Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2020 August 6

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August 6

Least close MLB batting title

What was the least close Major League Baseball batting title (the one with the largest gap between the first and second highest batting averages)?
Thanks, User:Heyoostorm^_talk! 13:22, 6 August 2020 (UTC)

According to List of Major League Baseball batting champions, the largest gaps in the National League and American League are from each league's very first year: 1876 for the NL (Ross Barnes batted .429 and George Hall batted .366, a difference of .063), and 1901 for the AL (Nap Lajoie with .426 and Mike Donlin .340 for a difference .086). Adam Bishop (talk) 17:04, 6 August 2020 (UTC)

Nap was the biggest star the fledgling American League had in their first major league season, leading most of the offensive categories and winning the first modern Triple Crown, although that term wasn't in use yet. Cap Anson (according to Retrosheet) had a .071 gap over Joe Start in the 1881 season.[1] His Chicagos won two-thirds of their 84 games that season, which would be like winning 108 games in a modern season. Ross benefited in 1876 (and also in some of his Boston years prior) by an even shorter schedule, which tends to exaggerate the numbers. Although his 138 hits in 322 at bats is nothing to sneeze at! ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:21, 6 August 2020 (UTC)

As to the 1881 discrepancy, I suspect Retrosheet considers Martin Powell to have not had enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title standings. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:25, 6 August 2020 (UTC)