career batting avg leaders through 1897, minimum 5000 at-bats

Before 1898, Dan Brouthers had the best batting average with 5,000+ at-bats, with an average of .342.

	NAME	AVG	AB	G	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SO	SB	PA	TB	XBH	SH	OBP	SLG	OPS	WRC	WRAA	WOBA	WRC+	BRAA
1	Dan Brouthers D. Brouthers	.342	6,706	1,671	1,523	2,296	460	205	106	994	840	105	83	256	7,671	3,484	771	20	.424	.520	.943	1875	729.6	.436	155	656.7
2	Hugh Duffy H. Duffy	.336	5,335	1,270	1,270	1,794	260	94	89	1,008	520	24	147	493	5,938	2,509	443	59	.398	.470	.868	1247	333.1	.408	124	241.5
3	Sam Thompson S. Thompson	.332	5,904	1,388	1,244	1,959	338	157	125	1,287	446	63	95	230	6,426	2,986	620	13	.385	.506	.891	1397	410.2	.410	136	371.1
4	Cap Anson C. Anson	.331	9,104	2,277	1,722	3,012	529	124	97	1,306	953	32	146	247	10,123	4,080	750	34	.396	.448	.844	2154	654.1	.397	134	525.3
5	George Van Haltren G. Van Haltren	.321	5,292	1,296	1,143	1,699	176	126	63	756	591	27	218	427	5,939	2,316	365	29	.392	.438	.830	1168	254.5	.395	121	197.3
6	Roger Connor R. Connor	.316	7,797	1,998	1,620	2,467	441	233	138	1,071	1,002	39	151	244	8,847	3,788	812	9	.397	.486	.883	1952	630.3	.409	142	569.9
7	Mike Tiernan M. Tiernan	.315	5,363	1,340	1,209	1,687	238	149	101	797	695	34	196	407	6,109	2,526	488	17	.397	.471	.868	1275	335.5	.407	134	321
8	Jimmy Ryan J. Ryan	.312	5,739	1,406	1,230	1,791	317	120	93	797	599	57	193	343	6,428	2,627	530	33	.383	.458	.840	1288	303.9	.395	121	212.6
9	Jim O'Rourke J. O'Rourke	.310	7,431	1,773	1,445	2,303	414	132	50	656	481	36	85	191	7,948	3,131	596		.355	.421	.776	1510	356	.362	125	302.2
10	King Kelly K. Kelly	.308	5,894	1,455	1,357	1,813	359	102	69	550	549	12	77	368	6,455	2,583	530		.368	.438	.806	1302	371.1	.375	130	291.8
11	Ed McKean E. McKean	.306	6,013	1,437	1,098	1,840	242	154	55	990	560	38	123	309	6,651	2,555	451	40	.369	.425	.794	1219	193.7	.375	113	133.8
12	Deacon White D. White	.303	5,335	1,299	849	1,619	217	73	18	352	292	41		46	5,668	2,036	308		.344	.382	.726	1013	191.9	.339	118	147.2
13	Buck Ewing B. Ewing	.303	5,363	1,315	1,129	1,625	250	178	71	742	392	9	93	354	5,772	2,444	499	8	.351	.456	.807	1109	243.9	.372	122	194
14	George Gore G. Gore	.301	5,357	1,310	1,327	1,612	262	94	46	358	717	30	56	170	6,104	2,200	402		.386	.411	.797	1235	351	.377	131	282.3
15	Paul Hines P. Hines	.301	6,253	1,481	1,083	1,881	368	84	56	381	366	36	16	153	6,655	2,585	508		.343	.413	.756	1238	276.6	.350	125	248.6
16	Hardy Richardson H. Richardson	.299	5,642	1,331	1,120	1,688	303	126	70	542	377	10	55	205	6,029	2,453	499		.344	.435	.779	1144	269.1	.359	122	203.5
17	Tommy Tucker T. Tucker	.297	5,491	1,416	991	1,633	205	76	41	838	427	241	202	347	6,183	2,113	322	24	.374	.385	.758	1091	139.7	.368	109	80.4
18	Mike Griffin M. Griffin	.296	5,386	1,379	1,318	1,594	296	102	40	680	749	70	172	458	6,238	2,214	438	33	.389	.411	.800	1199	240.5	.384	122	227.9
19	Tommy McCarthy T. McCarthy	.292	5,120	1,273	1,066	1,493	191	53	44	732	536	50	104	468	5,739	1,922	288	33	.364	.375	.740	985	110.9	.358	104	42
20	Jack Glasscock J. Glasscock	.290	7,033	1,737	1,164	2,041	313	98	27	624	440	62	45	372	7,552	2,631	438	17	.337	.374	.712	1257	139.8	.336	109	101.7
21	Harry Stovey H. Stovey	.289	6,138	1,486	1,492	1,771	347	174	122	675	663	22	134	509	6,832	2,832	643		.361	.461	.822	1384	392.4	.380	132	326.1
22	Dummy Hoy D. Hoy	.283	5,091	1,290	1,048	1,441	173	79	25	530	768	97	124	488	6,026	1,847	277	70	.387	.363	.750	1060	141.1	.370	108	74
23	John Ward J. Ward	.275	7,656	1,827	1,410	2,107	231	96	26	589	421	17	40	540	8,114	2,608	353	20	.314	.341	.655	1182	-17.8	.311	96	-54.9
24	Billy Nash B. Nash	.275	5,784	1,530	1,063	1,591	265	86	60	970	792	34	204	265	6,646	2,208	411	29	.366	.382	.748	1162	144.1	.361	107	67.5
25	George Wood G. Wood	.273	5,371	1,280	965	1,467	228	132	68	436	418	32	77	113	5,821	2,163	428		.329	.403	.732	1011	165.9	.341	112	108.4