Minimum of 100 at bats .
The immortal Julio Franco hit .309 in 2004 for the Braves. He turned 46 years old that summer and had 361 at-bats.
Not sure if that’s the answer, but it’s hard to imagine that too many people beat that one.
Batting leaders by age.Only goes to age 43.
Age 40 Ty Cobb .357
Age 43 Cap Anson .335
Not exactly the answer to the OP, but we did just see one of the best seasons ever by a hitter 40 years old. David Ortiz, at 40, just led the majors in Slugging%, OPS, doubles, and extra base hits. Second in adjusted OPS+ (according to baseball reference) and fourth in offensive win% (whatever that is). Led the AL in RBIs, too, if you like stats that say more about your teammates that you.
Also not the answer to the OP, but I remember Paul Molitor’s being the first person (with an unremembered minimum # of at-bats) to become a lifetime .300 hitter only after turning thirty. Later, Barry Bonds would top this feat by reaching a lifetime .300 average only after turning forty. Unfortunately, he failed to retire in time to keep it over.
While Franco did not technically qualify for the batting title in 2004, c’mon, I think that wins.
Not to mention Stan Musial’s .330 at age 41, and Anson’s .388:eek: at age 42.
Baseball Reference has a query function that can tell you a whole lot of stuff like that. Getting the full results requires a paid subscription, but you can find out that only one person hit .300+ in 100+ AB at age* 44+. Presumably, that was Franco.
- More precisely, the age of the player on June 30 of that season. Franco was 45 on 2004-06-30.
Ted Williams led the American League with .328 in 1958, at the age of 40.