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Former Yellow Jacket Charlie Blackmon Chasing History

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

SEATTLE, WA - AUGUST 09: Charlie Blackmon #19 of the Colorado Rockies takes a swing during an at-bat in a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on August, 9, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners won 5-3. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - AUGUST 09: Charlie Blackmon #19 of the Colorado Rockies takes a swing during an at-bat in a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on August, 9, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners won 5-3. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
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Former Georgia Tech baseball standout Charlie Blackmon is off to an incredible start in the shortened 2020 season and could be chasing history.

There could be an argument that the MLB player off to the hottest start this season is former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket and current Colorado Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon.

The 34-year old, 10-year veteran through the Rockies first 18-games this season owns a .472 hitting percentage, collecting base hits in 34 of 72 at-bats so far this season. Almost a third of the way through the season, Blackmon has the potential opportunity to be the first Major League in almost 80-years to hit .400 for a season.

The last player to hit .400 in a season at the Major League Level was Hall of Famer Ted Williams who accomplished the feat in 1941 when he hit .406 for the Boston Red Sox. In the nearly 80-years since the feat, only two players have hit above .390 that being in Tony Gwynn (.394) in 1994 and George Brett (.390) in 1980.

After starting the season 1-for-12 at the plate, Blackmon went on an absolute tear, earning a base hit in 30 of his next 64 at-bats, that was good enough for a hitting slash of .567/.591/.817 while hitting three home runs and collecting 20 RBI. His path to history took a slight hit on Thursday when he had his third hitless game of the season (first since July 26) when he went 0-for-4 in a Rockies loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. That being said, the former Yellow Jacket still owns a flashy .472 batting average.

If Blackmon is going to hit for .400 on the season, he will not be able to afford to go through a slump especially in a 60-game season. To accomplish the feat, he’ll need to continue being hot at the plate. If Blackmon averages four at-bats over the Rockies remaining 42 games, he’ll need to collect hits in 65 of his remaining 168 at-bats which would be a batting average of .386.

While hitting .386 will be a tall task for Blackmon to say the least and the possibility of doing so is probably slim, it is not impossible. Either way, the longer Blackmon continues to hit at this historic pace, the more he’ll have not just Colorado fans and Georgia Tech fans attention but the entirety of the baseball world.