At lunch today I quickly skimmed through the current "Baseball Digest," which had an article about the best 3-4 hitter combos in baseball history. Understandably Ruth and Gehrig had several seasons that were mentioned, but I was struck by a couple of curious omissions/selections.
The article listed the 1960 season by Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews. They were a great duo for more than a decade and both were very good in 1960....but they were clearly better in 1959 and that season was not mentioned.
In 1960 Aaron had a .292 BA/.352 OBP/.566 SPT with 40 HR and 126 RBI;
Mathews had a line of .277/.397/.551 39 124.
Compare that to 1959: Aaron was .355/.401/.636 39 123 while Mathews had a line of .306/.390/.593 46 114.
The article also mentioned Carl Yastrzemski and Tonny Conigliaro of the 1970 Red Sox but made no mention of Johnny Bench and Tony Perez for any season. In 1970 Yaz hit .329/.452/.592 40 102, a line very similar to that of Perez that same season, as Doggie went .317/.401/.589 40 129.
Bench however had a much better 1970 than did Tony C. Conigliaro had a line of .266/.324/.498 36 116 while Bench went .293/.345/.587 45 148.
Anyway, what are some other dynamic duo seasons, both all time and among contemporary players?