Single Season Leaders for Batting Average in the American League

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 below reflects those great hitters who truly dominated during a single American League season.

Notes: Three point one plate (3.1) appearances per scheduled game are needed to make this list, raw averages are presented to further clarify the one-hundred greatest single season American League batting averages, and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season. Also, in 1887, when a player received a base on balls (walk) he was also awarded a hit in his official statistics. The rules of the day and Major League Baseball recognize the statistics as they were recorded and Baseball Almanac has also complied with the new direction.
"In the Linear Weights analysis, however, (Nap) Lajoie battles Bill Mazeroski for the distinction of being not only the greatest defensive second baseman of all time, but actually the greatest defensive player of all time, at any position." - Stats.com (Nap Lajoie's Defense, Random Essays, 2003)
Batting Average
Single Season American League Leaders

'Top 100'
Nap Lajoie .426 (.42647) 1901 Philadelphia Athletics AL 1
George Sisler .420 (.41979) 1922 St. Louis Browns AL 2
Ty Cobb .420 (.41963) 1911 Detroit Tigers AL 3
Ty Cobb .409 (.40868) 1912 Detroit Tigers AL 4
Joe Jackson .408 (.40806) 1911 Cleveland Naps AL 5
George Sisler .407 (.40729) 1920 St. Louis Browns AL 6
Ted Williams .406 (.40570) 1941 Boston Red Sox AL 7
Harry Heilmann .403 (.40267) 1923 Detroit Tigers AL 8
Ty Cobb .401 (.40114) 1922 Detroit Tigers AL 9
Harry Heilmann .398 (.39802) 1927 Detroit Tigers AL 10
Joe Jackson .395 (.39511) 1912 Cleveland Naps AL 11
Harry Heilmann .394 (.39369) 1921 Detroit Tigers AL 12
Babe Ruth .393 (.39272) 1923 New York Yankees AL 13
Harry Heilmann .393 (.39267) 1925 Detroit Tigers AL 14
Ty Cobb .390 (.39019) 1913 Detroit Tigers AL 15
Al Simmons .390 (.38986) 1931 Philadelphia Athletics AL 16
George Brett .390 (.38976) 1980 Kansas City Royals AL 17
Tris Speaker .389 (.38928) 1925 Cleveland Indians AL 18
Ty Cobb .389 (.38856) 1921 Detroit Tigers AL 19
Ted Williams .388 (.38810) 1957 Boston Red Sox AL 20
Rod Carew .388 (.38799) 1977 Minnesota Twins AL 21
Luke Appling .388 (.38783) 1936 Chicago White Sox AL 22
Tris Speaker .388 (.38768) 1920 Cleveland Indians AL 23
Al Simmons .387 (.38685) 1925 Philadelphia Athletics AL 24
Tris Speaker .386 (.38645) 1916 Cleveland Indians AL 25
Ty Cobb .384 (.38431) 1919 Detroit Tigers AL 26
Nap Lajoie .384 (.38410) 1910 Cleveland Naps AL 27
Ty Cobb .383 (.38340) 1910 Detroit Tigers AL 28
Tris Speaker .383 (.38276) 1912 Boston Red Sox AL 29
Ty Cobb .383 (.38265) 1917 Detroit Tigers AL 30
Joe Jackson .382 (.38246) 1920 Chicago White Sox AL 31
Ty Cobb .382 (.38242) 1918 Detroit Tigers AL 32
Joe DiMaggio .381 (.38095) 1939 New York Yankees AL 33
Al Simmons .381 (.38087) 1930 Philadelphia Athletics AL 34
Tris Speaker .380 (.37979) 1923 Cleveland Indians AL 35
Goose Goslin .379 (.37939) 1928 Washington Senators AL 36
Lou Gehrig .379 (.37866) 1930 New York Yankees AL 37
Ty Cobb .378 (.37831) 1925 Detroit Tigers AL 38
Babe Ruth .378 (.37807) 1924 New York Yankees AL 39
Sam Crawford .378 (.37805) 1911 Detroit Tigers AL 40
Tris Speaker .378 (.37793) 1922 Cleveland Indians AL 41
Earl Averill .378 (.37785) 1936 Cleveland Indians AL 42
Babe Ruth .378 (.37778) 1921 New York Yankees AL 43
Heinie Manush .378 (.37774) 1928 St. Louis Browns AL 44
Heinie Manush .378 (.37751) 1926 Detroit Tigers AL 45
Ty Cobb .377 (.37696) 1909 Detroit Tigers AL 46
Ed Delahanty .376 (.37632) 1902 Washington Senators AL 47
Nap Lajoie .376 (.37613) 1904 Cleveland Blues AL 48
Babe Ruth .376 (.37555) 1920 New York Yankees AL 49
Lou Gehrig .374 (.37367) 1928 New York Yankees AL 50
Lou Gehrig .373 (.37329) 1927 New York Yankees AL 51
Joe Jackson .373 (.37311) 1913 Cleveland Naps AL 52
Babe Ruth .373 (.37266) 1931 New York Yankees AL 53
Nomar Garciaparra .372 (.37240) 2000 Boston Red Sox AL 54
Ichiro Suzuki .372 (.37216) 2004 Seattle Mariners AL 55
Eddie Collins .372 (.37209) 1920 Chicago White Sox AL 56
Babe Ruth .372 (.37172) 1926 New York Yankees AL 57
George Sisler .371 (.37113) 1921 St. Louis Browns AL 58
Ty Cobb .371 (.37085) 1916 Detroit Tigers AL 59
Charlie Gehringer .371 (.37057) 1937 Detroit Tigers AL 60
Al Wingo .370 (.37045) 1925 Detroit Tigers AL 61
Ty Cobb .369 (.36945) 1915 Detroit Tigers AL 62
Ted Williams .369 (.36935) 1948 Boston Red Sox AL 63
Lew Fonseca .369 (.36926) 1929 Cleveland Indians AL 64
Nap Lajoie .368 (.36830) 1912 Cleveland Naps AL 65
Wade Boggs .368 (.36753) 1985 Boston Red Sox AL 66
Harry Heilmann .367 (.36653) 1926 Detroit Tigers AL 67
Wade Boggs .366 (.36644) 1988 Boston Red Sox AL 68
Eddie Collins .365 (.36511) 1911 Philadelphia Athletics AL 69
Mickey Mantle .365 (.36498) 1957 New York Yankees AL 70
Al Simmons .365 (.36489) 1929 Philadelphia Athletics AL 71
Jimmie Foxx .364 (.36410) 1932 Philadelphia Athletics AL 72
Rod Carew .364 (.36394) 1974 Minnesota Twins AL 73
Tris Speaker .363 (.36346) 1913 Boston Red Sox AL 74
Magglio Ordonez .363 (.36302) 2007 Detroit Tigers AL 75
Wade Boggs .363 (.36298) 1987 Boston Red Sox AL 76
John Olerud .363 (.36298) 1993 Toronto Blue Jays AL 77
Lou Gehrig .363 (.36269) 1934 New York Yankees AL 78
Bill Dickey .362 (.36170) 1936 New York Yankees AL 79
Tris Speaker .362 (.36166) 1921 Cleveland Indians AL 80
Charlie Hickman .361 (.36142) 1902 Boston Americans AL 81
Cleveland Blues AL
Wade Boggs .361 (.36082) 1983 Boston Red Sox AL 82
Norm Cash .361 (.36075) 1961 Detroit Tigers AL 83
Eddie Collins .360 (.36040) 1923 Chicago White Sox AL 84
Jimmie Foxx .360 (.35974) 1939 Boston Red Sox AL 85
Babe Ruth .359 (.35907) 1930 New York Yankees AL 86
Rod Carew .359 (.35888) 1975 Minnesota Twins AL 87
Carl Reynolds .359 (.35879) 1930 Chicago White Sox AL 88
Bob Fothergill .359 (.35863) 1927 Detroit Tigers AL 89
Charlie Jamieson .359 (.35859) 1924 Cleveland Indians AL 90
Cecil Travis .359 (.35855) 1941 Washington Senators AL 91
George Burns .358 (.35821) 1926 Cleveland Indians AL 92
George Stone .358 (.35800) 1906 St. Louis Browns AL 93
Alex Rodriguez .358 (.35774) 1996 Seattle Mariners AL 94
Mickey Cochrane .357 (.35729) 1930 Philadelphia Athletics AL 95
Ty Cobb .357 (.35714) 1927 Philadelphia Athletics AL 96
Nomar Garciaparra .357 (.35714) 1999 Boston Red Sox AL 97
Wade Boggs .357 (.35690) 1986 Boston Red Sox AL 98
Ken Williams .357 (.35676) 1923 St. Louis Browns AL 99
Joe DiMaggio .357 (.35675) 1941 New York Yankees AL 100
Current Through End of 2007 Regular Season


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The National League single season record for batting average was set in 1894 by Hugh Duffy of the Boston Beaneaters. The American League single season record for batting average is on this page. Is either one the Career Leader for Batting Average?
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