Johnson hit the ground running in California, leading the league with a .366 batting average through May. He cooled off as the 1970 season progressed, but still went into the All-star break at .328 to earn selection to the A.L. squad. He remained in the batting title race throughout the season, and went into the final game of the season with batting average which was .002 behind Boston's Carl Yastrzemski. In the last game of the season against the White Sox, Johnson went two-for-three to win the A.L. batting title by 0.0004 over Yastrzemski. He was removed from the game after his third at-bat, to ensure the title.