Brett, Gwynn, and Ichiro were the last guys who had a shot.
Agreed. It was Ichiro or nobody in the recent past. (Gwynn had a shot but that damn strike ruined his chances). Gotta have the fast legs now. Now with the shift going big time it makes it impossible imho. (The shift for Ted Williams did not really start until 1946, 5 years after his great .406 year.) These kids now are absolutely incredible athletes. I’m an older fan but I would love to see Trout, Altuve or any other of these younger kids hit .400. I believe The 3 greatest hitters in big league history for average AND power are Ruth/Gehrig/Willams in that order. Nobody, (these days), can compare. The ‘Baseball Reference’ MLB internet site backs that up. If you are not on that site, check it out!
Rod Carew had a .388 season in 1977 where he flirted with the .400 mark a lot of the season. If eight of his ABs would have resulted in a hit rather than being ruled an error, or having the fielder make a great play, or would have been called safe on a bang-bang play at first, he would have hit .401.
Mike Trout will not hit .400 but he is probably the best combination of skill and athleticism since Mantle. Like Mantle, Trout has charisma. I'm obviously biased but if the Mick would have taken care of himself and had access to today's medical technology, he would probably hold just about every power hitting record there is.