Looking Back: Vols' Les Fleming Batted .414
Leading the Vols in batting and pitching was the amazing effort by Hugh Hill. Hill was 22-7 on the mound, tying teammate Warren Sanders (22-12) in victories. As an outfielder, Hill batted a remarkable .416, a mark never topped in the Southern Association. Or was it?
The Southern Association folded at the end of the 1961 season--therefore the record is etched in stone. There is no doubt that in the early years of baseball record keeping of games there has been mistakes or incomplete information. The book, The Southern Association in Baseball, 1885-1961, states:
"Categories of statistics were minimal at best, as most leagues kept track of only the basic elements such as hits and batting averages. In addition, no special effort was made to keep track of players in less than ten games. Finally, some of the stats were found to be just plain wrong, including some items as elemental as team wins and individual batting averages."
This brings Hill's 1902 batting average into question. One of the founding members of the Society for American Baseball Researchers (SABR), Ray Nemec searched the league records game-by-game and discovered that Hill's .416 average was not correct. Nemec learned that Hill lost 37 hits and gained 21 at bats to hit .296. He believes that Shreveport's Frank Huelsman (.360) won the batting title for the second straight year.
Ray Nemec is very thorough and one of the country's most experienced baseball researchers. The official record cannot be changed since the league has not existed for decades. Still, Hill remains in the history books.
In my research for this story, Nemec said, "When checking for player's records, it became apparent that the averages published for the 1902 Southern included players listed for the wrong teams. Averages were inconsistent with their game-by-game activities; some records were for fewer games than the player appeared in, etc. A real mess.
"I used box scores from Sporting Life and various newspapers to compile averages for the players. Listing their span with the teams, adding extra base hits for batters, games started and complete games for pitchers, etc. Since the league folded over 40 years ago, there is no one who would have an interest other than people doing books, etc. The records were put on file with the Minor League Baseball Museum."
If you check the Southern Association's records for the next highest batting average behind Hill, another Nashville Vol is found. Les Fleming batted .414 in 1941 and needed only one more hit to have reached .417.
Fleming was a native of Singleton, Texas and began his professional baseball career in Alexandria of the Evangeline League in 1935. He was property of the Detroit Tigers. The left-handed batter hit .277 and .321 during those first two seasons. In 1937, Fleming was moved to the Texas League in Beaumont for two seasons (1937-38). The 22-year-old led the league in doubles (49) in 1938 while batting .296.
The first baseman would be promoted to Toledo of the American Association where he collected 27 home runs while batting .269 (120-for-446). Those numbers earned Fleming a call up to Detroit at the end of the 1949 minor league season. He appeared in eight games, but was hitless in 16 plate appearances. After a season in Buffalo of the International League in 1940, Fleming was in Nashville an independent team without a major league affiliation. The Nashville Vols were members of the Southern Association.
In six seasons of professional baseball, Fleming had just one season where he batted over .300. The remarkable feat of 1941 where he batted .414 (155-for-374) stands as one of baseball's greatest feats. He clubbed 29 home runs, 34 doubles in 106 games and recorded 103 RBIs.
Fleming was hitting .402 when fracturing his wrist in early July while chasing a pop fly and crashing into the stands in Little Rock. After six weeks out of the lineup, Fleming continued his hot hitting reaching a season high .424 at one point. The 1941 Vols, managed by Larry Gilbert, finished the season in second-place (83-70). With the Vols season over, six major league clubs pursued Fleming's contract. Cleveland won the bidding war and signed Fleming.
The following story is from a Cleveland newspaper dated September 10, 1941:
"The purchase of Leslie Harvey Fleming by the Cleveland Indians proves that America is still the land of opportunity. The Indians purchased Leslie Harvey from the Nashville club of the Southern Association. They were impressed by his .414 batting average and the 29 home runs he blasted out. Also by the strong possibility that they will need somebody to take the place of Hal Trosky next season. Illness has made Trosky's future uncertain.
"Up to now Leslie Harvey has been one of baseball's most unfortunate young men. He broke in with the Tigers, spent his full time in the minors, preparing himself for a first base job in the major leagues.
"He reported to the Tiger training camp and discovered that in order to win a job he had to do only two things: (1) Play better ball than Hank Greenberg, and (2) play better ball than Rudy York. Leslie Harvey went back to the minors again.
"Leslie Harvey didn't do well in the minors at first. He was discouraged and worried by illness in the family while in Toledo. He fared better when shifted to Buffalo but not well enough for the Bisons to keep him. They sent him off to Nashville in a deal last winter. There he found himself under the leadership of Larry Gilbert, a gent who makes the specialty of rehabilitating quaint characters like Baron Poffenberger and Red Evans.
"Fleming may prove helpful to the Indians in more ways than one. If he can help fill in for Trosky, that will be enough, no doubt. But he has a merry disposition which may help some of the brooders on the Cleveland club forget that they tossed away a pennant to engage in a pleasure fight with Oscar Vitt, that should help.
"Next to baseball, Fleming's favorite sport is bronco busting. He is a Texan, and one glance at his short bowed legs is enough to convince anybody that he is a horseman. Les likes to wear his cowboy's sombrero and boots, even to the ballpark."
Fleming finished his fascinating 1941 season in Cleveland, but only appeared in two games, batting .250 (2-for-8). He was the starting first baseman for the Indians in 1942 playing in 156 games, batting .292 (160-for-548) with 14 home runs and 82 RBIs. Fleming sat out the 1943 and 1944 seasons during these World War II years to work in a Beaumont shipyard. When he returned to baseball in 1945, Fleming never matched his rookie numbers. Fleming batted .329 in just 42 games for the Indians in 1945 and .278 (99 games) in 1946. He became property of Pittsburgh in 1947 and appeared in 24 games (.258) in his last major league season.
In 1948, Fleming won the MVP award playing in Indianapolis (American Association) batting .323 with 26 home runs. He would finish his playing career in 1956 after several more years and teams in the minors. In his seven major league seasons, Fleming appeared in 434 games, batted .277 (369-for-1, 330) with 29 home runs and 199 RBIs.
His minor league totals include 16 seasons, 2,099 games and a .306 batting average (2,248-for-7, 353).
In a 1970 interview Fleming said, "I think my biggest thrill in baseball was the day I walked into Yankee Stadium. It looked three miles long and four miles wide. It was the biggest thing I ever saw in my life."
Fleming's .414 batting average is solid for the Southern Association's record book, but Hill's .416 will be the official mark. Fleming died on March 5, 1980 in Cleveland, Texas.
Traughber's Tidbit: The Metro Archives is hosting a Nashville baseball memorabilia exhibit with a collection of photos, uniforms, autograph baseballs, etc. titled "Root For the Home Team." The exhibit is free and open to the public during their business hours Monday through Friday 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM.
The exhibit runs through September 30 with an Open House scheduled for August 27 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. The Metro Archives is located in Nashville at 3801 Green Hills Valley Drive (former site of the old Green Hills Library). The Metro Achieves telephone number is 615-862-5880.
If you have any comments or suggestions, click here to send an email to Bill Traughber.