List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders

The National League's first win champion was Albert Spalding, who led the senior circuit with 47 wins after leading the semi-professional National Association in each of its five seasons. Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young led the American League in wins in each of its first three years (1901–1903), amassing 33, 32, and 28 victories in those seasons for the Boston Americans. Warren Spahn leads all players with 8 win championships in his 21 seasons for the Boston and Milwaukee Braves. Six titles Three players have led their league in wins six times during their careers. Grover Cleveland Alexander led the National League in victories six times, with a single-season career-high 33 wins in 1916. In the American League, two pitchers have accomplished the same feat: Walter Johnson, whose 36 wins in 1913—his first season leading the league—were a single-season career high, and Bob Feller. Five and four titles In addition to his three American League wins, Young also led the National League twice (1892, 1895) to amass the third-highest total of win championships in major league history. Pitchers who have led their league four times include Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens, Christy Mathewson, Hal Newhouser, and Robin Roberts. Most wins in a Major League season Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn holds the single-season record for the most games won in a major league season; he notched 59 victories in 1884. There is a discrepancy in Radbourn's victory total in 1884. The classic MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia, as well as other sources, credit Radbourn with 60 wins (against 12 losses), while other sources place his win total as high as 62. He and John Clarkson (53 wins in 1885) are the only pitchers to exceed 50 wins in a single season in the current major leagues; Guy Hecker also accomplished the feat in the American Association. The highest total in the National League since 1901 is Mathewson's 37 victories in 1908. while his closest competitors (Charlie Buffinton and Tim Keefe) won 28 each. The American League title's largest margin of victory is 16 wins: Ed Walsh notched 40 wins in 1908, followed by Addie Joss and Ed Summers with 24 victories. The number of wins required to lead the league each season has gone down significantly over the last century. For example, from 1900 to 1920, the average number of wins for the AL league leader was 30.8, while from 2004 to 2024 (excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season), it was 19.8. Ties Ties for the win championship are common. The most recent tie in the American League was in 2012, when Jered Weaver and David Price tied for the lead with 20 wins each, and the most recent tie in the National League was in 2011, when Ian Kennedy and Clayton Kershaw tied with 21 wins each. The most pitchers to share the title in a single season is six, accomplished in 2006 when Aaron Harang, Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Brandon Webb, and Carlos Zambrano each won 16 games in the National League. In the American League, four pitchers shared the award in the strike-shortened 1981 season. ==Key==

in 1877, leading the National League in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average.|alt=A shoulders-up photograph of a dark-haired man with a thick mustache. He is wearing a dark suit with a dark-patterned tie. winner Brandon Webb led the National League with 22 wins in 2008.|alt=A man in a red baseball jersey and cap and gray baseball pants kneels on a dirt and grass field. He is holding a baseball bat flat in front of him in his hands with a ball approaching it. teammate Chris Carpenter (17 wins) were first and second in the 2009 win table, respectively.|alt=A man in a white baseball jersey, navy blue baseball cap with a red brim, and orange mirrored sunglasses stands with his arms crossed. ==American League==

in wins in 1907.|alt=A man with a lazy right eye is shown from the shoulders up. He is wearing a dark baseball cap on his head with a "C" on the front. His mouth is slightly open showing dirty teeth. , Walter Johnson was one of the five charter members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.|alt=A shoulders-up picture of a smiling man in a white baseball uniform. He is wearing a dark-colored baseball cap on his head with a white block "W" on the front. and 1997 & 1998 for the Blue Jays.|alt=A close-up view of a man on a pitcher's mound, wearing a Yankees uniform. He has a glove on his left hand, positioning to catch a mid-air baseball bare-handed with his right. in 2008 in addition to winning 22 games.|alt=A man in a gray baseball uniform and navy-blue cap follows through after throwing a baseball. He is standing with his right leg planted on a dirt mound within a grass field and his left leg raised in the air behind him. and innings pitched in 2009.|alt=A light-skinned man with a goatee and wearing a white baseball uniform looks over his left shoulder while holding his right hand inside his black baseball glove. ==Other major leagues==

led the Federal League with 29 wins in its inaugural season.|alt=A man in a baseball uniform follows through after throwing a baseball with his right hand. ==Negro Major Leagues==

Negro National League I Eastern Colored League American Negro League East–West League Negro Southern League Negro National League II Negro American League ==Footnotes==