BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Brett Wins Third AL Batting Title; McGee Takes NL Crown in Absentia

George Brett won his third American League batting championship and Willie McGee claimed his second National League title Wednesday as major league teams completed the regular season.

Brett, who has played his entire career with the Kansas City Royals, was inserted as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning in the Royals’ 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland and hit a sacrifice fly. He singled in his final at-bat of the season in the seventh to finish at .329, beating Oakland’s Rickey Henderson, who finished at .325.

McGee, who did not play in the A’s 11-6 loss to the Angels, has been absent from the National League race since he was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Athletics on Aug. 29. However, he made enough plate appearances to qualify for the crown and his .335 average was too much to overcome for Lenny Dykstra of the Philadelphia Phillies, Dave Magadan of the New York Mets and Eddie Murray of the Dodgers.

Brett was struggling to hit .250 at the All-Star break, but he batted nearly .400 for much of the second half of the season to become the first player to win a batting title in each of three decades.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would win a batting title (this season),” said Brett, who also won batting titles in 1976 at .333 and in 1980 at .390. “I had so much doubt in myself early on in the season. I really doubted my ability.”

Brett, 37, became the third-oldest player to win a batting championship. Ted Williams was 40 when he won the title in 1958 and Honus Wagner was 37 in 1911.

McGee, who also won the title in 1985, trailed Dykstra at the time of his trade to Oakland. But Dykstra slumped the last month of the season, leaving the title to McGee.

New York 6, Pittsburgh 3--Frank Viola worked seven innings for the victory at Pittsburgh to become the 18th pitcher in history to win 20 games in each major league.

Viola (20-12) was 24-7 with the Minnesota Twins in 1988 and won the American League Cy Young Award.

Pirate left fielder Barry Bonds finished with a .301 average. He is the first major league player to hit at least .300, score 100 runs, drive in 100, hit 30 home runs and steal 50 bases.

San Francisco 6, Atlanta 3--Matt Williams did not drive in a run at San Francisco, but he still became the third Giant in as many seasons to win the National League runs batted in title.

Williams had 122 RBIs to finish ahead of Pittsburgh’s Bobby Bonilla, who had 120. He follows the Giants’ Kevin Mitchell (125 in 1989) and Will Clark (109 in 1988) as NL RBI leader.

Montreal 9, St. Louis 2--The Expos scored seven runs in the seventh inning at Montreal, ending a miserable season for the Cardinals, who finished last for the first time since 1918.

Houston 3, Cincinnati 2--Ken Caminiti tripled home the winning run in the ninth inning at Cincinnati to give the Reds a losing second-half record.

The NL West champions were 91-71 overall, but 41-42 since the All-Star break.

Chicago 4, Philadelphia 3--Greg Maddux won his 15th game as the Cubs tied the Phillies for fourth place in the NL East with the victory at Philadelphia.

Both teams finished with 77-85 records.

Minnesota 7, Seattle 4--The Mariners’ loss at Minneapolis prevented them from tying a club-record for victories in a season.

The Mariners finished 77-85.

Milwaukee 6, Texas 3--The Brewers rallied for three runs in the seventh at Milwaukee, giving Teddy Higuera (11-10) his sixth winning season.