Yankees' DJ LeMahieu Becomes 1st Modern-Era Player to Win AL, NL Batting Titles

New York Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu made history Sunday. 

According to Mike Axisa of CBS Sports, LeMahieu clinched the American League batting title on the final day of the 2020 regular season. In doing so, he became the first player in the modern era of Major League Baseball to win the batting title in the American and National League.

He won the NL batting title in 2016 with the Colorado Rockies.

LeMahieu has been excellent for the Yankees the last two seasons.

He finished the 2019 campaign with a .327/.375/.518 slash line, 26 home runs and 102 RBI, carrying the offense for extended stretches while many of the marquee players were sidelined with injuries.

This year, he slashed .364/.421/.590 with 10 home runs and 27 RBI, helping the Bronx Bombers secure a playoff spot in another year plagued by injuries to many of the regulars such as Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

James Smyth of YES Network noted Pete Browning won the batting title in the American Association in 1882 and 1885 and the Player's League batting title in 1890 as the only other player to earn that designation in two leagues.

According to Axisa, Ed Delahanty won the NL batting title in 1899 and the AL's in 1902, although the former is disputed. That clears the way for LeMahieu as the only one to do so in the modern era.

LeMahieu beat out second-place finisher Tim Anderson of the Chicago White Sox this year, which is notable because he finished in second place behind Anderson last year.

In 2016, LeMahieu slashed .348/.416/.495 with 11 homers and 66 RBI as the batting champion for the Rockies, but the team missed the playoffs. New York qualified for the postseason and will look to parlay his batting title into a World Series crown.