List of Major League Baseball batting champions

In the sport of baseball, batting average is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. A batting average is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats. In Major League Baseball, a player in each league wins the batting title for having the highest batting average each season. This article presents a list of players who have been so recognized as "batting champions".

Background

Awards

The American League winner is known as the "Rod Carew American League Batting Champion", while the National League leader is designated the "Tony Gwynn National League Batting Champion". At the 2016 MLB All-Star Game, MLB announced that the AL and NL batting champions would henceforth be named in honor of Rod Carew and Tony Gwynn, respectively. Gwynn won all eight titles in the NL with the San Diego Padres, while Carew was a seven-time AL batting champion.

Criteria

Since 1957, a player must have 3.1 plate appearances per scheduled game in that league to qualify for the batting title in Major League Baseball.
If a player's lead in average is sufficiently large that enough hitless at bats can be added to reach this requirement and the player still would have the highest batting average, he wins the title. Tony Gwynn, for example, had 159 hits in 451 ABs in 1996 but only 498 PAs. Gwynn's batting average would have dropped to.349 with four hitless ABs added to reach the 502 PA requirement—as such, Gwynn's average would still have been higher than other eligible players, thus Gwynn was awarded the 1996 batting title for the National League.

Other recognized leagues

There are several other historical leagues that are also considered to have had "major" status by MLB, and their statistics are recognized as such. Three such leagues operated in the late 19th century: the American Association, Union Association, and Players' League. A fourth, the Federal League, operated during 1914 and 1915.
In December 2020, MLB announced that the records of Negro league baseball from 1920 to 1948 would be designated as major-league status. From 2020 to 2024, MLB and the Elias Sports Bureau completed a comprehensive review of the Seamheads.com database in coordination with Retrosheet. The MLB database combines statistics from the Negro leagues with existing data from the AL, NL, and other historical major leagues. MLB officially incorporated relevant Negro league statistics into its record book in 2024.

History

The first batting average champion in the NL was Ross Barnes; in the league's inaugural 1876 season, Barnes batted.429 for the Chicago White Stockings. The AL was established in 1901, and Hall of Fame second baseman Nap Lajoie led that league with a.426 average for the Philadelphia Athletics.
Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers led the AL in average in 11 seasons. Honus Wagner and Gwynn are tied for the second-most titles, with eight apiece in the NL. It is unclear whether Lajoie or Cobb won the 1910 AL title, with some sources attributing the title to each man. If Cobb is credited with the 1910 title, he won 9 consecutive titles from 1907 to 1915 and 12 total titles for his career. Otherwise, Rogers Hornsby won the most consecutive titles, with six from 1920 to 1925. Without the 1910 title, Cobb still led the league in five consecutive seasons from 1911 to 1915. Cobb holds the record for highest average in two and three consecutive seasons, but Hornsby holds the record for four and five consecutive seasons. Wagner, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, and Gwynn each won four consecutive titles. Lajoie also had a streak of four league-leading seasons from 1901 to 1904, if he is credited with the contested AL title in 1902.
Under the current 3.1 PA qualification, players have posted a.400 batting average for a season 28 times. Ted Williams'.4057 in 1941 is the most recent such season, one of 13 to occur since 1900. George Brett in 1980 is the only player to maintain a.400 average into September since 1941. Additionally, only Brett and John Olerud in 1993 maintained such an average into August. With the modern scarcity of.400 hitters, recent players who have been above.400 early in the season, such as Chipper Jones in 2008, have drawn significant attention in the media. Brett's.390 in 1980 and Gwynn's.394 in 1994 are the only seasons in which a player reached.390 since 1941.
Carl Yastrzemski's.301 in the 1968 American League was the lowest batting average ever to lead a league. In 2025, Trea Turner of the Philadelphia Phillies captured the National League batting title with a.304 average – the lowest mark ever for an NL champion. Turner edged out Tony Gwynn’s previous NL low of.313 in 1988. Only three batting champions accomplished the feat without hitting a home run: Willie Keeler in 1897, Zack Wheat in 1918, and Rod Carew in 1972. Joe Mauer's 2006 title made him the first catcher to ever win an AL batting title, and his third title in 2009 surpassed Ernie Lombardi's previous record of two titles for a catcher in any league.

Winning margins

The closest finish in a batting race came in 1945 when Snuffy Stirnweiss batted.309, topping Tony Cuccinello's.308 average for the American League title by.00008. George Kell beat out Williams in 1949 by.00015. The closest race in the National League came in 2003 when Albert Pujols held off Todd Helton on the last day of the season by.00022. The closest National League race before that was in 1931 with Chick Hafey edging out Bill Terry by.00028.
Lajoie's.426 average in 1901 was 86 points higher than runner-up Mike Donlin's.340, the largest margin of victory for a batting champion. Cap Anson's.399 in 1881 was 71 points higher than Joe Start in 1881, the widest margin in the National League.

Champions of two leagues

In 2020, D.J. LeMahieu of the New York Yankees won the AL batting title, thereby becoming the first player to definitively win batting titles in both the American and National Leagues; he had also won the NL batting title in 2016 as a member of the Colorado Rockies. However, Ed Delahanty would have that distinction if he is credited with the disputed 1902 American League title, as he was also the 1899 National League champion.
The only other player to win titles in multiple leagues was Pete Browning, who won American Association titles in 1882 and 1885, along with the lone Players' League championship in 1890. Barnes and Deacon White each won National Association and National League titles, but the National Association is not regarded as an official league. In addition, Oscar Charleston won batting championships in the Negro National League and Eastern Colored League. In 1921, Charleston posted a career-best batting average of.434 with the St. Louis Giants.

Champions with multiple teams

In 1990, Willie McGee posted a.335 average over 542 at-bats in the NL for the St. Louis Cardinals before being traded to the Oakland Athletics of the AL on August 29. Although McGee finished the season in the AL, he had enough PA's in the NL to qualify for the NL batting title, which he won narrowly over Eddie Murray's.330. However, McGee batted.274 that season in the AL, bringing down his overall average to.324; this allowed Murray to lead the major leagues in batting average, yet he did not win a batting title.
In 2024, Luis Arráez became the first player in major-league history to win a batting title with three different teams, and in three consecutive seasons: Minnesota Twins in 2022; Miami Marlins in 2023; and San Diego Padres in 2024. Arráez played 33 games with the Miami Marlins and 117 games with the San Diego Padres in 2024, resulting in a.314 average, with a combined 200 hits in 637 at-bats.

List of batting champions

Key

National League

Year	Winner	AVG	Team	Runner-up	2nd AVG	Ref
		.429	Chicago White Stockings		.366
	^†	.387	Boston Red Caps		.378
		.358	Providence Grays		.354
		.357	Providence Grays	^†	.348
		.360	Chicago White Stockings	^†	.337
	^†	.399	Chicago White Stockings		.338
	^†	.368	Buffalo Bisons	^†	.362
	^†	.374	Buffalo Bisons	^†	.357
	^†	.354	Chicago White Stockings	^†	.347
	^†	.371	New York Giants	^†	.359
	^†	.388	Chicago White Stockings	^†	.371
	^†	.372	Detroit Wolverines	^†	.347
	^†	.344	Chicago White Stockings		.332
	^†	.373	Boston Beaneaters		.352
		.336	New York Giants	^†	.325
	^†	.340	Philadelphia Phillies		.319
	^†	.335	Brooklyn Grooms	^†	.330
	^†	.380	Philadelphia Phillies	^†	.370
	^†	.440	Boston Beaneaters		.418
	^†	.405	Cleveland Spiders	^†	.404
	^†	.410	Cleveland Spiders	^†	.401
	^†	.424	Baltimore Orioles	^†	.390
	^†	.385	Baltimore Orioles	^†	.369
	^†	.410	Philadelphia Phillies	^†	.396
	^†	.381	Pittsburgh Pirates	^†	.367
	^†	.376	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.354
		.357	Pittsburgh Pirates	^†	.333
	^†	.355	Pittsburgh Pirates	^†	.351
	^†	.349	Pittsburgh Pirates		.329
		.377	Cincinnati Reds	^†	.363
	^†	.339	Pittsburgh Pirates		.327
	^†	.350	Pittsburgh Pirates		.328
	^†	.354	Pittsburgh Pirates		.334
	^†	.339	Pittsburgh Pirates		.310
		.331	Philadelphia Phillies		.326
	^†	.334	Pittsburgh Pirates		.333
		.372	Chicago Cubs		.358
		.350	Brooklyn Superbas		.341
		.329	Brooklyn Robins		.325
		.320	New York Giants		.315
		.339	Cincinnati Reds		.316
	^†	.341	Cincinnati Reds	^†	.327
	^†	.335	Brooklyn Robins	^†	.333
	^†	.321	Cincinnati Reds	^†	.318
	^†	.370	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.351
	^†	.397	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.352
	^†	.401	St. Louis Cardinals		.354
	^†	.384	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.371
	^†	.424	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.375
	^†	.403	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.367
		.353	Cincinnati Reds		.350
	^†	.380	Pittsburgh Pirates	^†	.361
	^†	.387	Boston Braves	^†	.370
		.398	Philadelphia Phillies		.381
	^†	.401	New York Giants		.393
	^†	.349	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.349
		.368	Brooklyn Dodgers	^†	.350
	^†	.368	Philadelphia Phillies		.349
	^†	.362	Pittsburgh Pirates	^†	.354
	^†	.385	Pittsburgh Pirates	^†	.353
	^†	.373	Pittsburgh Pirates		.367
	^†	.374	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.364
	^†	.342	Cincinnati Reds	^†	.337
	^†	.349	St. Louis Cardinals		.332
		.355	Pittsburgh Pirates	^†	.319
		.343	Brooklyn Dodgers		.319
	^†	.330	Boston Braves	^†	.318
	^†	.357	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.330
		.357	Brooklyn Dodgers	^†	.347
		.355	Chicago Cubs		.352
	^†	.365	St. Louis Cardinals		.333
		.363	St. Louis Cardinals Philadelphia Phillies		.317
	^†	.376	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.333
	^†	.342	Brooklyn Dodgers	^†	.338
	^†	.346	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.328
	^†	.355	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.344
	^†	.336	St. Louis Cardinals		.325
		.344	Brooklyn Dodgers	^†	.342
	^†	.345	New York Giants		.342
	^†	.338	Philadelphia Phillies	^†	.319
	^†	.328	Milwaukee Braves		.319
	^†	.351	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.333
	^†	.350	Philadelphia Phillies	^†	.347
	^†	.355	Milwaukee Braves		.345
		.325	Pittsburgh Pirates		.323
	^†	.351	Pittsburgh Pirates		.343
		.346	Los Angeles Dodgers	^†	.342
		.326	Los Angeles Dodgers	^†	.320
	^†	.339	Pittsburgh Pirates		.330
	^†	.329	Pittsburgh Pirates	^†	.318
		.342	Pittsburgh Pirates		.327
	^†	.357	Pittsburgh Pirates		.339
		.335	Cincinnati Reds		.332
		.348	Cincinnati Reds	^†	.345
		.366	Atlanta Braves	^†	.325
	^†	.363	St. Louis Cardinals		.343
	^†	.333	Chicago Cubs		.325
		.338	Cincinnati Reds		.320
		.353	Atlanta Braves		.321
		.354	Chicago Cubs	^†	.332
		.339	Chicago Cubs		.336
	^†	.338	Pittsburgh Pirates		.336
	^†	.334	Pittsburgh Pirates		.316
		.344	St. Louis Cardinals		.331
		.324	Chicago Cubs		.321
		.341	Pittsburgh Pirates		.325
		.331	Montreal Expos		.319
		.323	Pittsburgh Pirates		.321
	^†	.351	San Diego Padres		.321
		.353	St. Louis Cardinals		.320
	^†	.334	Montreal Expos		.332
	^†	.370	San Diego Padres		.338
	^†	.313	San Diego Padres		.307
	^†	.336	San Diego Padres		.333
		.335	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.330
		.319	Atlanta Braves		.318
		.330	San Diego Padres		.324
		.370	Colorado Rockies	^†	.358
	^†	.394	San Diego Padres	^†	.368
	^†	.368	San Diego Padres	^†	.346
	^†	.353	San Diego Padres		.344
	^†	.372	San Diego Padres	^†	.366
	^†	.363	Colorado Rockies		.354
	^†	.379	Colorado Rockies		.336
	^†	.372	Colorado Rockies		.355
	^†	.350	Colorado Rockies	^†	.336
		.370	San Francisco Giants	^†	.338
		.359	St. Louis Cardinals	^†	.358
		.362	San Francisco Giants	^†	.347
		.335	Chicago Cubs		.330
		.344	Pittsburgh Pirates		.339
		.340	Colorado Rockies	^†	.337
	^†	.364	Atlanta Braves		.357
		.342	Florida Marlins		.330
		.336	Colorado Rockies		.324
		.337	New York Mets		.332
		.336	San Francisco Giants		.327
		.331	Colorado Rockies		.321
		.319	Colorado Rockies		.315
		.333	Miami Marlins		.330
		.348	Colorado Rockies		.347
		.331	Colorado Rockies		.322
		.326	Milwaukee Brewers		.310
		.329	Milwaukee Brewers		.329
		.351	Washington Nationals		.341
		.328	Washington Nationals Los Angeles Dodgers		.313
	Jeff McNeil	.326	New York Mets	Freddie Freeman	.325
	Luis Arráez	.354	Miami Marlins	Ronald Acuña Jr.	.337
	Luis Arráez	.314	Miami Marlins San Diego Padres	Shohei Ohtani	.310
	Trea Turner	.304	Philadelphia Phillies	Nico Hoerner	.297