Stairs-Stepping

Matt Stairs is in position to become the first Oakland player to win a batting title. The last batting champion for each team (excluding Arizona and Tampa Bay):

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Angels: Alex Johnson (1970) .329

Baltimore: Frank Robinson (1966) .316

Boston: Wade Boggs (1988) .366

Chicago: Frank Thomas (1997) .347

Cleveland: Bobby Avila (1954) .341

Detroit: Norm Cash (1961) .361

Kansas City: Willie Wilson (1982) .332

Minnesota: Kirby Puckett (1989) .339

New York: Paul O’Neill (1994) .359

Seattle: Alex Rodriguez (1996) .358

Texas: Julio Franco (1991) .341

Toronto: John Olerud (1993) .363

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NATIONAL LEAGUE

Dodgers: Tommy Davis (1963) .326

Atlanta: Terry Pendleton (1991) .319

Chicago: Bill Buckner (1980) .324

Cincinnati: Pete Rose (1973) .338

Colorado: Andres Galarraga (1993) .370

Florida: None

Houston: None

Milwaukee: None

Montreal: Tim Raines (1986) .334

New York: None

Philadelphia: Richie Ashburn (1958) .350

Pittsburgh: Bill Madlock (1983) .323

St. Louis: Willie McGee (1990) .335

San Diego: Tony Gwynn (1997) .372

San Francisco: None