Yankees DJ LeMahieu Is First Player to Win Batting Title in Each League
The infielder of New York Yankees, DJ LeMahieu, is making headlines after winning title history. The man clinched the league’s batting title and is the first player to do so in every league in the modern era. The man already won the National League title tags with Rockies back in 2016 after hitting .348 – he has led the MLB in terms of batting two times in the average.
The manager of Marlines, Don Mattingly, said that players don’t win titles in both the leagues. So far, people have only won one league, and they have retained their careers anyway. Mattingly speaks with years of experience, especially after being the batting champion of 1984 AL. He ended by saying that the games are different nowadays.
Modern era started in 1900, and the person who won batting title in every league back then was Ed Delahanty. The man won 1899 batting titles in NL and was a part of Philadelphia Phillies. He also won the AL title for batting in 1902 while playing for the Washington Senators. However, the batting title in 1899 was deemed disputed. Thus, Yankees DJ LeMahieu is the first one of the modern era to make it here.
As per reports, the one player who also won these titles was Pete Browning. First in 1882 and then in 1885 he won the American Association titles from batting with Louisville Eclipse and then Players’ League in 1890 with Cleveland Infants.
Yankees DJ LeMahieu break all records
After Bernie Williams made a record in 1998 with .339, LeMahieu brought back the title to the Yankees. He is followed by Tim Anderson at .322, David Fletcher at .319, and Jose Abreu at .318 hits.
Tim Anderson had won the title last year with .335 hits while LeMahieu was second with .327 hits. This is also the first time in history that the top two players remain the same and one year after another. This last happened in the 20th century between Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle in 1956 and 1957.
We must note that this year’s batting title was unusual due to the 60-game league due to coronavirus pandemic. Thus, it isn’t easy to compare the leagues that included 162 games. However, players have to stick to their schedules, so this doesn’t take away the man’s credibility.
While DJ LeMahieu got this title, another Yankees member Luke Voit, led the season getting 22 home runs. These two are the first-ever to set such records as both homers and batting averages. This last happened when Hank Aaron got .355 hits while Eddie Mathews made 46 home runs during 1959 Braves. But this is without counting single players who excelled in these categories individually.
Voit spoke to the media saying that everyone wished that this year wasn’t so weird. But he also said that the players have to roll with it. The man did the best he could and managed to make a mark as well.