Afternoon Baseball

In an earlier post I mentioned how Derrek Lee's season was one to remember, and how he shouldn't have to remember it for being ignored because Andruw Jones hit a ton of home runs in August.
Bumfromjersey objected to my designation of Lee's season, and he's correct, because I offered no evidence. And here I am, to offer why I feel this way about his season.
Analysis on the flip

Lee led the league in several categories. Batting average, hits, slugging percentage, OPS, OPS+, games played, doubles, extra-base hits, runs created, and total bases. That's 10 categories, some major, some not, without getting into the stat-guy stats. Not to knock those, but that brings up a whole other level of argument. Plus, Lee won a Gold Glove, was 2nd in home runs, intentional walks and runs, 3rd in times on base, 4th in on-base percentage, 7th in RBI, 9th in sacrifice flies, and 10th in walks. A complete player by any standard.
Now, granted, it's only one season, but that, in some ways, is why it's so special. Lee had never led the league in any category before, and had only been in the top 10 in triples, walks and stolen bases before. Never was he higher than 7th, and never more than once, although he won the 2003 Gold Glove at first.

Here's the key:
Over the past 26 seasons, the only players to lead their leagues in batting, slugging, OPS, OPS+ and runs created (these stats used to show great aptitude in every aspect of hitting, both in the abstract and compared to the league) are: Barry Bonds (2002, 2004), Frank Thomas (1994), and the sublime George Brett (1980).

Now, don't get me wrong. Those seasons are better than Lee's overall, as is Larry Walker's 1997, Jeff Bagwell's 1994, and a host of others. But Lee dominated his league is a widespread manner that has been seen only four times in 26 years, and all four of those men won MVP. Lee received a mere one first place vote, and was a nearly unanimous third. It's clear that his season has been ignored, both in the immediate present and in a broader historical context.