All teams want a dependable batter, so the search for the batter with the highest batting average begins. Scouts may find the players, but it is not as simple for the players as it appears.
Keeping a high MLB batting average is a difficult task. After a few games, the pitchers will identify a flaw in the batter.
The batters must then buckle down and try to manage their weakness. Unfortunately, not all players can overcome their weaknesses.
So, the top 15 batters with the best MLB batting average are described in this list.
Best MLB Batting Average Ranking 15
All-time batters were considered when compiling the list. Baseball reference is used to obtain the batters’ statistics.
| S.N. | Name | Batting Average |
| 15 | Harry Heilmann | .3416 |
| 14 | Dave Orr | .3420 |
| 13 | Babe Ruth | .3421 |
| 12 | Dan Brouthers | .3424 |
| 11 | Ted Williams | .3444 |
| 10 | Billy Hamilton | .3444 |
| 9 | Tris Speaker | .3447 |
| 8 | Ed Delahanty | .3458 |
| 7 | Turkey Stearnes | .3490 |
| 6 | Lefty O’Doul | .3493 |
| 5 | Jud Wilson | .3519 |
| 4 | Shoeless Joe Jackson | .3558 |
| 3 | Rogers Hornsby | .3585 |
| 2 | Oscar Charleston | .3643 |
| 1 | Ty Cobb | .3662 |
15. Harry Heilmann
Harry Heilman leads off our list of the top 15 MLB batting averages. Heilman was a right fielder and first baseman for the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds, respectively.
The four-time batting champion has a.3416 batting average. During his career, he hit 183 home runs and had 1,543 RBI.
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He also had a Wins Above Replacement (WAR) of 72.5 games. Aside from that, he was able to steal 113 bases.
14. Dave Orr
Dave Orr is the first player from the nineteenth century. Dave Orr was a member of five different teams.
Some of the teams he played for, such as the Columbus Solons and the Brooklyn War’s Wonders, no longer exist. In 1890, he retired.
During his career, he batted.3420 and scored 536 runs. He had a total of 627 RBI.
During his career, he was named batting champion, RBI champion, hits leader (twice), and triples leader (two times).
13. Babe Ruth
All-Star selection twice Babe Ruth played in Major League Baseball from 1914 to 1935. He scored 2,873 runs in his twenty-one-year career.
Despite his excellent batting average, he also pitched. He began his career as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.
As an outfielder for the New York Yankees, he rose to prominence and success. He won the home run leader award 12 times while with the Yankees.
Similarly, he was named RBI leader six times. Aside from that, he was the 1923 MVP.
During his time with the Red Sox and the Yankees, Babe Ruth won seven World Series championships.
12. Dan Brouthers
Dan Brouthers is another nineteenth-century player on this list. He was a member of ten different teams.
Dan made his debut in 1879 and continued to play until 1904. During this time, he hit 2,296 runs, scored 106 home runs, and had 1,296 RBI.
He led the league in home runs twice and RBI twice. Brouthers was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.
11. Ted Williams
Ted Williams was a baseball legend who played in the Major Leagues from 1939 to 1960. He was a member of the Boston Red Sox.
He had a batting average of.3444 during his career. Similarly, he had 521 home runs and 1,839 RBI.
Ted Williams has the highest on-base percentage (.482) in the league. He scored 1798 runs in his career.
From 1942 to 1946, he also served in the Second World War. He returned to the MLB as a manager after retiring as a player.
He was named MVP twice as a player. Likewise, he won the Triple Crown twice. Williams, a six-time batting champion, was also the home run leader four times.
Similarly, he led the RBI four times. Ted Williams made the All-Star team nineteen times.
10. Billy Hamilton
Billy Hamilton is another player on the list of the 15 best MLB batting averages. From 1888 to 1901, he was a member of three different teams.
Billy spent time with the Kansas City Cowboys, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Boston Beaneaters. In 1961, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Throughout his career, he batted.3444 on average. However, he only hit 40 home runs.
Despite this, he stole 912 bases and had 742 RBI. In addition, he had a Wins Above Replacement of 63.2.
Billy won the batting title twice and the stolen base title five times. He stole the third-most bases of all time with 912 stolen bases.
9. Speaker, Tris
Tris Speaker, the Boston Americans’ center fielder, made his debut in 1907. (current Red Sox). He kept playing the game until 1926.
He later became the manager of the Cleveland Indians while still playing. As a result, he was both a player and a manager.
The Cleveland Indians won the World Series in 1920 under his leadership. Aside from that, he was a member of two World Series-winning teams with the Boston Americans.
Tris was also named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player in 1912. In 1916, he was also the batting champion. Aside from that, he led the RBI in 1923.
Tris Speaker has the most career doubles of any player in history. He hit 792 doubles in his career.
8. Ed Delahanty
Ed Delahanty ‘Big Ed’ is regarded as one of the greatest MLB batters of all time. In 1888, he made his debut for the Philadelphia Quackers.
He also played his final game for the Washington Senators in 1903. In the interim, he hit 101 home runs.
In addition, he stole 455 bases and had 1,464 RBI. In addition, he had a Wins Above Replacement of 69.6 games.
He was named batting champion in 1899. Similarly, he led the league in home runs twice and RBI three times.
In 1898, Ed Delahanty was also the stolen base leader. Aside from that, he hit four home runs in one game.
Delahanty was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.
7. Stearnes, Turkey
Turkey Stearnes is another player on the list of the top 15 MLB batting averages. Turkey Stearnes was a member of the Negro leagues.
Racism at the time meant that the players in the Negro league were ignored. However, their contribution and statistics are only now being revealed.
He hit 176 home runs in his career. He had 997 RBI and 129 stolen bases. In addition, he had a Wins Above Replacement of 49.7 games.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000. The five-time All-Star had the greatest number of triplets.
6. Lefty O’Doul
Lefty O’Doul missed the 0.350 batting average mark by only 0.007. Even the average of 0.3493 is something that every player wishes for.
In 1919, Lefty O’Doul made his Major League Baseball debut. In 1934, he announced his retirement. He played for six different teams in the interim.
During his career, he hit 113 home runs and drove in 542 runs. Surprisingly, he only made the All-Star team once.
He did, however, win the batting title twice, in 1929 and 1932. Among his other accomplishments are 624 runs and 36 stolen bases.
O’Doul returned to the MLB as a manager after retiring as a player. Between 1935 and 1951, he was a manager for the San Francisco Seals.
5. Jud Wilson
Jud Wilson is another outstanding player from the Negro leagues. Wilson appeared on four different teams as a third baseman.
He debuted for the Baltimore Black Sox in 1922 and retired from the league in 1939. He was a member of the Philadelphia Stars at the time.
He is also the first player on this list to have a batting average of 0.350. His career batting average was.3519.
Throughout his career, he scored 618 runs and drove in 724. Aside from that, he hit 77 home runs and stole 104 bases.
Few of his accomplishments are known to the general public due to a lack of data on the Negro leagues.
4. Joe Jackson
From 1908 to 1920, Joseph Jefferson Jackson, also known as ‘Shoeless Joe Jackson,’ played in Major League Baseball. During that time, he was a member of three different teams.
Jackson was a member of the Philadelphia Athletics, the Cleveland Naps/Indians, and the Chicago White Sox. He has been inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame.
Throughout his career, he batted.3558 and scored 873 runs. Similarly, he hit 54 home runs and drove 792 runs.
In addition, he stole 202 bases during his career. He was a member of the Chicago White Sox’s World Series-winning team in 1917.
However, in 1919, he was also accused of conspiring to fix the World Series.
3. Rogers Hornsby III
Rogers Hornsby had a distinguished career as a player and manager. He was a player in the league from 1915 to 1937.
In 1925, he returned to management after retiring as a player. In 1953, he retired as a manager.
From 2259 games, he had a batting average of.358. During that time, he scored 1579 runs and drove in 1584.
Aside from that, he was able to steal 135 bases. Similarly, he had 127.3 games of Win Above Replacement.
His most notable accomplishment was winning the World Series Championship in 1926. He won the MVP award twice, the Triple Crown, the batting title seven times, and the RBI lead four times.
2. Oscar Charleston
Oscar Charleston has the second-highest MLB batting average on this list. From 1915 to 1941, Charleston was a member of the Negro league.
He returned to the MLB as a manager after retiring as a player. He was a manager until 1954.
As a batter, he was a powerhouse. Oscar Charleston hit 143 home runs in his career. Similarly, he hit 855 home runs and drove 853 runs.
Aside from that, he was able to steal 209 bases. He also has a Wins Above Replacement of 48.3 games.
1. Ty Cobb’s
Ty Cobb currently has the highest MLB batting average. He has an unrivaled batting record as a player.
His batting average is.366, and he has 2245 runs scored and 1944 RBI. In addition, he was able to steal 897 bases.
In addition, he hit 117 home runs. His Wins Above Replacement of 151.5 games is also quite impressive.
He was a player for the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Athletics. Later, he was the manager of the Detroit Tigers.
In 1911, he was named MVP. He was also the batting champion twelve times, the BRI leader four times, and the stolen base leader six times.
Similarly, in 1909, he led the league in home runs and won the Triple Crown.
Conclusion
Surprisingly, no modern players have high batting averages. Which player on the list is your favorite?
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