In 1968, Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox won the American League batting title with a .301 average. It remains the lowest batting average for a league leader in major league history, but Yastrzemski’s record is in danger this season.

At the close of action yesterday, just two players in the National League were hitting over .300. Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves leads the NL with a .308 average, and  Luis Arraez of the San Diego Padres is second at .305. 

If the 1968 season had lasted one more game, Yastrzemski may not have hit .300. His average dropped from .305 to .301 when he went hitless in his final seven at-bats of the season. He still would have won the batting title since his closest competitor, Danny Cater of the New York Yankees, hit .290. 

It is not surprising that the low mark for a batting title came in 1968, which is widely regarded as the “Year of the Pitcher.” That year there were seven pitchers who finished the season with an earned run average below 2.00. Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals led all pitchers with a major league record ERA of 1.12, but the next five were from the AL: Luis Tiant of the Cleveland Indians (1.60); Sam McDowell of the Indians (1.81); Dave McNally of the Baltimore Orioles (1.95); Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers (1.96); and Tommy John of the Chicago White Sox (1.98). Bobby Bolin of the San Francisco Giants rounded out the group at 1.99. 

Counting the five with a sub-2.00 ERA, there were 11 pitchers in the AL whose ERA was below 2.50, none of whom pitched for Yastrzemski’s team. There were 10 teams in each league in 1968, and they used a four-man starting rotation. That means that almost a third of the starting pitchers Yastrzemski faced had an ERA of 2.50 or less. For some perspective, at the close of play yesterday, Tarik Skubal at 2.49 is the only pitcher in baseball with an ERA as low as 2.50.

National League hitters fared a bit better in 1968 as five players hit over .300. Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds led the league at .335. Matty Alou of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit .332, Felipe Alou of the Atlanta Braves hit .317, Alex Johnson of the Reds hit. 312, and Curt Flood of the Cardinals hit .301. 

Yastrzemski had a really good season in 1968. He walked 119 times, so his on-base percentage was .426, which also led the league. He hit 23 home runs, drove in 74 runs, and led the league in on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) at .922.  

This was the third batting title for Yastrzemski. He also led the AL in hitting in 1963 (.321) and in his Triple Crown season of 1967 (.326). He narrowly missed out on a fourth title in 1970. With 11 games remaining in the season, Yastrzemski led Alex Johnson, who by then was with the California Angels, by seven points (.324 to .317). Yaz finished strong, going 14 for his final 32 to finish at .3286. But Johnson went 22-47 over that same span to raise his average by 12 points, finishing at .3289. 

1970 was perhaps Yastrzemski’s finest season. He hit 40 homers and had 102 RBIs; he led the league in runs scored with 125, on-base percentage at .452, and slugging percentage at .592. 

I really like Carl Yastrzemski, and I hope at the end of this season he still holds the record for the lowest batting average to win a batting title.

(All statistics are from Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.)