By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – The Cardinals finished their 2003 season Sunday with a 9-5 win in Arizona. Even though the game meant nothing as far as post-season is concerned (the Cards are not headed to postseason), outfielder Albert Pujols was in the running for the best batting average in the National League.
He won the batting title by two-ten-thousandths of a point.
Pujols finished the season with a batting average of .35871. Todd Helton, of the Colorado Rockies hit .35849 to make the margin the smallest in National League history.
Pujols is the first Cardinal to win the batting crown since Willie McGee in 1990.
Helton's team was playing San Diego and he could have taken the batting crown with a hit in his final trip to the plate, but the Padres walked him intentionally. The Padres' staff later apologized and said they hadn't realized how important the at-bat was in the batting race.