On the final day of the season, after bunting for a single in his first at bat in the first inning, Reyes asked his manager to remove him from the game, ending his season with a .337 batting average, two points ahead of Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers in the race for the NL batting title. Braun went 0–4 later in the day to finish at .332. Reyes became the first Met in franchise history to win an NL batting title. Reyes's decision came on the 70th anniversary of Ted Williams' refusal to sit out a doubleheader on the last day of the 1941 season, putting his .400 batting average at risk but ultimately hitting 6-for-8 and raising his average from .39955 to .406. Reyes played in 126 games in 2011, the fewest games played by a batting champion since Manny Ramirez's 120 games played in 2002. He became a free agent at the end of the season.