We went on a long march through history the past 12 Fridays, as we analyzed baseball’s best batters over five-year intervals.
The series began on June 17, when I ranked the best hitters in each league between 1961 and 1965 — and it kept rolling to the 2016-2020 conclusion a week ago. (What about 2021 and 2022? They’re part of a half-decade that’s still underway, disqualifying them from consideration.)
It made perfect sense to start the study period in 1961. This newsletter, after all, focuses on baseball’s Modern Era, which encompasses every season after 1960.
But I’ve also calculated the five-year batting champions for the National and American Leagues during their earlier periods — the NL since 1876, the AL since 1901 — and I thought it would be interesting to list them here.
A few brief reminders: These rankings are based on my Five-Year Test, which focuses on the following six stats:
Batting average
Slugging average
Runs scored per 500 plate appearances
Runs batted in per 500 plate appearances
Wins above replacement (WAR) per 500 plate appearances
The rankings for each half-decade included every batter who crossed the minimum threshold of two plate appearances per game. That would be the equivalent of 1,620 appearances in five years under the current 162-game schedule, though the total was smaller for earlier periods when big-league clubs played fewer games.
Two of the all-time greats, Babe Ruth and Stan Musial, emerged as the respective overall batting champs for the American and National Leagues. Each of them led his league in three consecutive half-decades, Ruth for the period from 1916 to 1930, Musial from 1941 to 1955.
Ten batters were five-year league leaders on two occasions: Barry Bonds, Dan Brouthers, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Chuck Klein, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez, Honus Wagner, and Ted Williams.
Scroll below to see the top-rated batters in both leagues over their entire histories. Each hitter is followed by a breakdown of his statistics for the relevant half-decade: games, hits, home runs, batting average, and bases per out. The first three stats weren’t included in the Five-Year Test, but I show them here to give a better idea of the various levels of achievement.
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American League top batters
1901-1905 — Nap Lajoie, G 548, H 822, HR 35, BA .377, BPO 1.069
1906-1910 — Ty Cobb, G 694, H 923, HR 27, BA .352, BPO 1.024
1911-1915 — Ty Cobb, G 662, H 976, HR 24, BA .393, BPO 1.277
1916-1920 — Babe Ruth, G 486, H 483, HR 99, BA .329, BPO 1.329
1921-1925 — Babe Ruth, G 665, H 841, HR 206, BA .357, BPO 1.506
1926-1930 — Babe Ruth, G 737, H 907, HR 256, BA .350, BPO 1.476
1931-1935 — Lou Gehrig, G 766, H 1,003, HR 191, BA .343, BPO 1.258
1936-1940 — Hank Greenberg, G 607, H 742, HR 173, BA .327, BPO 1.246
1941-1945 — Charlie Keller, G 477, H 498, HR 100, BA .289, BPO 1.048
1946-1950 — Ted Williams, G 687, H 845, HR 166, BA .345, BPO 1.362
1951-1955 — Ted Williams, G 406, H 457, HR 101, BA .342, BPO 1.372
1956-1960 — Mickey Mantle, G 741, H 818, HR 199, BA .315, BPO 1.227
1961-1965 — Mickey Mantle, G 606, H 571, HR 153, BA .302, BPO 1.194
1966-1970 — Frank Robinson, G 694, H 754, HR 151, BA .303, BPO 1.008
1971-1975 — Reggie Jackson, G 741, H 743, HR 154, BA .275, BPO .903
1976-1980 — George Brett, G 697, H 928, HR 85, BA .330, BPO .934
1981-1985 — Eddie Murray, G 724, H 816, HR 147, BA .304, BPO .956
1986-1990 — Rickey Henderson, G 674, H 740, HR 91, BA .290, BPO 1.057
1991-1995 — Frank Thomas, G 729, H 830, HR 175, BA .323, BPO 1.189
1996-2000 — Ken Griffey Jr., G 618, H 703, HR 209, BA .294, BPO 1.084
2001-2005 — Alex Rodriguez, G 802, H 935, HR 240, BA .305, BPO 1.078
2006-2010 — Alex Rodriguez, G 711, H 771, HR 184, BA .293, BPO 1.018
2011-2015 — Miguel Cabrera, G 748, H 931, HR 161, BA .334, BPO 1.035
2016-2020 — Mike Trout, G 600, H 636, HR 163, BA .304, BPO 1.258
National League top batters
1876-1880 — Ross Barnes, G 165, H 249, HR 2, BA .338, BPO .740
1881-1885 — Dan Brouthers, G 439, H 650, HR 38, BA .351, BPO .956
1886-1890 — Dan Brouthers, G 499, H 691, HR 39, BA .346, BPO 1.124
1891-1895 — Jake Stenzel, G 325, H 458, HR 24, BA .359, BPO 1.220
1896-1900 — Ed Delahanty, G 673, H 993, HR 33, BA .368, BPO 1.122
1901-1905 — Honus Wagner, G 684, H 922, HR 24, BA .350, BPO 1.082
1906-1910 — Honus Wagner, G 722, H 902, HR 27, BA .340, BPO 1.044
1911-1915 — Gavvy Cravath, G 576, H 601, HR 73, BA .303, BPO .968
1916-1920 — Rogers Hornsby, G 686, H 824, HR 36, BA .325, BPO .884
1921-1925 — Rogers Hornsby, G 696, H 1,078, HR 144, BA .402, BPO 1.356
1926-1930 — Chuck Klein, G 369, H 560, HR 94, BA .369, BPO 1.160
1931-1935 — Chuck Klein, G 688, H 907, HR 138, BA .334, BPO 1.011
1936-1940 — Johnny Mize, G 728, H 898, HR 142, BA .339, BPO 1.113
1941-1945 — Stan Musial, G 455, H 584, HR 36, BA .344, BPO 1.010
1946-1950 — Stan Musial, G 763, H 1,040, HR 138, BA .348, BPO 1.115
1951-1955 — Stan Musial, G 770, H 973, HR 151, BA .335, BPO 1.102
1956-1960 — Willie Mays, G 760, H 944, HR 163, BA .322, BPO 1.054
1961-1965 — Willie Mays, G 787, H 900, HR 226, BA .308, BPO 1.056
1966-1970 — Willie McCovey, G 734, H 727, HR 187, BA .295, BPO 1.089
1971-1975 — Willie Stargell, G 691, H 741, HR 172, BA .297, BPO 1.024
1976-1980 — George Foster, G 725, H 816, HR 176, BA .297, BPO .932
1981-1985 — Mike Schmidt, G 713, H 690, HR 175, BA .278, BPO 1.018
1986-1990 — Eric Davis, G 654, H 631, HR 148, BA .277, BPO 1.022
1991-1995 — Barry Bonds, G 708, H 748, HR 175, BA .309, BPO 1.249
1996-2000 — Larry Walker, G 580, H 711, HR 136, BA .348, BPO 1.209
2001-2005 — Barry Bonds, G 587, H 585, HR 214, BA .347, BPO 1.938
2006-2010 — Albert Pujols, G 768, H 918, HR 207, BA .330, BPO 1.171
2011-2015 — Troy Tulowitzki, G 494, H 557, HR 96, BA .309, BPO .925
2016-2020 — Nolan Arenado, G 678, H 775, HR 165, BA .300, BPO .933