He spent 17 years as an NFL official, retiring in 2003.

None of this made him nearly as famous as his siblings. He is a brother of the Pointer Sisters, the Grammy Award-winning singing group.

Pointer, 66, said he didn't realize how rare his .402 season was until 2005, when reporters began calling as Rick Short made his bid for .400 with Class AAA New Orleans, before finishing at .383.

"When you think about it, it's really a tough feat," Pointer said. "If you go 1-for-3, that won't do it. I never even thought about it because playing as an amateur, I never hit below .400. Nobody mentioned it during the year, so it wasn't something that put added pressure on me."

Revere, 20, was batting .404 on July 24. The next day, he twisted his ankle. He missed some games and entered Friday in a 3-for-19 slide.

"There may be a little bit of pressure, but I won't put that pressure on me," Revere told mlb.com. "I don't like to look at my stats. If I go 0-for-4, people will be like, 'C'mon man, you'll lose the .400.' But I don't really care as long as we hopefully we win the game. Then I'll be happy."

Revere is listed at only 5-9 and 166 pounds, but scouts call him a legitimate big league outfield prospect. A lefthanded hitter, he entered Friday with a .440 on-base percentage and 36 stolen bases in 73 games.

The Twins grabbed him with their first-round pick (No. 28 overall) in the 2007 draft out of Lexington (Ky.) Catholic High.

Analysts called that pick a reach, but Revere is making the Twins look pretty smart, even if he doesn't make history this year.

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