| List Of Major League Baseball Batting Champions |
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Currently, a player needs to accrue an average of at least 3.1 Plate Appearances for each game his team plays in order to qualify for the batting title. An exception to this qualification rule is that, if a player falls short of 3.1 plate appearances per game -- but would still have the highest batting average if enough Hitless At-bat s were added to reach the 3.1 average mark, the player still wins the batting championship. The latest example of this exception being employed was in 1996, when Tony Gwynn had a .353 batting average, but only 498 plate appearances -- 4 short of the 502 necessary. Inasmuch as 4 additional hitless at-bats would have lowered his batting average to .349, but .349 was still better than anyone else in the league, Gwynn was named the National League batting champion. {Link without Title} As of August 23, 2007, Ryan Braun had the highest batting average in the National League, but because he was only called up from the minors nearly a third of the way into the season, it will be a close call as to whether he gets enough plate appearances by the end of the season to qualify for the batting title. Braun as of that date had 349 plate appearances in 79 games; or 4.42 PA per game. The Milwaukee Brewers have 35 games left in the season. If Braun keeps the same pace, he will have 154 more PA, bringing him to 503, one more than the 502 he needs. Even if Braun falls short, the above exception to the qualification rule could kick in if his batting average is high enough. AMERICAN LEAGUE The 1902 AL batting championship was awarded to Ed Delahanty at the time, and the Baseball Hall of Fame's statistics still credit Delahanty as the champion over Lajoie. The Hall of Fame lists Lajoie's 1902 stats as being 129 H / 352 AB / .368 BA, while Baseball-reference.com lists them as 133 H / 352 AB / .378 BA, which ''would'' place Lajoie above Delahanty. Additionally, Lajoie had only 371 plate appearances to Delahanty's 535 or 536 (depending on which source you use), so there may also have been an issue of eligibility — Lajoie's 371 plate appearances falls well below the 424 that would be required under the current 3.1 plate appearances per team game standard of eligibility, and adding 53 hitless at bats would drop his average to .314. This discrepancy is somewhat significant, as Delahanty is regarded as the only player to win a batting title in both leagues (.410, 1899 Phillies), as of the end of the 2005 season. NATIONAL LEAGUE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FEDERAL LEAGUE PLAYER'S LEAGUE UNION ASSOCIATION NATIONAL ASSOCIATION REFERENCE |
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