If a statistic is bolded this means that the player led their league in that stat. If the statistic is italicized then they led the entire majors in the stat. For example, Francisco Lindor led the American League in Plate Appearances and At Bats in 2017 and so those stats are bolded. In 2018 Lindor led the AL in At Bats (bold) and both the AL and the majors as a whole in Plate Appearances and Runs (bold and italics).
Leading the majors without leading a league
It is possible for a player to lead the majors as a whole in a statistic without leading an individual league in that stat. For example, in 1997 Mark McGwire hit 34 home runs in the American League with the Oakland Athletics, and 24 in the National League with the St. Louis Cardinals. His combined 58 home runs led the entire majors, but he led neither the AL or NL individually: Ken Griffey Jr. was first in the AL with 56 HR (besting McGwire's 34) and Jeff Bagwell led the NL with 49 HR (against McGwire's 24 NL dingers).
In this instance the stat will be italicized without being bolded.
Related Articles
Box Score Tips and Tricks
There is more than meets the eye to box scores on Baseball Reference. Here is a walkthrough of some of the features available that you may not have known existed. We will use this August 16, 2024 game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis ...
Game Log Tips and Tricks
Player game logs for each season can be accessed via the Game Logs section of the toolbar on player pages, or by simply clicking the year in the "Season" column of tables on the site. For example, Bobby Witt Jr.'s 2025 batting game log can be found ...
Minor League and College Leaderboards
Minor league and college stat leaders The Register Batting Leaders and Register Pitching Leaders pages allow you to search for the top performers each season across the entire minor leagues as well as college baseball. Links to these leaders pages ...
Saves, Blown Saves and Holds
Saves, Blown, Saves and Holds for a Player Saves for a player can be found in the Standard Pitching table. Here is Kenley Jansen's page as an example: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/janseke01.shtml#all_players_standard_pitching Blown ...
Pitch Counts
Pitch Count Data Coverage Pitch Count data on the site is essentially complete back to 1998, and then mostly complete back to 1988. Prior to 1988 very little pitch count data exists. Full details on pitch count data coverage can be found on our Data ...