Ted Williams once commented about those that fail 'only' seven times out of ten attempts will be the greatest in the game. He was right about that and the list of batting champions below, reflects those great hitters who truly dominated during a single season of play.
Note: Three point one (3.1) plate appearances per scheduled game are needed to win a Major League batting title and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season. In some instances the rules of the day (per the instructions set forth by Major League Baseball, Inc.) were used to determine the batting champion and Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the official list of batting title holders.
"There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time - I owe him my best." - Batting Champion (1939-1940) Joe DiMaggio in The 100 Greatest American Athletes (Martin Gitlin, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 10/15/2018, They Said It, Page 254)
| Batting Average / Batting Title
Year-by-Year Leaders '1876 - 2020' |
|||||||
| Year | American League | AVG (Raw) | Team(s) | Year | National League | AVG (Raw) | Team(s) |
| 1876 | - | - | - | 1876 | .429 (.42857) |
Chicago |
|
| 1877 | - | - | - | 1877 | .387 (.38722) |
Boston |
|
| 1878 | - | - | - | 1878 | .358 (.35798) |
Providence |
|
| 1879 | - | - | - | 1879 | .357 (.35697) |
Providence |
|
| 1880 | - | - | - | 1880 | .360 (.36025) |
Chicago |
|
| 1881 | - | - | - | 1881 | .399 (.39942) |
Chicago |
|
| 1882 | - | - | - | 1882 | .368 (.36752) |
Buffalo |
|
| 1883 | - | - | - | 1883 | .374 (.37412) |
Buffalo |
|
| 1884 | - | - | - | 1884 | .354 (.35398) |
Chicago |
|
| 1885 | - | - | - | 1885 | .371 (.37143) |
New York |
|
| 1886 | - | - | - | 1886 | .388 (.38803) |
Chicago |
|
| 1887 | - | - | - | 1887 | .347 (.34746) |
Chicago |
|
| 1888 | - | - | - | 1888 | .344 (.34369) |
Chicago |
|
| 1889 | - | - | - | 1889 | .373 (.37320) |
Boston |
|
| 1890 | - | - | - | 1890 | .336 (.33594) |
New York |
|
| 1891 | - | - | - | 1891 | .340 (.33966) |
Philadelphia |
|
| 1892 | - | - | - | 1892 | .335 (.33503) |
Brooklyn |
|
| 1893 | - | - | - | 1893 | .370 (.37000) |
Philadelphia |
|
| 1894 | - | - | - | 1894 | .440 (.43970) |
Boston |
|
| 1895 | - | - | - | 1895 | .409 (.40909) |
Cleveland |
|
| 1896 | - | - | - | 1896 | .410 (.40956) |
Cleveland |
|
| 1897 | - | - | - | 1897 | .424 (.42376) |
Baltimore |
|
| 1898 | - | - | - | 1898 | .385 (.38503) |
Baltimore |
|
| 1899 | - | - | - | 1899 | .410 (.40964) |
Philadelphia |
|
| 1900 | - | - | - | 1900 | .381 (.38140) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1901 | Nap Lajoie | .421 (.42096) |
Philadelphia | 1901 | .376 (.37604) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1902 | Ed Delahanty | .376 (.37632) |
Washington | 1902 | .357 (.35675) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1903 | Nap Lajoie | .357 (.35670) |
Cleveland | 1903 | .355 (.35547) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1904 | Nap Lajoie | .382 (.38156) |
Cleveland | 1904 | .349 (.34898) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1905 | Elmer Flick | .308 (.30800) |
Cleveland | 1905 | .377 (.37694) |
Cincinnati |
|
| 1906 | George Stone | .358 (.35800) |
St. Louis | 1906 | .339 (.33915) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1907 | Ty Cobb | .350 (.35041) |
Detroit | 1907 | .350 (.34951) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1908 | Ty Cobb | .324 (.32358) |
Detroit | 1908 | .354 (.35387) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1909 | Ty Cobb | .377 (.37696) |
Detroit | 1909 | .339 (.33939) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1910 | Ty Cobb | .383 (.38339) |
Detroit | 1910 | .331 (.33141) |
Philadelphia |
|
| 1911 | Ty Cobb | .420 (.41963) |
Detroit | 1911 | .334 (.33404) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1912 | Ty Cobb | .409 (.40868) |
Detroit | 1912 | .372 (.37163) |
Chicago |
|
| 1913 | Ty Cobb | .390 (.39018) |
Detroit | 1913 | .350 (.35039) |
Brooklyn |
|
| 1914 | Ty Cobb | .368 (.36811) |
Detroit | 1914 | .329 (.32911) |
Brooklyn |
|
| 1915 | Ty Cobb | .369 (.36945) |
Detroit | 1915 | .320 (.31980) |
New York |
|
| 1916 | Tris Speaker | .386 (.38645) |
Cleveland | 1916 | .339 (.33948) |
Cincinnati |
|
| 1917 | Ty Cobb | .383 (.38265) |
Detroit | 1917 | .341 (.34100) |
Cincinnati |
|
| 1918 | Ty Cobb | .382 (.38242) |
Detroit | 1918 | .335 (.33496) |
Brooklyn |
|
| 1919 | Ty Cobb | .384 (.38431) |
Detroit | 1919 | .321 (.32143) |
Cincinnati |
|
| 1920 | George Sisler | .407 (.40729) |
St. Louis | 1920 | .370 (.37012) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1921 | Harry Heilmann | .394 (.39369) |
Detroit | 1921 | .397 (.39696) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1922 | George Sisler | .420 (.41980) |
St. Louis | 1922 | .401 (.40128) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1923 | Harry Heilmann | .403 (.40267) |
Detroit | 1923 | .384 (.38443) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1924 | Babe Ruth | .378 (.37807) |
New York | 1924 | .424 (.42351) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1925 | Harry Heilmann | .393 (.39267) |
Detroit | 1925 | .403 (.40278) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1926 | Heinie Manush | .378 (.37751) |
Detroit | 1926 | .353 (.35276) |
Cincinnati |
|
| 1927 | Harry Heilmann | .398 (.39802) |
Detroit | 1927 | .380 (.38042) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1928 | Goose Goslin | .379 (.37938) |
Washington | 1928 | .387 (.38683) |
Boston |
|
| 1929 | Lew Fonseca | .369 (.36926) |
Cleveland | 1929 | .398 (.39812) |
Philadelphia |
|
| 1930 | Al Simmons | .381 (.38087) |
Philadelphia | 1930 | .401 (.40126) |
New York |
|
| 1931 | Al Simmons | .390 (.38986) |
Philadelphia | 1931 | .349 (.34889) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1932 | Dale Alexander | .367 (.36734) |
Boston | 1932 | .368 (.36807) |
Brooklyn |
|
| Detroit | |||||||
| 1933 | Jimmie Foxx | .356 (.35602) |
Philadelphia | 1933 | .368 (.36799) |
Philadelphia |
|
| 1934 | Lou Gehrig | .363 (.36269) |
New York | 1934 | .362 (.36227) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1935 | Buddy Myer | .349 (.34903) |
Washington | 1935 | .385 (.38477) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1936 | Luke Appling | .388 (.38783) |
Chicago | 1936 | .373 (.37265) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1937 | Charlie Gehringer | .371 (.37057) |
Detroit | 1937 | .374 (.37441) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1938 | Jimmie Foxx | .349 (.34867) |
Boston | 1938 | .342 (.34151) |
Cincinnati |
|
| 1939 | Joe DiMaggio | .381 (.38095) |
New York | 1939 | .349 (.34929) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1940 | Joe DiMaggio | .352 (.35236) |
New York | 1940 | .317 (.31675) |
Chicago |
|
| 1941 | Ted Williams | .406 (.40570) |
Boston | 1941 | .343 (.34328) |
Brooklyn |
|
| 1942 | Ted Williams | .356 (.35632) |
Boston | 1942 | .330 (.33009) |
Boston |
|
| 1943 | Luke Appling | .328 (.32821) |
Chicago | 1943 | .357 (.35656) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1944 | Lou Boudreau | .327 (.32705) |
Cleveland | 1944 | .357 (.35701) |
Brooklyn |
|
| 1945 | Snuffy Stirnweiss | .309 (.30854) |
New York | 1945 | .355 (.35542) |
Chicago |
|
| 1946 | Mickey Vernon | .353 (.35264) |
Washington | 1946 | .365 (.36538) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1947 | Ted Williams | .343 (.34280) |
Boston | 1947 | .371 (.37090) |
Philadelphia |
|
St. Louis |
|||||||
| 1948 | Ted Williams | .369 (.36935) |
Boston | 1948 | .376 (.37643) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1949 | George Kell | .343 (.34291) |
Detroit | 1949 | .342 (.34233) |
Brooklyn |
|
| 1950 | Billy Goodman | .354 (.35377) |
Boston | 1950 | .346 (.34595) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1951 | Ferris Fain | .344 (.34352) |
Philadelphia | 1951 | .355 (.35467) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1952 | Ferris Fain | .327 (.32714) |
Philadelphia | 1952 | .336 (.33564) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1953 | Mickey Vernon | .337 (.33717) |
Washington | 1953 | .344 (.34447) |
Brooklyn |
|
| 1954 | Bobby Avila | .341 (.34054) |
Cleveland | 1954 | .345 (.34513) |
New York |
|
| 1955 | Al Kaline | .340 (.34014) |
Detroit | 1955 | .338 (.33771) |
Philadelphia |
|
| 1956 | Mickey Mantle | .353 (.35272) |
New York | 1956 | .328 (.32840) |
Milwaukee |
|
| 1957 | Ted Williams | .388 (.38809) |
Boston | 1957 | .351 (.35060) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1958 | Ted Williams | .328 (.32846) |
Boston | 1958 | .350 (.34959) |
Philadelphia |
|
| 1959 | Harvey Kuenn | .353 (.35294) |
Detroit | 1959 | .355 (.35453) |
Milwaukee |
|
| 1960 | Pete Runnels | .320 (.32008) |
Boston | 1960 | .325 (.32461) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1961 | Norm Cash | .361 (.36075) |
Detroit | 1961 | .351 (.35140) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1962 | Pete Runnels | .326 (.32562) |
Boston | 1962 | .346 (.34586) |
Los Angeles |
|
| 1963 | Carl Yastrzemski | .321 (.32105) |
Boston | 1963 | .326 (.32554) |
Los Angeles |
|
| 1964 | Tony Oliva | .323 (.32292) |
Minnesota | 1964 | .339 (.33923) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1965 | Tony Oliva | .321 (.32118) |
Minnesota | 1965 | .329 (.32937) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1966 | Frank Robinson | .316 (.31597) |
Baltimore | 1966 | .342 (.34206) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1967 | Carl Yastrzemski | .326 (.32642) |
Boston | 1967 | .357 (.35726) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1968 | Carl Yastrzemski | .301 (.30056) |
Boston | 1968 | .335 (.33546) |
Cincinnati |
|
| 1969 | Rod Carew | .332 (.33187) |
Minnesota | 1969 | .348 (.34769) |
Cincinnati |
|
| 1970 | Alex Johnson | .329 (.32899) |
California | 1970 | .366 (.36610) |
Atlanta |
|
| 1971 | Tony Oliva | .337 (.33675) |
Minnesota | 1971 | .363 (.36278) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1972 | Rod Carew | .318 (.31776) |
Minnesota | 1972 | .333 (.33275) |
Chicago |
|
| 1973 | Rod Carew | .350 (.35000) |
Minnesota | 1973 | .338 (.33824) |
Cincinnati |
|
| 1974 | Rod Carew | .364 (.36394) |
Minnesota | 1974 | .353 (.35314) |
Atlanta |
|
| 1975 | Rod Carew | .359 (.35888) |
Minnesota | 1975 | .354 (.35409) |
Chicago |
|
| 1976 | George Brett | .333 (.33333) |
Kansas City | 1976 | .339 (.33852) |
Chicago |
|
| 1977 | Rod Carew | .388 (.38799) |
Minnesota | 1977 | .338 (.33752) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1978 | Rod Carew | .333 (.33333) |
Minnesota | 1978 | .334 (.33391) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1979 | Fred Lynn | .333 (.33333) |
Boston | 1979 | .344 (.34426) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1980 | George Brett | .390 (.38975) |
Kansas City | 1980 | .324 (.32353) |
Chicago |
|
| 1981 | Carney Lansford | .336 (.33584) |
Boston | 1981 | .341 (.34050) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1982 | Willie Wilson | .332 (.33162) |
Kansas City | 1982 | .331 (.33063) |
Montreal |
|
| 1983 | Wade Boggs | .361 (.36082) |
Boston | 1983 | .323 (.32346) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 1984 | Don Mattingly | .343 (.34328) |
New York | 1984 | .351 (.35149) |
San Diego |
|
| 1985 | Wade Boggs | .368 (.36753) |
Boston | 1985 | .353 (.35294) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1986 | Wade Boggs | .357 (.35690) |
Boston | 1986 | .334 (.33448) |
Montreal |
|
| 1987 | Wade Boggs | .363 (.36298) |
Boston | 1987 | .370 (.37012) |
San Diego |
|
| 1988 | Wade Boggs | .366 (.36644) |
Boston | 1988 | .313 (.31286) |
San Diego |
|
| 1989 | Kirby Puckett | .339 (.33858) |
Minnesota | 1989 | .336 (.33609) |
San Diego |
|
| 1990 | George Brett | .329 (.32904) |
Kansas City | 1990 | .335 (.33533) |
St. Louis |
|
| 1991 | Julio Franco | .341 (.34126) |
Texas | 1991 | .319 (.31911) |
Atlanta |
|
| 1992 | Edgar Martinez | .343 (.34280) |
Seattle | 1992 | .330 (.33034) |
San Diego |
|
| 1993 | John Olerud | .363 (.36298) |
Toronto | 1993 | .370 (.37021) |
Colorado |
|
| 1994 | Paul O'Neill | .359 (.35870) |
New York | 1994 | .394 (.39379) |
San Diego |
|
| 1995 | Edgar Martinez | .356 (.35616) |
Seattle | 1995 | .368 (.36822) |
San Diego |
|
| 1996 | Alex Rodriguez | .358 (.35774) |
Seattle | 1996 | .353 (.35254) |
San Diego |
|
| 1997 | Frank Thomas | .347 (.34717) |
Chicago | 1997 | .372 (.37162) |
San Diego |
|
| 1998 | Bernie Williams | .339 (.33868) |
New York | 1998 | .363 (.36343) |
Colorado |
|
| 1999 | Nomar Garciaparra | .357 (.35714) |
Boston | 1999 | .379 (.37899) |
Colorado |
|
| 2000 | Nomar Garciaparra | .372 (.37240) |
Boston | 2000 | .372 (.37241) |
Colorado |
|
| 2001 | Ichiro Suzuki | .350 (.34971) |
Seattle | 2001 | .350 (.35010) |
Colorado |
|
| 2002 | Manny Ramirez | .349 (.34862) |
Boston | 2002 | .370 (.36972) |
San Francisco |
|
| 2003 | Bill Mueller | .326 (.32634) |
Boston | 2003 | .359 (.35871) |
St. Louis |
|
| 2004 | Ichiro Suzuki | .372 (.37216) |
Seattle | 2004 | .362 (.36193) |
San Francisco |
|
| 2005 | Michael Young | .331 (.33084) |
Texas | 2005 | .335 (.33502) |
Chicago |
|
| 2006 | Joe Mauer | .347 (.34741) |
Minnesota | 2006 | .344 (.34364) |
Pittsburgh |
|
| 2007 | Magglio Ordonez | .363 (.36303) |
Detroit | 2007 | .340 (.33962) |
Colorado |
|
| 2008 | Joe Mauer | .328 (.32836) |
Minnesota | 2008 | .364 (.36446) |
Atlanta |
|
| 2009 | Joe Mauer | .365 (.36520) |
Minnesota | 2009 | .342 (.34201) |
Florida |
|
| 2010 | Josh Hamilton | .359 (.35907) |
Texas | 2010 | .336 (.33560) |
Colorado |
|
| 2011 | Miguel Cabrera | .344 (.34441) |
Detroit | 2011 | .337 (.33706) |
New York |
|
| 2012 | Miguel Cabrera | .330 (.32958) |
Detroit | 2012 | .336 (.33585) |
San Francisco |
|
| 2013 | Miguel Cabrera | .348 (.34775) |
Detroit | 2013 | .331 (.33129) |
Colorado |
|
| 2014 | Jose Altuve | .341 (.34091) |
Houston | 2014 | .319 (.31873) |
Colorado |
|
| 2015 | Miguel Cabrera | .338 (.33799) |
Detroit | 2015 | .333 (.33333) |
Miami |
|
| 2016 | Jose Altuve | .338 (.33750) |
Houston | 2016 | .348 (.34783) |
Colorado |
|
| 2017 | Jose Altuve | .346 (.34576) |
Houston | 2017 | .331 (.33075) |
Colorado |
|
| 2018 | Mookie Betts | .346 (.34615) |
Boston | 2018 | .326 (.32578) |
Milwaukee |
|
| 2019 | Tim Anderson | .335 (.33534) |
Chicago | 2019 | .329 (.32924) |
Milwaukee |
|
| 2020 | - | - | - | 2020 | - | - | - |
| Year | American League | AVG (Raw) | Team(s) | Year | National League | AVG (Raw) | Team(s) |
| Current Through 2020 Season | |||||||
During the 1968 season, Carl Yastrzemski had the lowest batting average that was still high enough to lead the American League. Do you know what National League player had the lowest average, but still won the batting title? [Answer]
Did you know that when George Brett went 1-for-1 at the plate on October 3, 1990, he raised his average to .329, won the batting championship, and became the first player in baseball history to win a batting title in three different decades?
Did you know that when Willie McGee won his 1990 batting title, he started the season in the National League, was traded to an American League team on August 29th, and became the first player in baseball history to win a batting a title in a league that they were not currently playing in?
Did you know that Carney Lansford and Will Clark each lost the batting championship on the last day of the season in 1989, the first time the batting title was decided in both leagues on the last day?
Did you know that Tony Cuccinello (.30845) lost the batting championship in 1945, to Snuffy Stirnweiss (.30854), by .00009 - the closest finish in baseball history?
Did you know that Christian Yelich was the first Milwaukee Brewers player to win a batting title? Use the batting championship data above to find the first from every team, the first to win back-to-back titles, the first to win in each league, the first to win with an average less than .350, and hundreds of other variations...
Honus Wagner (8 batting titles), Tony Gwynn (8 batting titles) and Ty Cobb (12 batting titles) are truly in a class by themselves. Visit their online baseball cards to learn much more, or the Batting Average Record Book to see details.
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