
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, October 2, 1995                   TAG: 9510020137
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                 LENGTH: Medium

FEW CAN FOLLOW THESE LEADERS

Tony Gwynn won his sixth National League batting title, and Greg Maddux became the first pitcher to lead the NL in earned run average for three consecutive years since Sandy Koufax as the major-league regular season ended Sunday.

Randy Johnson of Seattle won his fourth consecutive American League strikeout title, becoming the first player to lead the league four times in succession since Nolan Ryan from 1976-79. Johnson had 282 going into today's playoff game against California at the Kingdome.

Gwynn finished at .368 for the San Diego Padres to win the NL batting title for the second consecutive year. He became the first NL player to hit .350 or better in three consecutive seasons since Joe Medwick from 1935-37 and needs two batting crowns to tie Honus Wagner's NL record of eight. With one more, Gwynn would tie Rogers Hornsby and Stan Musial with seven.

Edgar Martinez of Seattle, hitting .354, is assured the AL batting title going into today's playoff game against the Angels. He also won the batting title in 1992.

Maddux, with an ERA of 1.63, became the first major-leaguer since Walter Johnson in 1918-19 to have an ERA under 1.80 in consecutive seasons. The Atlanta Braves right-hander, a heavy favorite to win his fourth consecutive Cy Young Award, had a 1.56 ERA in the strike-shortened 1994 season. Koufax won ERA titles from 1962-66.

Maddux, who tied for the NL lead in victories in 1994, led by himself this season with 19. Mike Mussina of Baltimore also had 19 victories and led the AL.

Johnson led the AL with a 2.54 ERA going into today's playoff game, which counts in the regular-season statistics.

Albert Belle of Cleveland won his first AL home run title, becoming the first player with 50 or more since Detroit's Cecil Fielder hit 51 in 1990. The strike cut this season to 144 games, and Belle's 50 projects to 56 for a full 162-game schedule.

Dante Bichette of Colorado also won his first home run crown, hitting a NL-leading 40. He also led the majors with 128 RBI.

Belle and Boston's Mo Vaughn tied for the league's RBI lead with 126, while Bichette led the NL with 127.

Belle led the AL in slugging percentage (.690) and total bases (377). He had 103 extra-base hits, tied for fourth all-time and the most since Musial had 103 in 1948. It was the most in the AL since Lou Gehrig had 117 for the 1927 New York Yankees. Belle and Martinez shared the doubles lead with 52.

Jay Buhner of Seattle had 121 RBI and 122 hits, giving him the best RBI-to-hits ratio in baseball history. His .9918 beats the previous best of .9592 by Jim Gentile in 1961.

Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Hideo Nomo led the NL in strikeouts with 225.

Quilvio Veras of Florida led the NL in steals with 56, and Kenny Lofton of Cleveland had 54 and led the AL for the fourth consecutive season.

Randy Myers of the Chicago Cubs led the NL with 38 saves, and Jose Mesa of Cleveland led the AL with 46.

Keywords:
BASEBALL

by CNB