Most years when players win a battle title, it is considered a little less significant than the home run leader. The home run just resonates more with hardcore baseball fans. However, in 2020, what Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals and DJ LeMahieu of the New York Yankees were able to achieve in winning the National League and American League batting titles were extremely noteworthy.
Let’s start with Soto. This past season the outfielder from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic batted .351 as he had 54 hits in 154 at bats with the Nationals. At 21 years of age, he became the youngest player ever to win the National League batting title. The previous record belonged to Pete Reiser of St. Louis, Missouri, who batted a National League leading .343 with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1941 at the age of 22. In addition to leading the National League in batting average in 2020, Soto led the Major Leagues with a .490 on base percentage, and a .695 slugging percentage.
LeMahieu meanwhile became only the second player in Major League history to win a batting title in both leagues. In addition to batting .364 with the Yankees in 2020 (led the American League and the Major Leagues), LeMahieu led the National League and Major Leagues with a .348 batting average while with the Colorado Rockies in 2016. The first player to lead both leagues in batting average in separate seasons was Ed Delahanty of Cleveland, Ohio. Delahanty had a batting average of .410 with the Philadelphia Phillies, which led the National League in 1899. Then with the Washington Senators in 1902, Delahanty had a batting average of .376 which led the American League. In addition to leading the Major Leagues with a batting average of .364 in 2020, LeMahieu, a second baseman from Visalia, California, led the American League with a .421 on base percentage.
On a side note, LeMahieu’s Yankees teammate, first baseman Luke Voit of Wildwood, Missouri, led the American League with 22 home runs. Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic led the National League with 18 home runs.
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