Adam Dunn: Lowest batting average in baseball history

Adam Dunn of the White Sox had a season to forget. He hit just .159, but didn't play in the White Sox final game and finished with 496 plate appearances. The post-1900 record low among qualifiers was set by Rob Deer at .179 in 1991. His 496 plate appearances is six short of the required 501 needed to qualify for the worst batting average ever.


However, an official MLB rules states the following:

From 1967 to the present, if the player with the highest average in a league fails to meet the minimum plate-appearance requirement, the remaining at-bats until qualification (e.g., 5 ABs, if the player finished the season with 497 plate appearances) are hypothetically considered hitless at-bats; if his recalculated batting average still tops the league, he is awarded the title. (This policy was invoked in 1981, securing Bill Madlock his third NL batting crown, and in 1996, when NL titlist Tony Gwynn finished the year with only 498 PAs.)

Using this logic, Dunn goes from 66 for 415 to 72 for 421 which calculates out to a .173 batting average thus giving him a season that will go down as one of the worst in history.


Dunn finished the 2011 season ranked 14th all-time in strikeouts with 1,809. He likely won't be able to reach Reggie Jackson's record of 2,597, though. He is signed through 2014 and surely won't be around after that assuming he even finishes out his contract. Dunn might be a buy low candidate for a team like the Royals.