1970 MLB Leaders and Award Winners

2 leagues · 162 team games · 46 ranking tables · 24 awards

Awards

Most Valuable Player

Johnny BenchNational League
Boog PowellAmerican League

Cy Young Award

Bob GibsonNational League
Jim PerryAmerican League

Rookie of the Year

Carl MortonNational League
Thurman MunsonAmerican League

Gold Glove

Tommie AgeeNational League
Luis AparicioAmerican League
Johnny BenchNational League
Ken BerryAmerican League
Paul BlairAmerican League
Roberto ClementeNational League
Ray FosseAmerican League
Bob GibsonNational League
Tommy HelmsNational League
Davey JohnsonAmerican League
Jim KaatAmerican League
Don KessingerNational League
Wes ParkerNational League
Doug RaderNational League
Brooks RobinsonAmerican League
Pete RoseNational League
Jim SpencerAmerican League
Mickey StanleyAmerican League

Not every award existed in this season. This database has Silver Slugger (from 1980). Their absence here is not a statement about these players: those awards had not been invented yet.

American League

Led the American League — the first row of every table below.

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Carl Yastrzemski	125
2	Cesar Tovar	120
3	Reggie Smith	109
3	Roy White	109
5	Tommy Harper	104
6	Don Buford	99
7	Bert Campaneris	97
8	Harmon Killebrew	96
8	Tony Oliva	96
10	Jim Fregosi	95
10	Bobby Murcer	95

HitsH

1	Tony Oliva	204
2	Alex Johnson	202
3	Cesar Tovar	195
4	Carl Yastrzemski	186
5	Roy White	180
6	Tommy Harper	179
7	Amos Otis	176
7	Reggie Smith	176
9	Danny Cater	175
10	Luis Aparicio	173

Doubles2B

1	Tony Oliva	36
1	Amos Otis	36
1	Cesar Tovar	36
4	Tommy Harper	35
5	Leo Cardenas	34
6	Jim Fregosi	33
6	Aurelio Rodriguez	33
8	Reggie Smith	32
9	Rico Petrocelli	31
9	Brooks Robinson	31

Triples3B

1	Cesar Tovar	13
2	Mickey Stanley	11
3	Amos Otis	9
4	Jerry Kenney	7
4	Rick Monday	7
4	Tony Oliva	7
4	Aurelio Rodriguez	7
4	Reggie Smith	7
9	Cesar Gutierrez	6
9	Alex Johnson	6
9	Ted Kubiak	6
9	Bob Oliver	6
9	Vada Pinson	6
9	Roger Repoz	6
9	Roy White	6

Home RunsHR

1	Frank Howard	44
2	Harmon Killebrew	41
3	Carl Yastrzemski	40
4	Tony Conigliaro	36
5	Boog Powell	35
6	Bill Melton	33
7	Tommy Harper	31
8	Rico Petrocelli	29
9	Don Mincher	27
9	Bob Oliver	27

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Frank Howard	126
2	Tony Conigliaro	116
3	Boog Powell	114
4	Harmon Killebrew	113
5	Tony Oliva	107
6	Rico Petrocelli	103
7	Carl Yastrzemski	102
8	Bob Oliver	99
9	Bill Melton	96
10	Brooks Robinson	94
10	Roy White	94

WalksBB

1	Frank Howard	132
2	Harmon Killebrew	128
2	Carl Yastrzemski	128
4	Sal Bando	118
5	Don Buford	109
6	Boog Powell	104
7	Dick McAuliffe	101
8	Roy White	95
9	Bobby Murcer	87
10	Mike Andrews	81
10	Graig Nettles	81

Stolen BasesSB

1	Bert Campaneris	42
2	Tommy Harper	38
3	Sandy Alomar	35
4	Pat Kelly	34
5	Amos Otis	33
6	Cesar Tovar	30
7	Ed Stroud	29
8	Reggie Jackson	26
9	Paul Blair	24
9	Roy White	24

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Carl Yastrzemski	8.9
2	Tommy Harper	8.2
3	Reggie Smith	6.4
4	Frank Howard	6.3
5	Harmon Killebrew	6.2
6	Tony Oliva	6.1
7	Boog Powell	6.0
8	Luis Aparicio	5.9
9	Jim Fregosi	5.7
10	Amos Otis	5.6

Batting Averagemin 502 PA

1	Alex Johnson	.329
1	Carl Yastrzemski	.329
3	Tony Oliva	.325
4	Luis Aparicio	.313
5	Frank Robinson	.306
6	Reggie Smith	.303
7	Thurman Munson	.302
8	Danny Cater	.301
8	Lou Piniella	.301
10	Cesar Tovar	.300

On-Base Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Carl Yastrzemski	.452
2	Frank Howard	.416
3	Boog Powell	.412
4	Harmon Killebrew	.411
5	Sal Bando	.407
6	Don Buford	.406
7	Frank Robinson	.398
8	Roy White	.387
9	Thurman Munson	.386
10	Tommy Harper	.377
10	Al Kaline	.377

Slugging Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Carl Yastrzemski	.592
2	Boog Powell	.549
3	Frank Howard	.546
3	Harmon Killebrew	.546
5	Tommy Harper	.522
6	Frank Robinson	.520
7	Tony Oliva	.514
8	Tony Conigliaro	.498
9	Reggie Smith	.497
10	Bill Melton	.488

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 502 PA

1	Carl Yastrzemski	1.044
2	Frank Howard	.962
2	Boog Powell	.962
4	Harmon Killebrew	.957
5	Frank Robinson	.918
6	Tommy Harper	.899
7	Tony Oliva	.878
8	Roy White	.860
9	Reggie Smith	.857
10	Sal Bando	.837

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Mike Cuellar	24
1	Dave McNally	24
1	Jim Perry	24
4	Clyde Wright	22
5	Sam McDowell	20
5	Jim Palmer	20
5	Fritz Peterson	20
8	Catfish Hunter	18
9	Ray Culp	17
10	Dick Bosman	16
10	Chuck Dobson	16
10	Tom Murphy	16
10	Gary Peters	16

SavesSV

1	Ron Perranoski	34
2	Lindy McDaniel	29
3	Darold Knowles	27
3	Tom Timmermann	27
5	Mudcat Grant	24
6	Wilbur Wood	21
7	Sparky Lyle	20
8	Ken Tatum	17
9	Jack Aker	16
10	Stan Williams	15

StrikeoutsSO

1	Sam McDowell	304
2	Mickey Lolich	230
3	Bob Johnson	206
4	Jim Palmer	199
5	Ray Culp	197
6	Mike Cuellar	190
7	Dave McNally	185
8	Tom Hall	184
9	Catfish Hunter	178
10	Jim Perry	168

Innings PitchedIP

1	Sam McDowell	305.0
1	Jim Palmer	305.0
3	Mike Cuellar	297.7
4	Dave McNally	296.0
5	Jim Perry	278.7
6	Mickey Lolich	272.7
7	Mel Stottlemyre	271.0
8	Tommy John	269.3
9	Chuck Dobson	267.0
10	Catfish Hunter	262.3

Complete GamesCG

1	Mike Cuellar	21
2	Sam McDowell	19
3	Jim Palmer	17
4	Dave McNally	16
5	Ray Culp	15
6	Mel Stottlemyre	14
7	Chuck Dobson	13
7	Mickey Lolich	13
7	Jim Perry	13
10	Marty Pattin	11

ShutoutsSHO

1	Chuck Dobson	5
1	Jim Palmer	5
3	Mike Cuellar	4
3	Jim Perry	4
3	Gary Peters	4
6	Dick Bosman	3
6	Tommy John	3
6	Mickey Lolich	3
6	Jim Rooker	3
10	Stan Bahnsen	2
10	Vida Blue	2
10	Jim Hardin	2
10	Rudy May	2
10	Tom Murphy	2
10	Joe Niekro	2
10	Fritz Peterson	2
10	Diego Segui	2
10	Sonny Siebert	2
10	Clyde Wright	2

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Sam McDowell	6.3
2	Jim Perry	5.6
3	Jim Palmer	5.4
4	Ray Culp	4.2
5	Dave McNally	4.1
6	Mike Cuellar	4.1
7	Mickey Lolich	4.0
8	Fritz Peterson	3.9
9	Dick Bosman	3.5
10	Bob Johnson	3.5

Earned Run Averagemin 162 IP

1	Diego Segui	2.56
2	Jim Palmer	2.71
3	Clyde Wright	2.83
4	Fritz Peterson	2.90
5	Sam McDowell	2.92
6	Dick Bosman	3.00
7	Andy Messersmith	3.00
8	Jim Perry	3.04
9	Ray Culp	3.04
10	Bob Johnson	3.07

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 162 IP

1	Fritz Peterson	1.10
2	Jim Perry	1.13
3	Andy Messersmith	1.14
4	Mike Cuellar	1.15
5	Bert Blyleven	1.16
6	Marty Pattin	1.18
7	Jim Palmer	1.19
8	Dave McNally	1.20
8	Sonny Siebert	1.20
10	Ray Culp	1.20

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 162 IP

1	Sam McDowell	3.07
2	Jim Perry	3.08
3	Bob Johnson	3.11
4	Jim Palmer	3.22
5	Bert Blyleven	3.24
6	Dick Bosman	3.33
7	Fritz Peterson	3.36
8	Marty Pattin	3.36
9	Ray Culp	3.43
10	Diego Segui	3.48

National League

Led the National League — the first row of every table below.

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Billy Williams	137
2	Bobby Bonds	134
3	Pete Rose	120
4	Lou Brock	114
5	Bobby Tolan	112
6	Tommie Agee	107
6	Tony Perez	107
8	Ken Henderson	104
9	Hank Aaron	103
10	Jim Hickman	102
10	Joe Morgan	102

HitsH

1	Pete Rose	205
1	Billy Williams	205
3	Joe Torre	203
4	Lou Brock	202
5	Matty Alou	201
6	Bobby Bonds	200
7	Wes Parker	196
8	Cito Gaston	186
8	Tony Perez	186
8	Bobby Tolan	186

Doubles2B

1	Wes Parker	47
2	Willie McCovey	39
3	Pete Rose	37
4	Bobby Bonds	36
4	Dick Dietz	36
6	Johnny Bench	35
6	Ken Henderson	35
8	Ollie Brown	34
8	Lee May	34
8	Bobby Tolan	34
8	Billy Williams	34

Triples3B

1	Willie Davis	16
2	Don Kessinger	14
3	Bobby Bonds	10
3	Roberto Clemente	10
5	Cito Gaston	9
5	Joe Morgan	9
5	Pete Rose	9
5	Bill Russell	9
5	Manny Sanguillen	9
5	Tony Taylor	9
5	Joe Torre	9

Home RunsHR

1	Johnny Bench	45
2	Billy Williams	42
3	Tony Perez	40
4	Willie McCovey	39
5	Hank Aaron	38
5	Nate Colbert	38
7	Dick Allen	34
7	Orlando Cepeda	34
7	Lee May	34
10	Jim Hickman	32

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Johnny Bench	148
2	Tony Perez	129
2	Billy Williams	129
4	Willie McCovey	126
5	Hank Aaron	118
6	Jim Hickman	115
7	Ron Santo	114
8	Orlando Cepeda	111
8	Wes Parker	111
10	Dick Dietz	107

WalksBB

1	Willie McCovey	137
2	Rusty Staub	112
3	Dick Dietz	109
4	Jim Wynn	106
5	Joe Morgan	102
6	Billy Grabarkewitz	95
6	Bud Harrelson	95
8	Bernie Carbo	94
9	Jim Hickman	93
10	Ron Santo	92

Stolen BasesSB

1	Bobby Tolan	57
2	Lou Brock	51
3	Bobby Bonds	48
4	Joe Morgan	42
5	Willie Davis	38
6	Tommie Agee	31
7	Maury Wills	28
8	Jose Cardenal	26
9	Larry Bowa	24
9	Jim Wynn	24

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Willie McCovey	8.6
2	Tony Perez	8.5
3	Dick Dietz	8.1
4	Johnny Bench	7.9
5	Jim Hickman	7.3
6	Bobby Bonds	7.3
7	Rico Carty	7.2
8	Joe Torre	7.2
9	Billy Williams	7.0
10	Cito Gaston	6.7

Batting Averagemin 502 PA

1	Rico Carty	.366
2	Manny Sanguillen	.325
2	Joe Torre	.325
4	Billy Williams	.322
5	Wes Parker	.319
6	Cito Gaston	.318
7	Tony Perez	.317
8	Pete Rose	.316
8	Bobby Tolan	.316
10	Jim Hickman	.315

On-Base Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Rico Carty	.454
2	Willie McCovey	.444
3	Dick Dietz	.426
4	Jim Hickman	.419
5	Tony Perez	.401
6	Billy Grabarkewitz	.399
7	Joe Torre	.398
8	Ken Henderson	.394
8	Rusty Staub	.394
8	Jim Wynn	.394

Slugging Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Willie McCovey	.612
2	Tony Perez	.589
3	Johnny Bench	.587
4	Billy Williams	.586
5	Rico Carty	.584
6	Jim Hickman	.582
7	Hank Aaron	.574
8	Dick Allen	.560
9	Orlando Cepeda	.543
9	Cito Gaston	.543

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 502 PA

1	Willie McCovey	1.056
2	Rico Carty	1.037
3	Jim Hickman	1.001
4	Tony Perez	.990
5	Billy Williams	.977
6	Hank Aaron	.958
7	Dick Dietz	.941
8	Dick Allen	.937
9	Johnny Bench	.932
10	Orlando Cepeda	.908

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Bob Gibson	23
1	Gaylord Perry	23
3	Fergie Jenkins	22
4	Jim Merritt	20
5	Bill Hands	18
5	Carl Morton	18
5	Gary Nolan	18
5	Tom Seaver	18
9	Ken Holtzman	17
10	Larry Dierker	16
10	Pat Jarvis	16
10	Claude Osteen	16

SavesSV

1	Wayne Granger	35
2	Dave Giusti	26
3	Jim Brewer	24
4	Claude Raymond	23
5	Dick Selma	22
6	Don McMahon	19
7	Fred Gladding	18
8	Clay Carroll	16
9	Ron Taylor	13
9	Hoyt Wilhelm	13

StrikeoutsSO

1	Tom Seaver	283
2	Bob Gibson	274
2	Fergie Jenkins	274
4	Gaylord Perry	214
5	Ken Holtzman	202
6	Don Sutton	201
7	Steve Carlton	193
8	Larry Dierker	191
9	Pat Dobson	185
10	Gary Nolan	181

Innings PitchedIP

1	Gaylord Perry	328.7
2	Fergie Jenkins	313.0
3	Bob Gibson	294.0
4	Tom Seaver	290.7
5	Ken Holtzman	287.7
6	Carl Morton	284.7
7	Larry Dierker	269.7
8	Bill Hands	265.0
9	Don Sutton	260.3
10	Claude Osteen	258.7

Complete GamesCG

1	Fergie Jenkins	24
2	Bob Gibson	23
2	Gaylord Perry	23
4	Tom Seaver	19
5	Larry Dierker	17
6	Ken Holtzman	15
7	Juan Marichal	14
8	Steve Carlton	13
9	Bill Hands	12
9	Jim Merritt	12

ShutoutsSHO

1	Gaylord Perry	5
2	Dock Ellis	4
2	Carl Morton	4
2	Claude Osteen	4
2	Don Sutton	4
6	Woodie Fryman	3
6	Bob Gibson	3
6	Fergie Jenkins	3
6	Jim McAndrew	3
6	Jim McGlothlin	3
6	Phil Niekro	3
6	Bill Singer	3
6	Bill Stoneman	3
6	Luke Walker	3

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Bob Gibson	8.6
2	Fergie Jenkins	7.7
3	Tom Seaver	7.5
4	Gaylord Perry	5.7
5	Bill Hands	5.1
6	Pat Jarvis	4.8
7	Ken Holtzman	4.4
8	Jim Merritt	4.0
9	Jim Bunning	3.6
10	Chris Short	3.4

Earned Run Averagemin 162 IP

1	Tom Seaver	2.82
2	Wayne Simpson	3.02
3	Luke Walker	3.04
4	Bob Gibson	3.12
5	Jerry Koosman	3.14
6	Gaylord Perry	3.20
7	Dock Ellis	3.21
8	Gary Nolan	3.27
9	Danny Coombs	3.30
10	Milt Pappas	3.34

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 162 IP

1	Fergie Jenkins	1.04
2	Tom Seaver	1.08
3	Jim McAndrew	1.11
4	Gaylord Perry	1.14
5	Wayne Simpson	1.17
6	Bob Gibson	1.19
7	Jerry Koosman	1.23
8	Pat Jarvis	1.23
9	Milt Pappas	1.23
10	Dave Roberts	1.24

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 162 IP

1	Bob Gibson	2.29
2	Tom Seaver	2.53
3	Fergie Jenkins	2.78
4	Jack Billingham	3.07
5	Pat Jarvis	3.20
6	Chris Short	3.24
7	Bill Hands	3.24
8	Gaylord Perry	3.24
9	Luke Walker	3.25
10	Bob Veale	3.28

How this page is built

The qualifying line for 1970 is 502 plate appearances and 162 innings pitched. It comes from the length of the schedule — 162 games per team, measured from the season files themselves — at the official rate of 3.1 plate appearances and one inning per team game. Batting average, on-base, slugging, OPS, earned run average and WHIP all use it; a player who came to the plate twice and got two hits does not appear at the top of the batting average table, which is exactly what that line is for. Counting statistics such as home runs and strikeouts have no minimum, because none is needed.

How the rankings were made

Wins above replacement in these tables is ours rather than the source database's, so it will not match a published figure exactly. Also: why every ranking stops at one league, and why some categories are missing on purpose.

Every ranking on this page is worked out inside one league. 1970 is counted as 2 separate leagues — American League and National League, and a player is ranked only against the men in his own. Leading the American League and leading baseball are different claims, and the one we can make from these files is the first. There is no combined table anywhere on this page, because adding two leagues together would produce a number that no record book recognises.

There are 46 ranking tables here, 19 places deep. Players tied on a value share a place, so a table can run past ten rows when the tenth spot is shared, and a league with fewer than ten qualified players in a category is left out rather than shown as a top ten that is not one. A player who did none of the thing is not ranked in it either — a shutout table lists the pitchers who threw one, not the hundreds who threw none tied on zero. Some categories are missing on purpose: nobody leads a league in strikeouts at the plate, in losses, or in home runs allowed. A ranking is meant to mark an achievement, so only achievements are ranked.

Wins above replacement on this page is ours, not the source database's. The hitting and pitching files carry a WAR column that we compute here from the same season lines you see, using park factors and a run environment worked out per season. Published versions elsewhere use different methods and will not match ours exactly. Every other column is the record as the database supplies it.

Names on this page lead to that player's own record. Most of them open a full career page with every season he appeared in. Some open a summary screen instead — we pre-build pages for the players people look for, and everyone else is assembled on demand from the same files, so the numbers are identical either way even though the address looks different.

Data for 1871 to 2025: Lahman Baseball Database 2025, compiled by SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) and licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported. Negro Leagues data licensed from Seamheads.com and included under SABR major-league recommendations (2021-02-11, 2024-06-03). This page ranks the 1970 season lines published on this site, league by league, with WAR worked out here. — the WAR columns are computed here — and they are published under the same CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported licence, as ShareAlike requires. That database is published once a season is complete, so the 2026 figures on this site come from a different place: the MLB Stats API, whose notice reads “Copyright 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Use of any content on this page acknowledges agreement to the terms posted here http://gdx.mlb.com/components/copyright.txt”. Those numbers are MLB Advanced Media, L.P.’s, not SABR (Society for American Baseball Research)’s, and they carry that notice rather than the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported licence above. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Major League Baseball or any of its clubs.