The battle for the 1976 batting title, Game 162, Twins at Royals

It isn't very often where the batting title comes down to the last game of the season. And with today's sabermetrics, winning a batting title probably isn't as exciting as it once was. But there was a time when it did mean something, when players would sit in the dugout with calculators computing the players' batting averages in a heated race. In 1984, Yankees teammates Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly battled it out to the very end, with Mattingly (.343) edging Winfield (.340) on the last day of the season, going 4-5 (to Winfield's 1-4).

But in 1976, there were three players fighting for the batting title, on the same field, in an otherwise meaningless game. The Royals had clinched the AL West on Friday, October 1st, so Royals manager Whitey Herzog rested Hal McRae (.3308) and George Brett (.3307) on Saturday, both sitting with a .331 batting average. In Saturday's game, Rod Carew would go 3-4 to lift his average from .327 to .329 (.3295), putting him within reach of his third straight batting title. As a side note, Twins CF Lyman Bostock would sit games 161 and 162, finishing 4th in the batting race with a .323 BA. Otherwise, game 162 would have featured all of the AL's top four batting leaders.

In the first inning, Carew would reach base via a base on balls, so his average stayed put at .3295. In the bottom of the first, Brett would line out to the shortstop, dropping him to .33022. McRae would bat in the bottom of the second, but he hit a fly ball to the centerfielder, dropping his average to .33015. At this point, all three leaders were within 7 ten thousandths of a point, with the top two needing the fifth decimal place to separate them. Essentially tied at this point, the batting title would go to whomever finished with the most hits in this game.

In the top of the third, Carew would ground out. In the bottom of the fourth, Brett would line an RBI double to right field. McRae, batting cleanup after Brett, would line a single to center. McRae was now leading Brett, .3314 to .3313.

Carew would ground out again in the fifth, dropping his average to .328. He would bat again in the top of the seventh, doubling to left field and raising his average to .329. Brett would lead off the bottom of the seventh inning with another double to right field, and McRae followed him with an RBI single. McRae .3327, Brett .3323.

In the top of the ninth, Carew would line a single to center, raising his average to .3306. But it was too little, too late. He could not win the title even if Brett and McRae were to make outs in the bottom of the ninth. It would be the only time from 1972-1978 that Carew did not win the AL batting title.

In the bottom of the ninth, Brett was up second, and McRae third. Brett hit a ball hard to left field, with the ball taking a big bounce on the Astroturf over the left fielder's head, and the ball rolled all the way to the wall. Brett, always the hustler, would make it all the way home for an inside-the-park HR. After giving McRae an advantage in his previous two at bats by doubling and giving McRae the bat with a runner in scoring position, McRae would have to earn the batting title with no one on base. Brett now sat at .3333 to McRae's .3327. A hit by McRae would give him the title. An out, and the title would be Brett's.

You already know how this ends. McRae would ground out to the shortstop, finishing the year with a .332 BA, and second place. Brett would finish at .333, winning the first of three batting titles of his HOF career.

Brett would finish 2nd in MVP voting, with McRae 4th, and Carew 5th. In case you are wondering, Thurman Munson was the 1976 AL MVP.

Here is a link to a story about Hal McRae's claim of racism about Brett's last hit:  http://www.royalsreview.com/2010/2/9/1303471/hal-mcrae-racism-and-the-disputed