Harry and I have something in common. He started as a bookkeeper and a lot of accounting is bookkeeping. OK it isn’t much, but it what I could get. I certainly never hit .342 which was Heilmann’s lifetime average.
Heilmann won his 4 batting titles in the odd years of the 1920s. He did it in 1921, 1923, 1925 and 1927. These were definitely his best seasons. If he didn’t have these four great seasons, he would probably be a borderline hall of famer instead of one I would say to be automatic (My top 180). The .342 batting average makes him a little overrated. His fielding stats aren’t the best and the 1920s was a heavy hitting era. The thing was he had those four great seasons, some other all-star seasons and was an above average player most of his career, so I have no problem naming him as a hall of fame player.
The most exciting thing Heilmann did in his career was win 2 batting titles on the last day of the season according to his SABR biography. He also risked his batting title, but kept getting hits to win both titles.
