Clemens tops majors again with 1.87 ERA
Alex Rodriguez edged David Ortiz to win his fourth AL home-run title in five years, Andruw Jones won his first NL homer crown and Roger Clemens, 43, led the major leagues in ERA for the first time since 1990.
Derrek Lee of the Chicago Cubs and Michael Young of the Texas Rangers won their first batting titles yesterday, and Ortiz and Andruw Jones led in RBIs.
Rodriguez hit 48 homers to give the New York Yankees their first home run champion since Reggie Jackson was co- leader in 1980. A- Rod won consecutive titles with Texas from 2001- 3.
Jones led the major leagues with 51 homers, the first player to reach 50 since Rodriguez and Jim Thome in 2002. Lee topped the major leagues with a .335 average, finishing just ahead of Albert Pujols (. 330).
“ I never realized at the start of the year that I could win a batting title, but it’s a great accomplishment for me,” Lee said. Young batted .331 to beat out Rodriguez, second at .321.
Ortiz won the RBI title for the first time at 148, and Jones ( 128) topped the NL for the first time. Clemens had a 1.87 ERA and won his first NL title to go along with six he won in the AL. His 15- year gap between major league ERA titles was double the previous high, set by the Braves’ Warren Spahn when he won in 1947 and 1953, according the Elias Sports Bureau. Cleveland’s Kevin Millwood ( 9- 11 with a 2.86 ERA) became the first AL ERA champion with a losing record since the Indians’ Stan Coveleski in 1923 and the first in the major leagues since St. Louis’ Joe Magrane in 1988. He edged Minnesota’s Johan Santana, who gave up one run in seven innings against Detroit on Sunday and finished at 2.87.
Florida’s Dontrelle Willis ( 22- 10) led the majors in wins, and the Los Angeles Angels’ Bartolo Colon ( 21- 8) topped the AL. Santana struck out 238 to lead the majors and win his second straight AL title, and San Diego’s Jake Peavy led the NL for the first time with 216.