Much of the baseball buzz this spring has centered around Luis Arraez’ quest to hit a next-to-impossible .400-plus.

Miami’s second baseman was stroking the ball at a major league leading .403 (87-for-216) as of June 7.

More on up-and-comer Arraez later.

For area fans, no talk of hitting .400 is complete without the mention of Richmond Church Hill native Ray Dandridge.

Playing third base for the Newark, N.J., Dodgers in 1934, Dandridge hit an amazing .432 (51-for-118 in 35 games), leading the Negro National League.

Negro League teams of that era didn’t play nearly as many league games as current teams.

The Negro League teams preferred barnstorming (“money games”) with the potential of greater revenue.

Born in 1913, Dandridge’s .432 in 1934 was based on Negro League games only. He later played with the Negro League Indianapolis Clowns, Newark Elite Giants and Newark Eagles, followed by 10 years in Mexico.

Arraez, a 26-year-old Venezuelan, is similar to Dandridge in that he is smallish in stature, rarely strikes out and is not a home run hitter.

Dandridge was listed at 5-foot-5 and 175 pounds and nicknamed “Squats” for his short stocky frame. Leadoff hitter Arraez, who bats left but throws right, is 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds.

Arraez won the American League batting title last year with Minnesota (.316). He is bidding to add the National League batting crown this year.

He was traded from the Twins to the Marlins this past offseason for starting pitcher Pablo Lopez.

A .400 batting average is like the Mount Everest of baseball milestones. It was last done in the Major Leagues in 1941 by Boston’s Ted Williams (.406). Reaching .400 was more common in the Negro Leagues. Oscar Charleston, Red Parnell, Chino Smith, Artie Wilson, Tefelo Vargas, Mules Sutter and Willard Brown were among those to do so, all before 1950.

Brown was the last to do it, hitting .408 in 1948 with the Kansas City Monarchs.

Like so many of the Negro League headliners, Dandridge was considered “too old” when the racial barrier was removed in 1947.

He never played in the mainstream big leagues but did win Most Valuable Player (hitting .363) for the AAA American Association in 1950. At the time he was 37 and playing for the Minnesota Millers, a New York Giants’ farm team.

While he never got the call to the big leagues, he trained with New York in Florida and was a role model for a young Giants outfielder you may have heard of: Willie Mays.

Arraez can only hope he is someday honored like Dandridge, who is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame (inducted in 1987 by Veterans’ Committee), Mexican Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

Any comparison to Ray Dandridge is a compliment indeed.