1975 MLB Leaders and Award Winners

2 leagues · 161 team games · 46 ranking tables · 24 awards

Awards

Most Valuable Player

Fred LynnAmerican League
Joe MorganNational League

Cy Young Award

Jim PalmerAmerican League
Tom SeaverNational League

Rookie of the Year

Fred LynnAmerican League
John MontefuscoNational League

Gold Glove

Mark BelangerAmerican League
Johnny BenchNational League
Paul BlairAmerican League
Cesar CedenoNational League
Dave ConcepcionNational League
Steve GarveyNational League
Cesar GeronimoNational League
Bobby GrichAmerican League
Jim KaatAmerican League
Fred LynnAmerican League
Garry MaddoxNational League
Andy MessersmithNational League
Joe MorganNational League
Thurman MunsonAmerican League
Ken ReitzNational League
Brooks RobinsonAmerican League
Joe RudiAmerican League
George ScottAmerican 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	Fred Lynn	103
2	John Mayberry	95
3	Bobby Bonds	93
4	Jim Rice	92
5	Reggie Jackson	91
5	Carl Yastrzemski	91
7	Rod Carew	89
8	Ken Singleton	88
9	Amos Otis	87
10	George Scott	86
10	Claudell Washington	86

HitsH

1	George Brett	195
2	Rod Carew	192
3	Thurman Munson	190
4	Claudell Washington	182
5	George Scott	176
5	Ken Singleton	176
7	Fred Lynn	175
7	Mickey Rivers	175
9	Jim Rice	174
10	Chris Chambliss	171

Doubles2B

1	Fred Lynn	47
2	Reggie Jackson	39
3	Chris Chambliss	38
3	John Mayberry	38
3	Hal McRae	38
6	Ken Singleton	37
7	George Brett	35
8	Roy White	32
9	Carl Yastrzemski	30
10	Bucky Dent	29
10	Jim Rice	29

Triples3B

1	George Brett	13
1	Mickey Rivers	13
3	Jorge Orta	10
4	Al Cowens	8
5	Pat Kelly	7
5	Fred Lynn	7
5	Lenny Randle	7
5	Claudell Washington	7
9	Don Baylor	6
9	Cecil Cooper	6
9	Dwight Evans	6
9	Ron LeFlore	6
9	Hal McRae	6
9	Amos Otis	6
9	Aurelio Rodriguez	6
9	Joe Rudi	6

Home RunsHR

1	Reggie Jackson	36
1	George Scott	36
3	John Mayberry	34
4	Bobby Bonds	32
5	Jeff Burroughs	29
5	Gene Tenace	29
7	Boog Powell	27
8	Don Baylor	25
8	Willie Horton	25
10	George Hendrick	24

Runs Batted InRBI

1	George Scott	109
2	John Mayberry	106
3	Fred Lynn	105
4	Reggie Jackson	104
5	Thurman Munson	102
5	Jim Rice	102
7	Lee May	99
8	Jeff Burroughs	94
9	Toby Harrah	93
10	Willie Horton	92

WalksBB

1	John Mayberry	119
2	Ken Singleton	118
3	Bobby Grich	107
4	Gene Tenace	106
5	Toby Harrah	98
6	Bobby Bonds	89
6	Darrell Porter	89
8	Sal Bando	87
8	Carl Yastrzemski	87
10	Bernie Carbo	83

Stolen BasesSB

1	Mickey Rivers	70
2	Claudell Washington	40
3	Amos Otis	39
4	Rod Carew	35
5	Jerry Remy	34
6	Don Baylor	32
6	Freddie Patek	32
8	Bobby Bonds	30
8	Bill North	30
10	Sandy Alomar	28
10	Ron LeFlore	28

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Fred Lynn	8.8
2	Toby Harrah	7.9
3	Rod Carew	7.6
4	John Mayberry	7.6
5	Bobby Grich	7.1
6	Gene Tenace	6.6
7	Bobby Bonds	6.1
8	Thurman Munson	6.0
9	Ken Singleton	5.1
10	Bill North	5.1

Batting Averagemin 499 PA

1	Rod Carew	.359
2	Fred Lynn	.331
3	Thurman Munson	.318
4	Jim Rice	.309
5	George Brett	.308
5	Claudell Washington	.308
7	Hal McRae	.306
8	Chris Chambliss	.304
8	Jorge Orta	.304
10	Mike Hargrove	.303

On-Base Percentagemin 499 PA

1	Rod Carew	.421
2	John Mayberry	.416
3	Ken Singleton	.415
4	Toby Harrah	.403
5	Fred Lynn	.401
6	Mike Hargrove	.395
6	Gene Tenace	.395
8	Steve Braun	.389
8	Bobby Grich	.389
10	Boog Powell	.377

Slugging Percentagemin 499 PA

1	Fred Lynn	.566
2	John Mayberry	.547
3	Boog Powell	.524
4	George Scott	.515
5	Bobby Bonds	.512
6	Reggie Jackson	.511
7	Rod Carew	.497
8	Joe Rudi	.494
9	Jim Rice	.491
10	Don Baylor	.489

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 499 PA

1	Fred Lynn	.967
2	John Mayberry	.963
3	Rod Carew	.919
4	Boog Powell	.901
5	Bobby Bonds	.888
6	Ken Singleton	.869
7	Toby Harrah	.861
8	Gene Tenace	.859
9	George Scott	.857
10	Don Baylor	.849

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Catfish Hunter	23
1	Jim Palmer	23
3	Vida Blue	22
4	Jim Kaat	20
4	Mike Torrez	20
6	Rick Wise	19
7	Steve Busby	18
7	Ken Holtzman	18
7	Gaylord Perry	18
7	Luis Tiant	18

SavesSV

1	Rich Gossage	26
2	Rollie Fingers	24
3	Tom Murphy	20
4	Dave LaRoche	17
5	Dick Drago	15
6	John Hiller	14
7	Jim Todd	12
8	Doug Bird	11
8	Tom Burgmeier	11
10	Steve Foucault	10

StrikeoutsSO

1	Frank Tanana	269
2	Bert Blyleven	233
2	Gaylord Perry	233
4	Jim Palmer	193
5	Vida Blue	189
6	Nolan Ryan	186
7	Catfish Hunter	177
8	Steve Busby	160
9	Fergie Jenkins	157
10	Dennis Eckersley	152

Innings PitchedIP

1	Catfish Hunter	328.0
2	Jim Palmer	323.0
3	Gaylord Perry	305.7
4	Jim Kaat	303.7
5	Wilbur Wood	291.3
6	Vida Blue	278.0
7	Bert Blyleven	275.7
8	Doc Medich	272.3
9	Mike Torrez	270.7
10	Fergie Jenkins	270.0

Complete GamesCG

1	Catfish Hunter	30
2	Jim Palmer	25
2	Gaylord Perry	25
4	Fergie Jenkins	22
5	Bert Blyleven	20
6	Mickey Lolich	19
7	Steve Busby	18
7	Luis Tiant	18
9	Mike Cuellar	17
9	Bill Lee	17
9	Rick Wise	17

ShutoutsSHO

1	Jim Palmer	10
2	Catfish Hunter	7
3	Mike Cuellar	5
3	Gaylord Perry	5
3	Nolan Ryan	5
3	Frank Tanana	5
7	Fergie Jenkins	4
7	Bill Lee	4
9	Bert Blyleven	3
9	Steve Busby	3
9	Al Fitzmorris	3
9	Vern Ruhle	3
9	Jim Slaton	3
9	Paul Splittorff	3

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Frank Tanana	6.0
2	Gaylord Perry	5.7
3	Jim Palmer	5.7
4	Bert Blyleven	5.3
5	Catfish Hunter	4.8
6	Jim Kaat	4.5
7	Steve Busby	4.3
8	Mickey Lolich	4.0
9	Vida Blue	3.8
10	Luis Tiant	3.4

Earned Run Averagemin 161 IP

1	Jim Palmer	2.09
2	Catfish Hunter	2.58
3	Dennis Eckersley	2.60
4	Frank Tanana	2.62
5	Ed Figueroa	2.91
6	Bert Blyleven	3.00
7	Vida Blue	3.01
8	Rudy May	3.06
9	Mike Torrez	3.06
10	Steve Busby	3.08

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 161 IP

1	Catfish Hunter	1.01
2	Jim Palmer	1.03
3	Bert Blyleven	1.10
4	Frank Tanana	1.10
5	Gaylord Perry	1.14
6	Fergie Jenkins	1.17
7	Steve Busby	1.21
8	Ed Figueroa	1.21
9	Ken Holtzman	1.22
10	Mike Cuellar	1.22

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 161 IP

1	Frank Tanana	2.49
2	Jim Palmer	2.96
3	Gaylord Perry	2.98
4	Bert Blyleven	2.99
5	Rudy May	3.20
6	Steve Busby	3.23
7	Mickey Lolich	3.26
8	Ed Figueroa	3.29
9	Catfish Hunter	3.30
10	Vida Blue	3.33

National League

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

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Pete Rose	112
2	Dave Cash	111
3	Davey Lopes	108
4	Joe Morgan	107
5	Derrel Thomas	99
6	Ken Griffey	95
7	Cesar Cedeno	93
7	Mike Schmidt	93
7	Rusty Staub	93
10	Al Oliver	90

HitsH

1	Dave Cash	213
2	Steve Garvey	210
2	Pete Rose	210
4	Ted Simmons	193
5	Felix Millan	191
6	Jose Cardenal	182
6	Bill Madlock	182
6	Willie Montanez	182
9	Greg Luzinski	179
10	Larry Bowa	178

Doubles2B

1	Pete Rose	47
2	Dave Cash	40
3	Johnny Bench	39
3	Al Oliver	39
5	Steve Garvey	38
6	Felix Millan	37
7	Johnny Grubb	36
8	Greg Luzinski	35
8	Dave Parker	35
10	Willie Montanez	34
10	Mike Schmidt	34

Triples3B

1	Ralph Garr	11
2	Greg Gross	10
2	Von Joshua	10
2	Don Kessinger	10
2	Dave Parker	10
6	Larry Bowa	9
6	Ken Griffey	9
6	Bake McBride	9
6	Roger Metzger	9
6	Derrel Thomas	9

Home RunsHR

1	Mike Schmidt	38
2	Dave Kingman	36
3	Greg Luzinski	34
4	Johnny Bench	28
5	Ron Cey	25
5	Dave Parker	25
7	George Foster	23
7	Willie McCovey	23
9	Darrell Evans	22
9	Willie Stargell	22

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Greg Luzinski	120
2	Johnny Bench	110
3	Tony Perez	109
4	Rusty Staub	105
5	Ron Cey	101
5	Willie Montanez	101
5	Dave Parker	101
8	Ted Simmons	100
9	Steve Garvey	95
9	Mike Schmidt	95

WalksBB

1	Joe Morgan	132
2	Jim Wynn	110
3	Darrell Evans	105
4	Mike Schmidt	101
5	Davey Lopes	91
5	Bobby Murcer	91
7	Greg Luzinski	89
7	Pete Rose	89
9	Andre Thornton	88
10	Rick Monday	83

Stolen BasesSB

1	Davey Lopes	77
2	Joe Morgan	67
3	Lou Brock	56
4	Cesar Cedeno	50
5	Jose Cardenal	34
6	Dave Concepcion	33
6	Pepe Mangual	33
8	Wilbur Howard	32
9	Mike Schmidt	29
10	Derrel Thomas	28

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Joe Morgan	11.2
2	Mike Schmidt	7.8
3	Ted Simmons	7.1
4	Johnny Bench	6.2
5	Darrell Evans	6.1
6	Dave Parker	5.5
7	Pete Rose	5.5
8	Ron Cey	5.3
9	Manny Sanguillen	5.1
10	Cesar Cedeno	4.9

Batting Averagemin 499 PA

1	Bill Madlock	.354
2	Ted Simmons	.332
3	Manny Sanguillen	.328
4	Joe Morgan	.327
5	Bob Watson	.324
6	Steve Garvey	.319
7	Von Joshua	.318
8	Jose Cardenal	.317
8	Pete Rose	.317
10	Lou Brock	.309

On-Base Percentagemin 499 PA

1	Joe Morgan	.466
2	Pete Rose	.406
3	Jim Wynn	.403
4	Bill Madlock	.402
5	Jose Cardenal	.397
6	Bobby Murcer	.396
6	Ted Simmons	.396
8	Greg Luzinski	.394
9	Ken Griffey	.391
9	Manny Sanguillen	.391

Slugging Percentagemin 499 PA

1	Dave Parker	.541
2	Greg Luzinski	.540
3	Mike Schmidt	.523
4	Johnny Bench	.519
5	George Foster	.518
6	Willie Stargell	.516
7	Joe Morgan	.508
8	Bob Watson	.495
9	Dave Kingman	.494
10	Ted Simmons	.491

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 499 PA

1	Joe Morgan	.974
2	Greg Luzinski	.934
3	Dave Parker	.898
4	Willie Stargell	.891
5	Mike Schmidt	.890
6	Ted Simmons	.887
7	Bill Madlock	.881
8	Johnny Bench	.878
9	George Foster	.875
10	Reggie Smith	.870
10	Bob Watson	.870

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Tom Seaver	22
2	Randy Jones	20
3	Andy Messersmith	19
4	Burt Hooton	18
4	Jerry Reuss	18
6	Carl Morton	17
7	Jon Matlack	16
7	Don Sutton	16
9	Jack Billingham	15
9	Ray Burris	15
9	Steve Carlton	15
9	Bob Forsch	15
9	Don Gullett	15
9	Lynn McGlothen	15
9	John Montefusco	15
9	Dale Murray	15
9	Phil Niekro	15
9	Gary Nolan	15
9	Doug Rau	15

SavesSV

1	Rawly Eastwick	22
1	Al Hrabosky	22
3	Dave Giusti	17
4	Darold Knowles	15
4	Will McEnaney	15
6	Gene Garber	14
6	Tug McGraw	14
8	Bob Apodaca	13
8	Mike Marshall	13
10	Tom House	11
10	Randy Moffitt	11

StrikeoutsSO

1	Tom Seaver	243
2	John Montefusco	215
3	Andy Messersmith	213
4	Steve Carlton	192
5	J. R. Richard	176
6	Don Sutton	175
7	Jerry Koosman	173
8	Bill Bonham	165
9	Rick Reuschel	155
10	Jon Matlack	154

Innings PitchedIP

1	Andy Messersmith	321.7
2	Randy Jones	285.0
3	Tom Seaver	280.3
4	Carl Morton	277.7
5	Phil Niekro	275.7
6	Doug Rau	257.7
7	Steve Carlton	255.3
8	Don Sutton	254.3
9	Steve Rogers	251.7
10	Ron Reed	250.3

Complete GamesCG

1	Andy Messersmith	19
2	Randy Jones	18
3	Jerry Reuss	15
3	Tom Seaver	15
5	Steve Carlton	14
5	Larry Dierker	14
7	Phil Niekro	13
8	Jim Barr	12
8	Burt Hooton	12
8	Steve Rogers	12

ShutoutsSHO

1	Andy Messersmith	7
2	Randy Jones	6
2	Jerry Reuss	6
4	Tom Seaver	5
5	Bob Forsch	4
5	Burt Hooton	4
5	Jerry Koosman	4
5	John Montefusco	4
5	Don Sutton	4
10	Steve Carlton	3
10	Woodie Fryman	3
10	Don Gullett	3
10	Jon Matlack	3
10	Steve Rogers	3

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Tom Seaver	7.2
2	Ron Reed	6.6
3	John Montefusco	5.9
4	Andy Messersmith	5.2
5	Don Sutton	5.0
6	Jon Matlack	4.4
7	Ed Halicki	4.3
8	Doug Rau	4.3
9	Randy Jones	4.3
10	Jerry Reuss	4.3

Earned Run Averagemin 161 IP

1	Randy Jones	2.24
2	Andy Messersmith	2.29
3	Tom Seaver	2.38
4	Jerry Reuss	2.54
5	Bob Forsch	2.86
6	Don Sutton	2.87
7	John Montefusco	2.88
8	Jim Rooker	2.98
9	Jim Barr	3.06
10	Burt Hooton	3.07

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 161 IP

1	Don Sutton	1.04
2	Randy Jones	1.05
3	Andy Messersmith	1.06
4	Tom Seaver	1.09
5	Gary Nolan	1.10
6	Burt Hooton	1.10
7	Doug Rau	1.12
8	Larry Christenson	1.13
9	John Montefusco	1.22
10	Bob Forsch	1.23

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 161 IP

1	Tom Seaver	2.35
2	Ron Reed	2.42
3	John Montefusco	2.57
4	Don Sutton	2.85
5	Jon Matlack	2.87
6	Jerry Reuss	3.02
7	Doug Rau	3.07
8	Andy Messersmith	3.09
9	Burt Hooton	3.15
10	Rick Reuschel	3.15

How this page is built

The qualifying line for 1975 is 499 plate appearances and 161 innings pitched. It comes from the length of the schedule — 161 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. 1975 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 1975 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.