List of Major League Baseball true batting champions and Batting Triple Crown winners

In MLB, a player in each league wins the "batting title" each year for having the highest batting average that year. In baseball, batting average (AVG) is one of the measures of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). Recognized "Major leagues" include the current American and National Leagues and several defunct leagues – the American Association, the Federal League, the Players' League, and the Union Association. All of them have recognized the batting average leader as the batting champion. All of them were wrong!!!

If you were forced to use only one stat in order to determine a player's abilities, Batting Average is deceptively bad. Batting average does not perform its stated task measure the ability to reach safely and keep rallies moving. Historically, batting average has been manipulated:

• In 2003, Bill Mueller was sitting on the bench in Tampa with his AL-leading .327 average over Derek Jeter.
• In Cincinnati, Ken Griffey, Sr. sat out the season finale in 1976 against the Atlanta Braves to preserve his five-point batting lead.
• On the final day of the 1998 season, Bernie Williams pulled himself out of the game after two at-bats to preserve his lead over Red Sox slugger Mo Vaughn.
• Wade Boggs won his batting titles in the mid-80's by sitting out the last handful of games.
• Ted Williams took himself out of the final game in 1957 to help his odds at winning the batting championship.
• The latest example is Jose Reyes' decision to come out of the Mets' recent season finale after reaching base safely on a bunt single in the bottom of the first inning. It left Reyes with a .337 average on the year, and put the onus on runner-up Ryan Braun to go 3 for 4 or better in his final regular season tilt later in the day. Braun finished the game 0 for 4, meaning that if Reyes had stayed in he would have had to go hitless in eight at-bats to lose the lead, a event that simply wasn't going to happen.
• As far back as 1910, Nap Lajoie bunted down five questionable singles to beat out Ty Cobb for the batting title. Newspapers decried the tactics and the auto company sponsoring the chase opted to avoid controversy by awarding the prize car to both players (Cobb, by the way, believing his lead to be sufficient, sat out the final two games of the season).

Teams have walked many good batters just to get to the next perceived worse fellow.

In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP); sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. It records the ratio of the batter's times-on-base (TOB) (the sum of hits, walks, and times hit by pitch) to their number of plate appearances. OBP is basically measuring the amount of times a hitter does not make an out. On-base percentage tells us more than batting average. A walk is as good as a single. Unlike batting average, on-base percentage recognizes working the count to earn a walk, stepping into an inside pitch or being a startling hitter who gets pitched around and/or intentionally walked often. Unlike a lot of advances metrics, OBP is also easier for audience to understand. Appearing in front of the plate and reaching base safely are clear to the eye. No one has to learn about walk, hit or sacrifice to calculate it. And we're supposed to ignore that and concentrate on batting average? With only 27 outs in a regulation game, OBP is dominant over batting average. That this is not as typical as batting average makes very little sense. Batting average is important, but on-base percentage is more important. Batting Titles should be given based on OBP and not batting average. It is a better predictor of scoring and winning the match.

It first became an official MLB statistic in 1984. Yet broadcasts still highlight the standard line of batting average when a player comes to the plate. It is tough to shake generations of tradition. 100 years ago, someone decided a hit and a walk were fundamentally different. Also, they wanted common people to need help from scorers to understand hits and at bats. this is taking the game away from the masses.

On occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi, here is the true list of the batting champions of the two dominant major leagues each year. Under current rules, a player must have 3.1 plate appearances (PA) per team game (for a total of 502 over the current 162-game year) to qualify for the batting title. However, if a player's lead in AVG 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. A similar logic is used here.
Left-handed hitters are marked *. Switch-hitters are marked #.

Year	National League	Team	OBP		American League	Team	OBP
1871	Levi Meyerle	ATH	0.50
1872	Cap Anson	ATH	0.46
1873	Ross Barnes	BOS	0.47
1874	Levi Meyerle	CHI	0.40
1875	Ross Barnes	BOS	0.38
Year	National Association
1876	Ross Barnes	CHC	0.46
1877	Jim O'Rourke	BSN	0.41
1878	Bob Ferguson#	CHC	0.38
1879	Jim O'Rourke	PRO	0.37
1880	George Gore*	CHC	0.40
1881	Cap Anson	CHC	0.44		American Association		OBP
1882	Dan Brouthers*	BUF	0.40		Pete Browning	LOU	0.43
1883	Dan Brouthers*	BUF	0.40		Ed Swartwood*	PIT	0.39
1884	King Kelly	CHC	0.41		Charley Jones	CIN	0.38
1885	Roger Connor#	NYG	0.44		Pete Browning	LOU	0.39
1886	King Kelly	CHC	0.48		Bob Caruthers*	STL	0.45
1887	Dan Brouthers*	DTN	0.43		Tip O'Neill	STL	0.49
1888	Cap Anson	CHC	0.40		Yank Robinson	STL	0.40
1889	Fred Carroll	PIT	0.49		Tommy Tucker#	BAL	0.45
1890	Cap Anson	CHC	0.44		Denny Lyons	PHA	0.46
1891	Billy Hamilton*	PHI	0.45		Dan Brouthers*	BOS	0.47
1892	Cupid Childs*	CLV	0.44
1893	Billy Hamilton*	PHI	0.49
1894	Billy Hamilton*	PHI	0.52
1895	Ed Delahanty	PHI	0.50
1896	Billy Hamilton*	BSN	0.48
1897	John McGraw*	BLN	0.47
1898	Billy Hamilton*	BSN	0.48
1899	John McGraw*	BLN	0.55
1900	John McGraw*	STL	0.51
1901	Jesse Burkett*	STL	0.44		Nap Lajoie	PHA	0.46
1902	Roy Thomas*	PHI	0.41		Ed Delahanty	WSH	0.45
1903	Roy Thomas*	PHI	0.45		Jimmy Barrett*	DET	0.41
1904	Honus Wagner	PIT	0.42		Nap Lajoie	CLE	0.41
1905	Frank Chance	CHC	0.45		Topsy Hartsel*	PHA	0.41
1906	Sammy Strang#	NYG	0.42		George Stone*	SLB	0.42
1907	Honus Wagner	PIT	0.41		Topsy Hartsel*	PHA	0.41
Year	National League		OBP		American League		OBP
1908	Honus Wagner	PIT	0.42		Doc Gessler*	BOS	0.39
1909	Honus Wagner	PIT	0.42		Ty Cobb*	DET	0.43
1910	Sherry Magee	PHI	0.45		Ty Cobb*	DET	0.46
1911	Jimmy Sheckard*	CHC	0.43		Shoeless Joe Jackson*	CLE	0.47
1912	Chief Meyers	NYG	0.44		Tris Speaker*	BOS	0.46
1913	Miller Huggins#	STL	0.43		Ty Cobb*	DET	0.47
1914	Casey Stengel*	BRO	0.40		Ty Cobb*	DET	0.47
1915	Gavvy Cravath	PHI	0.39		Ty Cobb*	DET	0.49
1916	Gavvy Cravath	PHI	0.38		Tris Speaker*	CLE	0.47
1917	Heinie Groh	CIN	0.39		Ty Cobb*	DET	0.44
1918	Heinie Groh	CIN	0.40		Ty Cobb*	DET	0.44
1919	George Burns	NYG	0.40		Babe Ruth*	BOS	0.46
1920	Rogers Hornsby	STL	0.43		Babe Ruth*	NYY	0.53
1921	Rogers Hornsby	STL	0.46		Babe Ruth*	NYY	0.51
1922	Rogers Hornsby	STL	0.46		Tris Speaker*	CLE	0.47
1923	Rogers Hornsby	STL	0.46		Babe Ruth*	NYY	0.55
1924	Rogers Hornsby	STL	0.51		Babe Ruth*	NYY	0.51
1925	Rogers Hornsby	STL	0.49		Tris Speaker*	CLE	0.48
1926	Cuckoo Christensen*	CIN	0.43		Babe Ruth*	NYY	0.52
1927	Rogers Hornsby	NYG	0.45		Babe Ruth*	NYY	0.49
1928	Rogers Hornsby	BSN	0.50		Lou Gehrig*	NYY	0.47
1929	Lefty O'Doul*	PHI	0.47		Jimmie Foxx	PHA	0.46
1930	Mel Ott*	NYG	0.46		Babe Ruth*	NYY	0.49
1931	Rogers Hornsby	CHC	0.42		Babe Ruth*	NYY	0.50
1932	Mel Ott*	NYG	0.42		Babe Ruth*	NYY	0.49
1933	Chuck Klein*	PHI	0.42		Mickey Cochrane*	PHA	0.46
1934	Arky Vaughan*	PIT	0.43		Lou Gehrig*	NYY	0.47
1935	Arky Vaughan*	PIT	0.49		Lou Gehrig*	NYY	0.47
1936	Arky Vaughan*	PIT	0.45		Lou Gehrig*	NYY	0.48
1937	Dolph Camilli*	PHI	0.45		Lou Gehrig*	NYY	0.47
1938	Mel Ott*	NYG	0.44		Jimmie Foxx	BOS	0.46
1939	Mel Ott*	NYG	0.45		Jimmie Foxx	BOS	0.46
1940	Elbie Fletcher*	PIT	0.42		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.44
1941	Elbie Fletcher*	PIT	0.42		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.55
1942	Elbie Fletcher*	PIT	0.42		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.50
Year	National League		OBP		American League		OBP
1943	Stan Musial*	STL	0.43		Luke Appling	CHW	0.42
1944	Stan Musial*	STL	0.44		Bob Johnson	BOS	0.43
1945	Phil Cavarretta*	CHC	0.45		Eddie Lake	BOS	0.41
1946	Eddie Stanky	BRO	0.44		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.50
1947	Harry Walker*	2TM	0.44		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.50
1948	Stan Musial*	STL	0.45		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.50
1949	Stan Musial*	STL	0.44		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.49
1950	Eddie Stanky	NYG	0.46		Larry Doby*	CLE	0.44
1951	Ralph Kiner	PIT	0.45		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.46
1952	Jackie Robinson	BRO	0.44		Ferris Fain*	PHA	0.44
1953	Stan Musial*	STL	0.44		Gene Woodling*	NYY	0.43
1954	Richie Ashburn*	PHI	0.44		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.51
1955	Richie Ashburn*	PHI	0.45		Mickey Mantle#	NYY	0.43
1956	Duke Snider*	BRO	0.40		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.48
1957	Stan Musial*	STL	0.42		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.53
1958	Richie Ashburn*	PHI	0.44		Ted Williams*	BOS	0.46
1959	Joe Cunningham*	STL	0.45		Eddie Yost	DET	0.44
1960	Richie Ashburn*	CHC	0.42		Eddie Yost	DET	0.41
1961	Wally Moon*	LAD	0.43		Norm Cash*	DET	0.49
1962	Frank Robinson	CIN	0.42		Mickey Mantle#	NYY	0.49
1963	Eddie Mathews*	MLN	0.40		Carl Yastrzemski*	BOS	0.42
1964	Ron Santo	CHC	0.40		Mickey Mantle#	NYY	0.42
1965	Willie Mays	SFG	0.40		Carl Yastrzemski*	BOS	0.40
1966	Ron Santo	CHC	0.41		Frank Robinson	BAL	0.41
1967	Dick Allen	PHI	0.40		Carl Yastrzemski*	BOS	0.42
1968	Pete Rose#	CIN	0.39		Carl Yastrzemski*	BOS	0.43
1969	Willie McCovey*	SFG	0.45		Harmon Killebrew	MIN	0.43
1970	Rico Carty	ATL	0.45		Carl Yastrzemski*	BOS	0.45
1971	Willie Mays	SFG	0.43		Bobby Murcer*	NYY	0.43
1972	Joe Morgan*	CIN	0.42		Dick Allen	CHW	0.42
1973	Ken Singleton#	MON	0.43		John Mayberry*	KCR	0.42
1974	Joe Morgan*	CIN	0.43		Rod Carew*	MIN	0.43
1975	Joe Morgan*	CIN	0.47		Rod Carew*	MIN	0.42
1976	Joe Morgan*	CIN	0.44		Hal McRae	KCR	0.41
1977	Reggie Smith#	LAD	0.43		Rod Carew*	MIN	0.45
Year	National League		OBP		American League		OBP
1978	Jeff Burroughs	ATL	0.43		Rod Carew*	MIN	0.41
1979	Pete Rose#	PHI	0.42		Fred Lynn*	BOS	0.42
1980	Keith Hernandez*	STL	0.41		George Brett*	KCR	0.45
1981	Mike Schmidt	PHI	0.44		Mike Hargrove*	CLE	0.42
1982	Mike Schmidt	PHI	0.40		Dwight Evans	BOS	0.40
1983	Mike Schmidt	PHI	0.40		Wade Boggs*	BOS	0.44
1984	Gary Matthews	CHC	0.41		Eddie Murray#	BAL	0.41
1985	Pedro Guerrero	LAD	0.42		Wade Boggs*	BOS	0.45
1986	Tim Raines#	MON	0.41		Wade Boggs*	BOS	0.45
1987	Jack Clark	STL	0.46		Wade Boggs*	BOS	0.46
1988	Kal Daniels*	CIN	0.40		Wade Boggs*	BOS	0.48
1989	Lonnie Smith	ATL	0.42		Wade Boggs*	BOS	0.43
1990	Lenny Dykstra*	PHI	0.42		Rickey Henderson	OAK	0.44
1991	Barry Bonds*	PIT	0.41		Frank Thomas	CHW	0.45
1992	Barry Bonds*	PIT	0.46		Frank Thomas	CHW	0.44
1993	Barry Bonds*	SFG	0.46		John Olerud*	TOR	0.47
1994	Tony Gwynn*	SDP	0.45		Frank Thomas	CHW	0.49
1995	Barry Bonds*	SFG	0.43		Edgar Martinez	SEA	0.48
1996	Gary Sheffield	FLA	0.47		Mark McGwire	OAK	0.47
1997	Larry Walker*	COL	0.45		Frank Thomas	CHW	0.46
1998	Mark McGwire	STL	0.47		Edgar Martinez	SEA	0.43
1999	Larry Walker*	COL	0.46		Edgar Martinez	SEA	0.45
2000	Todd Helton*	COL	0.46		Jason Giambi*	OAK	0.48
2001	Barry Bonds*	SFG	0.52		Jason Giambi*	OAK	0.48
2002	Barry Bonds*	SFG	0.58		Manny Ramirez	BOS	0.45
2003	Barry Bonds*	SFG	0.53		Manny Ramirez	BOS	0.43
2004	Barry Bonds*	SFG	0.61		Melvin Mora	BAL	0.42
2005	Todd Helton*	COL	0.45		Jason Giambi*	NYY	0.44
2006	Barry Bonds*	SFG	0.45		Manny Ramirez	BOS	0.44
2007	Barry Bonds*	SFG	0.48		David Ortiz*	BOS	0.45
2008	Chipper Jones#	ATL	0.47		Milton Bradley#	TEX	0.44
2009	Albert Pujols	STL	0.44		Joe Mauer*	MIN	0.44
2010	Joey Votto*	CIN	0.42		Miguel Cabrera	DET	0.42
2011	Joey Votto*	CIN	0.42		Miguel Cabrera	DET	0.45
Year	National League		OBP		American League		OBP

Do you see how elegantly the manipulations form the list above vanish one by one? Replacing Batting average with OBP is a service to the fans as it rids of unnecessary distractions.

Players with more than five titles

National League	National League	American League	American League
Player	Frequency	Player	Frequency
Barry Bonds*	10	Ted Williams*	12
Rogers Hornsby	9	Babe Ruth*	10
Stan Musial*	6	Ty Cobb*	7
		Wade Boggs*	6

Rogers Hornsby is the only right-hander in the above list. Ted Williams won the true batting title the most number of times. Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds are tied for second. Rogers Hornsby is fourth while Тy Cobb is pushed to fifth. Barry Bonds clearly defines the Steroid era here between 1991 and 2007. He was so abnormally dangerous as a batter and his Giants team members were so bad in comparison that he was walked a lot. He deserves the nickname of Barroid Bonds. I hope Joey Votto or another future NL batter plays well and long enough to become top him on this list.

Players with Most consecutive titles

National League	Streak	Years		American League	Streak	Years
Rogers Hornsby	6	1920-1925		Wade Boggs*	5	1985-1989
Barry Bonds*	4	2001-2004		Lou Gehrig*	4	1934-1937
Arky Vaughan*	3	1934-1936		Ted Williams*	4	1946-1949
Elbie Fletcher*	3	1940-1942		Ty Cobb*	3	1913-1915
Joe Morgan*	3	1974-1976		Babe Ruth*	3	1919-1921
Mike Schmidt	3	1981-1983		Babe Ruth*	3	1930-1932
Barry Bonds*	3	1991-1993		Ted Williams*	3	1940-1942
				Ted Williams*	3	1956-1958

Wade Boggs needs to be celebrated a lot more. Why are Pittsburgh media not clamoring for Elbie Fletcher to be voted into the Hall of Fame?

Batting Triple Crown Winners in Major League Baseball

In baseball, a player earns the Batting Triple Crown when he leads a league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) over the same year. The Triple Crown reflects the ability of a batter to excel in three important ways: to hit safely a high percentage of the time (batting average); to hit the ball long distances (home runs); and to produce when runners are on base, driving them home to score (RBI). It is an uncommon feat to lead all batters in each of these categories; given the specialization and high number of players in Baseball. Batting average should be replaced by OBP here also. If you substitute OBP for Average, there would have been 22 winners.

Year	League	Player	Team	OBP	HR	RBI
1887	AA	Tip O'Neill	Browns	0.490	14	123
1901	AL	Nap Lajoie	Athletics	0.463	14	125
1909	AL	Ty Cobb	Tigers	0.431	9	107
1915	NL	Gavvy Cravath	Phillies	0.393	24	115
1919	AL	Babe Ruth	Red Sox	0.456	29	114
1920	AL	Babe Ruth	Yankees	0.532	54	137
1921	AL	Babe Ruth	Yankees	0.512	59	171
1922	NL	Rogers Hornsby	Cardinals	0.459	42	152
1923	AL	Babe Ruth	Yankees	0.545	41	131
1925	NL	Rogers Hornsby	Cardinals	0.489	39	143
1926	AL	Babe Ruth	Yankees	0.516	47	146
1933	NL	Chuck Klein	Phillies	0.422	28	120
1934	AL	Lou Gehrig	Yankees	0.465	49	165
1942	AL	Ted Williams	Red Sox	0.499	36	137
1947	AL	Ted Williams	Red Sox	0.499	32	114
1949	AL	Ted Williams	Red Sox	0.490	43	159
1966	AL	Frank Robinson	Orioles	0.410	49	122
1967	AL	Carl Yastrzemski	Red Sox	0.418	44	121
1969	NL	Willie McCovey	Giants	0.453	45	126
1969	AL	Harmon Killebrew	Twins	0.427	49	140
1972	AL	Dick Allen	White Sox	0.420	37	113
1981	NL	Mike Schmidt	Phillies	0.435	31	91
1993	NL	Barry Bonds	Giants	0.458	46	123

Most True Triple Crowns

Player	Count
Babe Ruth	5
Ted Williams	3
Rogers Hornsby	2

Babe Ruth; pictured above, won the Triple Crown 5 times in his career but was never acknowledged for it. He is also the only player to win it consecutively between 1919 and 1921. Three players lose their triple crowns by substituting OBP for AVG, namely Foxx (1933), Medwick (1937), and Mantle (1956). That is how toxic the use of a batting average is. It has been disrespecting the greatest BAseball of all time for 90 years. I rest my case.