Baseball Historian George Brett of the Kansas City Royals batted .390, the highest batting mark since Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hit .406 in 1941. Cecil Cooper of the Milwaukee Brewers hit a torrid .352, but still finished 48 points behind Brett. 'Coop' led the majors with 122 RBIs. Miguel Dilone of the Cleveland Indians batted .341 with 61 stolen bases. Rickey Henderson, Oakland Athletics, led the major leagues with an even 100 stolen bases, the first of three seasons that he stole 100 or more bases. In 1982 Henderson set a still unbroken record with 130 stolen bases, and also set the record for the most times caught stealing - 42 times. American League Batting Leaders 1982: George Brettt, KC Royals .390... Cecil Cooper, Milw Brewers .352... Miguel Dilone, Cleveland Indians .341... Mickey Rivers, Texas Rangers .333... Rod Carew, California Angels .331... Buddy Bell, Rangers .329... Willie Wilson KC Royals .326... Al Oliver, Rangers .319... Al Bumbry, Baltimore Orioles .318 Bob Watson, New York Yankees .307... John Wathan, KC Royals .305... Mike Hargrove, Indians .304... Paul Molitor, Brewers .304... Ben Oglivie, Brewers .304... Ken Singleton, Orioles .304 Rickey Henderson Oakland As .303... John Castino, Minnesota Twins .302... Bruce Bochy, Seattle Mariners .300... Reggie Jackson NY Yankees .300...Eddie Murray, Orioles .300... Alan Trammell, Detroit Tigers .300 George Brett, Kansas City Royals Third Baseman - an intense competitor, with an aggressive play-to-win attitude, George Brett a member of the Hall of Fame, led the Royals to six AL West titles during his tenure - 1976-78, 1980, 1984-85. And, is the only player in the history of baseball to win batting titles in three different decades - 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Cecil Cooper, Milwaukee Brewers First Baseman - a good guy, 'Coop' banged out eight full seasons of hitting over .300 and collected over 200 hits in three different years - 219 in 1980, 205 in 1982 and 203 in 1983... A rarity in modern baseball, he could hit, hit with power, was an outstanding fielder and was an excellent base-runner. In 1980, he lined 33 doubles, 25 home runs, 122 RBIs, struck out just 42 times in 622 at bats and stole 17 bases. Miguel Dilone, Cleveland Indians Outfielder - a ball of fire and one of the fastest runners in baseball history, Dilone had a career-year in 1980, his first season with Cleveland. A career .265 hitter, in 1980 he rapped out 30 doubles, 9 triples, collected 180 hits in 528 at-bats to finish third in the AL in batting with .341 and stole a career-high 61 bases in 79 attempts. For complete stats of all baseball players, please see Players section on the upper left-side of our home page For loads of fun reading, type in Yankees, Cardinals, Pirates, Red Sox, Cubs or all other teams in our Search on the lower left-side of our home page |
