Sosa wins first homer title

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sammy Sosa won his first home run title despite finishing with his lowest total since 1997.

Sosa hit 50 home runs to lead the major leagues, and Anaheim's Troy Glaus won the American League title with 47 -- 18 more than he hit last year, his first full season in the major leagues.

Sosa's total was the fewest in a full season for a major league-leader since 1993, when Juan Gonzalez and Barry Bonds hit 46 apiece.

Boston's Pedro Martinez won his second AL ERA title and third overall. His 1.74 ERA was the lowest in the AL since Luis Tiant's 1.60 for Cleveland in 1968 and it was less than half of New York's Roger Clemens, who was second at 3.70.

Boston's Nomar Garciaparra hit .372 and became the first repeat AL batting champion since Wade Boggs won four straight with the Red Sox from 1985-88.

The NL batting title remained with Colorado. Todd Helton, whose average was at .400 as late as Aug. 21, finished at .372 and followed consecutive batting titles by teammate Larry Walker.

Helton had the highest average in the majors, .372414 to .372401 for Garciaparra, and finished with a major league-leading 147 RBIs and 42 homers -- missing the Triple Crown by eight home runs. His 59 doubles were the most in the majors since Joe Medwick had 64 in 1936.

Seattle's Edgar Martinez won his first RBI title, leading the American League with 145.

Cristian Guzman had 20 triples for Minnesota, the highest total in the AL since Willie Wilson had 21 in 1985.

Houston's Jeff Bagwell scored 152 runs going into his final game Sunday night, the highest total in the majors since Lou Gehrig had 167 in 1936 and the most in the NL since Chuck Klein had 152 in 1932.

Anaheim's Darin Erstad led the AL with 240 hits, the most in the AL since Wade Boggs had 240 in 1985.

Arizona's Randy Johnson led the majors in strikeouts for the seventh time, fanning 347. He struck out 10 or more 23 times for the second straight season, matching the record Nolan Ryan set with the California Angels in 1973.

Martinez struck out 284, leading the AL for the second straight year.

Atlanta's Tom Glavine went 21-9 and led the major leagues in wins, while Toronto's David Wells (20-8), St. Louis' Darryl Kile (20-9) and Oakland's Tim Hudson (20-6) also reached the mark.

With Johnson giving up eight earned runs Sunday, Kevin Brown of the Los Angeles Dodgers won his second NL ERA title at 2.58.

Florida's Antonio Alfonseca led the major leagues with 44 saves, while Boston's Derek Lowe and Detroit's Todd Jones shared the AL title with 40 each.

Houston's Jose Lima gave up 48 homers, breaking the previous NL record set by of 46 set by Robin Roberts in 1956, and two short of the major league record set by Bert Blyleven in 1986.

Luis Castillo of the Marlins led the NL in steals with 62, ending the three-year reign of Tony Womack. Johnny Damon of Kansas City led the AL with 46.