1971 MLB Leaders and Award Winners

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

Awards

Most Valuable Player

Vida BlueAmerican League
Joe TorreNational League

Cy Young Award

Vida BlueAmerican League
Fergie JenkinsNational League

Rookie of the Year

Chris ChamblissAmerican League
Earl WilliamsNational League

Gold Glove

Mark BelangerAmerican League
Johnny BenchNational League
Paul BlairAmerican League
Bobby BondsNational League
Roberto ClementeNational League
Willie DavisNational League
Ray FosseAmerican League
Bob GibsonNational League
Bud HarrelsonNational League
Tommy HelmsNational League
Davey JohnsonAmerican League
Jim KaatAmerican League
Amos OtisAmerican League
Wes ParkerNational League
Doug RaderNational League
Brooks RobinsonAmerican League
George ScottAmerican League
Carl YastrzemskiAmerican 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	Don Buford	99
2	Bobby Murcer	94
2	Cesar Tovar	94
4	Rod Carew	88
5	Reggie Jackson	87
6	Freddie Patek	86
6	Roy White	86
8	Reggie Smith	85
9	Rico Petrocelli	82
9	Frank Robinson	82

HitsH

1	Cesar Tovar	204
2	Sandy Alomar	179
3	Rod Carew	177
4	Bobby Murcer	175
4	Reggie Smith	175
6	Amos Otis	167
7	Tony Oliva	164
8	Brooks Robinson	160
9	Freddie Patek	158
10	Reggie Jackson	157

Doubles2B

1	Reggie Smith	33
2	Paul Schaal	31
3	Tony Oliva	30
3	Aurelio Rodriguez	30
5	Reggie Jackson	29
5	Cesar Tovar	29
7	Jim Northrup	27
8	Billy Conigliaro	26
8	Bill Freehan	26
8	Tommy Harper	26
8	Davey Johnson	26
8	Amos Otis	26

Triples3B

1	Freddie Patek	11
2	Rod Carew	10
3	Paul Blair	8
4	Horace Clarke	7
4	Ted Kubiak	7
4	Carlos May	7
4	Aurelio Rodriguez	7
4	Roy White	7
9	Felipe Alou	6
9	Dick McAuliffe	6
9	Bobby Murcer	6
9	Paul Schaal	6
9	Del Unser	6

Home RunsHR

1	Bill Melton	33
2	Norm Cash	32
2	Reggie Jackson	32
4	Reggie Smith	30
5	Harmon Killebrew	28
5	Graig Nettles	28
5	Rico Petrocelli	28
5	Frank Robinson	28
9	Frank Howard	26
10	Bobby Murcer	25

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Harmon Killebrew	119
2	Frank Robinson	99
3	Reggie Smith	96
4	Sal Bando	94
4	Bobby Murcer	94
6	Boog Powell	92
6	Brooks Robinson	92
8	Norm Cash	91
9	Rico Petrocelli	89
10	Bill Melton	86
10	Graig Nettles	86

WalksBB

1	Harmon Killebrew	114
2	Carl Yastrzemski	106
3	Paul Schaal	103
4	Bobby Murcer	91
4	Rico Petrocelli	91
6	Don Buford	89
7	Merv Rettenmund	87
8	Sal Bando	86
8	Roy White	86
10	Al Kaline	82
10	Graig Nettles	82
10	Boog Powell	82

Stolen BasesSB

1	Amos Otis	52
2	Freddie Patek	49
3	Sandy Alomar	39
4	Bert Campaneris	34
5	Tommy Harper	25
5	Vada Pinson	25
7	Cesar Tovar	18
8	Horace Clarke	17
8	Dave Nelson	17
10	Reggie Jackson	16
10	Carlos May	16

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Bobby Murcer	9.2
2	Bill Melton	7.8
3	Graig Nettles	7.8
4	Amos Otis	7.4
5	Reggie Smith	7.2
6	Merv Rettenmund	6.8
7	Roy White	6.1
8	Rico Petrocelli	5.8
9	Reggie Jackson	5.7
10	Paul Schaal	5.6

Batting Averagemin 502 PA

1	Tony Oliva	.337
2	Bobby Murcer	.331
3	Merv Rettenmund	.318
4	Cesar Tovar	.311
5	Rod Carew	.307
6	Amos Otis	.301
7	Carlos May	.294
8	Roy White	.292
9	Don Buford	.290
10	Felipe Alou	.288
10	Ted Uhlaender	.288

On-Base Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Bobby Murcer	.427
2	Merv Rettenmund	.422
3	Don Buford	.413
4	Roy White	.388
5	Paul Schaal	.387
6	Harmon Killebrew	.386
7	Frank Robinson	.384
8	Carl Yastrzemski	.381
9	Boog Powell	.379
10	Sal Bando	.377

Slugging Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Tony Oliva	.546
2	Bobby Murcer	.543
3	Norm Cash	.531
4	Frank Robinson	.510
5	Reggie Jackson	.508
6	Bill Melton	.492
7	Reggie Smith	.489
8	Don Buford	.477
9	Frank Howard	.474
10	Roy White	.469

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 502 PA

1	Bobby Murcer	.969
2	Tony Oliva	.915
3	Norm Cash	.903
4	Frank Robinson	.894
5	Don Buford	.890
6	Merv Rettenmund	.870
7	Reggie Jackson	.860
8	Roy White	.857
9	Harmon Killebrew	.850
10	Bill Melton	.843

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Mickey Lolich	25
2	Vida Blue	24
3	Wilbur Wood	22
4	Catfish Hunter	21
4	Dave McNally	21
6	Joe Coleman	20
6	Mike Cuellar	20
6	Pat Dobson	20
6	Andy Messersmith	20
6	Jim Palmer	20

SavesSV

1	Ken Sanders	31
2	Ted Abernathy	23
3	Fred Scherman	20
4	Tom Burgmeier	17
4	Rollie Fingers	17
6	Sparky Lyle	16
7	Lloyd Allen	15
8	Phil Hennigan	14
8	Bart Johnson	14
10	Eddie Watt	11

StrikeoutsSO

1	Mickey Lolich	308
2	Vida Blue	301
3	Joe Coleman	236
4	Bert Blyleven	224
5	Wilbur Wood	210
6	Tom Bradley	206
7	Sam McDowell	192
8	Pat Dobson	187
9	Jim Palmer	184
10	Catfish Hunter	181

Innings PitchedIP

1	Mickey Lolich	376.0
2	Wilbur Wood	334.0
3	Vida Blue	312.0
4	Mike Cuellar	292.3
5	Joe Coleman	286.0
6	Tom Bradley	285.7
7	Pat Dobson	282.3
8	Jim Palmer	282.0
9	Bert Blyleven	278.3
10	Andy Messersmith	276.7
10	Clyde Wright	276.7

Complete GamesCG

1	Mickey Lolich	29
2	Vida Blue	24
3	Wilbur Wood	22
4	Mike Cuellar	21
5	Jim Palmer	20
6	Mel Stottlemyre	19
7	Pat Dobson	18
8	Bert Blyleven	17
9	Joe Coleman	16
9	Catfish Hunter	16
9	Fritz Peterson	16

ShutoutsSHO

1	Vida Blue	8
2	Mel Stottlemyre	7
2	Wilbur Wood	7
4	Tom Bradley	6
5	Bert Blyleven	5
5	Marty Pattin	5
7	Mike Cuellar	4
7	Pat Dobson	4
7	Dick Drago	4
7	Catfish Hunter	4
7	Jim Kaat	4
7	Mickey Lolich	4
7	Andy Messersmith	4
7	Bill Parsons	4
7	Fritz Peterson	4
7	Sonny Siebert	4
7	Jim Slaton	4

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Vida Blue	7.7
2	Mickey Lolich	6.8
3	Wilbur Wood	6.7
4	Bert Blyleven	6.0
5	Tom Bradley	5.9
6	Joe Coleman	5.8
7	Jim Kaat	4.6
8	Pat Dobson	4.3
9	Dick Drago	3.6
10	Mel Stottlemyre	3.6

Earned Run Averagemin 162 IP

1	Vida Blue	1.82
2	Wilbur Wood	1.91
3	Jim Palmer	2.68
4	Mike Hedlund	2.71
5	Bert Blyleven	2.81
6	Mel Stottlemyre	2.87
7	Dave McNally	2.89
8	Pat Dobson	2.90
9	Sonny Siebert	2.91
10	Mickey Lolich	2.92

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 162 IP

1	Vida Blue	0.95
2	Wilbur Wood	1.00
3	Steve Kline	1.09
4	Dave McNally	1.10
5	Pat Dobson	1.10
6	Clyde Wright	1.11
7	Catfish Hunter	1.11
8	Mike Cuellar	1.12
9	Mel Stottlemyre	1.12
10	Marty Pattin	1.13

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 162 IP

1	Vida Blue	2.20
2	Bert Blyleven	2.51
3	Tom Bradley	2.54
4	Wilbur Wood	2.63
5	Joe Coleman	2.65
6	Jim Kaat	2.81
7	Mickey Lolich	2.85
8	Pat Dobson	2.92
9	Rudy May	2.98
10	Dick Drago	2.99

National League

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

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Lou Brock	126
2	Bobby Bonds	110
3	Willie Stargell	104
4	Ralph Garr	101
5	Joe Torre	97
6	Hank Aaron	95
7	Rusty Staub	94
8	Ron Hunt	89
9	Joe Morgan	87
10	Pete Rose	86
10	Billy Williams	86

HitsH

1	Joe Torre	230
2	Ralph Garr	219
3	Lou Brock	200
4	Willie Davis	198
5	Matty Alou	192
5	Pete Rose	192
7	Rusty Staub	186
8	Glenn Beckert	181
9	Billy Williams	179
10	Bobby Bonds	178
10	Roberto Clemente	178

Doubles2B

1	Cesar Cedeno	40
2	Lou Brock	37
3	Rusty Staub	34
3	Joe Torre	34
5	Willie Davis	33
6	Bobby Bonds	32
6	Ted Simmons	32
8	Al Oliver	31
9	Roberto Clemente	29
9	Deron Johnson	29

Triples3B

1	Roger Metzger	11
1	Joe Morgan	11
3	Willie Davis	10
4	Cito Gaston	9
5	Roberto Clemente	8
5	Richie Hebner	8
5	Felix Millan	8
5	Don Money	8
5	Joe Torre	8
10	Gene Alley	7
10	Lou Brock	7
10	Al Oliver	7

Home RunsHR

1	Willie Stargell	48
2	Hank Aaron	47
3	Lee May	39
4	Deron Johnson	34
5	Bobby Bonds	33
5	Earl Williams	33
7	Willie Montanez	30
8	Billy Williams	28
9	Johnny Bench	27
9	Nate Colbert	27

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Joe Torre	137
2	Willie Stargell	125
3	Hank Aaron	118
4	Bobby Bonds	102
5	Willie Montanez	99
6	Lee May	98
7	Rusty Staub	97
8	Deron Johnson	95
9	Billy Williams	93
10	Tony Perez	91

WalksBB

1	Willie Mays	112
2	Bob Bailey	97
2	Dick Dietz	97
4	Dick Allen	93
5	Joe Morgan	88
6	Ken Henderson	84
7	Willie Stargell	83
8	Ron Fairly	81
9	Ron Santo	79
10	Billy Williams	77

Stolen BasesSB

1	Lou Brock	64
2	Joe Morgan	40
3	Ralph Garr	30
4	Tommie Agee	28
4	Larry Bowa	28
4	Bud Harrelson	28
7	Bobby Bonds	26
8	Willie Mays	23
9	Jose Cardenal	21
9	Enzo Hernandez	21

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Joe Torre	9.1
2	Hank Aaron	8.5
3	Willie Stargell	7.8
4	Willie Mays	7.1
5	Bobby Bonds	7.0
6	Rusty Staub	6.2
7	Willie Davis	5.9
8	Dick Allen	5.8
9	Dick Dietz	5.6
10	Roberto Clemente	5.6

Batting Averagemin 502 PA

1	Joe Torre	.363
2	Ralph Garr	.343
3	Glenn Beckert	.342
4	Roberto Clemente	.341
5	Hank Aaron	.327
6	Cleon Jones	.319
6	Manny Sanguillen	.319
8	Matty Alou	.315
9	Lou Brock	.313
10	Rusty Staub	.311

On-Base Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Willie Mays	.425
2	Joe Torre	.421
3	Hank Aaron	.410
4	Ron Hunt	.402
5	Willie Stargell	.398
6	Dick Allen	.395
7	Rusty Staub	.392
8	Dick Dietz	.387
9	Lou Brock	.385
10	Billy Williams	.383

Slugging Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Hank Aaron	.669
2	Willie Stargell	.628
3	Joe Torre	.555
4	Lee May	.532
5	Bobby Bonds	.512
6	Billy Williams	.505
7	Roberto Clemente	.502
8	Earl Williams	.491
9	Deron Johnson	.490
10	Bob Robertson	.484

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 502 PA

1	Hank Aaron	1.079
2	Willie Stargell	1.026
3	Joe Torre	.976
4	Willie Mays	.907
5	Billy Williams	.888
6	Rusty Staub	.874
7	Roberto Clemente	.871
8	Bobby Bonds	.867
9	Lee May	.864
10	Dick Allen	.863

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Fergie Jenkins	24
2	Steve Carlton	20
2	Al Downing	20
2	Tom Seaver	20
5	Dock Ellis	19
6	Juan Marichal	18
7	Milt Pappas	17
7	Bill Stoneman	17
7	Don Sutton	17
7	Rick Wise	17

SavesSV

1	Dave Giusti	30
2	Mike Marshall	23
3	Jim Brewer	22
4	Jerry Johnson	18
5	Cecil Upshaw	17
6	Clay Carroll	15
7	Danny Frisella	12
7	Fred Gladding	12
9	Joe Gibbon	11
9	Wayne Granger	11

StrikeoutsSO

1	Tom Seaver	289
2	Fergie Jenkins	263
3	Bill Stoneman	251
4	Clay Kirby	231
5	Don Sutton	194
6	Bob Gibson	185
7	Don Wilson	180
8	Phil Niekro	173
9	Steve Carlton	172
10	Juan Marichal	159

Innings PitchedIP

1	Fergie Jenkins	325.0
2	Bill Stoneman	294.7
3	Tom Seaver	286.3
4	Gaylord Perry	280.0
5	Juan Marichal	279.0
6	Steve Renko	275.7
7	Steve Carlton	273.3
8	Rick Wise	272.3
9	Dave Roberts	269.7
10	Phil Niekro	268.7

Complete GamesCG

1	Fergie Jenkins	30
2	Tom Seaver	21
3	Bob Gibson	20
4	Bill Stoneman	19
5	Steve Carlton	18
5	Juan Marichal	18
5	Phil Niekro	18
5	Don Wilson	18
9	Rick Wise	17
10	Bill Hands	14
10	Milt Pappas	14
10	Gaylord Perry	14
10	Dave Roberts	14

ShutoutsSHO

1	Steve Blass	5
1	Al Downing	5
1	Bob Gibson	5
1	Milt Pappas	5
5	Steve Arlin	4
5	Steve Carlton	4
5	Juan Marichal	4
5	Phil Niekro	4
5	Claude Osteen	4
5	Tom Seaver	4
5	Don Sutton	4
5	Rick Wise	4

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Tom Seaver	8.1
2	Fergie Jenkins	8.1
3	Don Sutton	6.5
4	Dave Roberts	5.0
5	Bob Gibson	4.8
6	Gary Nolan	4.6
7	Don Wilson	4.5
8	Gaylord Perry	4.1
9	Clay Kirby	4.1
10	Rick Wise	3.9

Earned Run Averagemin 162 IP

1	Tom Seaver	1.76
2	Dave Roberts	2.10
3	Don Wilson	2.45
4	Ken Forsch	2.53
5	Don Sutton	2.54
6	Don Gullett	2.65
7	Al Downing	2.68
8	Gaylord Perry	2.76
9	Fergie Jenkins	2.77
10	Clay Kirby	2.83

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 162 IP

1	Tom Seaver	0.95
2	Don Wilson	1.02
3	Fergie Jenkins	1.05
4	Juan Marichal	1.07
5	Don Sutton	1.08
6	Gary Nolan	1.09
7	Dave Roberts	1.11
8	Ray Sadecki	1.12
9	John Cumberland	1.12
10	Ken Forsch	1.14

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 162 IP

1	Tom Seaver	1.93
2	Don Sutton	2.16
3	Fergie Jenkins	2.38
4	Ken Forsch	2.52
5	Dave Roberts	2.62
6	Gary Nolan	2.64
7	Ray Sadecki	2.66
8	Bob Gibson	2.70
9	Don Wilson	2.80
10	Jack Billingham	2.85

How this page is built

The qualifying line for 1971 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. 1971 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, 17 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 1971 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.