How Many Triple Crown Winners has Baseball Had?

How many Triple Crown winners has baseball had? The answer may surprise you.

Introduction

In baseball, a player earns the Triple Crown when he leads the league in three specific statistical categories for batters in the same season. Those categories are home runs, runs batted in (RBI), and batting average. The term “Triple Crown” generally refers to the batting achievement. A pitcher who leads the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average (ERA) is said to have won the Triple Crown of Pitching.

In order for a player to win the Triple Crown, he must usually compile exceptional statistics in all three categories. For this reason, it is considered one of baseball’s rarest and most prestigious accomplishments. As of 2019, only 17 players have won a Triple Crown in either batting or pitching across Major League Baseball’s (MLB) history.

The Three Races that Make Up the Triple Crown

The Triple Crown of horse racing, won by just 13 horses in the 145 years it has been run, is one of the most difficult achievements in all of sports. But what exactly is the Triple Crown?

The Triple Crown is made up of three races: The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes, and The Belmont Stakes. These three races are run over a five week period in the spring, and are open to three-year-old thoroughbred horses.

To win the Triple Crown, a horse must first win all three of these races. The Kentucky Derby is run on the first Saturday in May, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The Preakness Stakes is run two weeks later on the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The Belmont Stakes is run three weeks after that on the first or second Saturday in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

No horse has won all three races since 1978, when Affirmed became the eleventh Triple Crown winner.secretariat

2.1 The Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a horse race that is held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles (2.0 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 128 pounds (58 kg); fillies 121 pounds (55 kg).

2.2 The Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is the second jewel of the Triple Crown and is held two weeks after the Kentucky Derby. It is a 1 3/16-mile race for three-year-old thoroughbreds held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The current purse for the Preakness Stakes is $1.5 million.

2.3 The Belmont Stakes

The Belmont Stakes is the last and most demanding leg of the Triple Crown. It is held five weeks after the Kentucky Derby at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1 1/2-mile test of both horse and jockey-triple crown winners all ran in the Belmont just three weeks after their Kentucky Derby victory. Although it has been called “The Run for The Carnations,” since 1930, the traditional belmont winner’s garland has been composed of 300 red, white and blue carnations.

A History of the Triple Crown

In baseball, the Triple Crown is awarded to a batter who leads the league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. The categories vary depending on the particular league, but typically include home runs, runs batted in, and batting average.

The first Triple Crown winner was Nap Lajoie of the Philadelphia Athletics, who did so in 1901. Lajoie led the American League in batting average (.426), home runs (14), and runs batted in (125).

Since 1901, there have been a total of 17 Major League Baseball Triple Crown winners. Of those, 14 have been in the American League and three have been in the National League. Seven of the winners have also been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Ty Cobb (1907), Rogers Hornsby (1922), Lou Gehrig (1934), Jimmie Foxx (1933), Mickey Mantle (1956), Frank Robinson (1966), and Miguel Cabrera (2012).

Cabrera is also notable for being the first player in over 45 years to win the Triple Crown, with his 2012 batting statistics of .330 batting average, 44 home runs, and 139 RBIs. The last player before Cabrera to achieve this feat was Yaz Yaztremski of the Boston Red Sox in 1967.

3.1 The First Winner of the Triple Crown

The first player to win baseball’s Triple Crown was Yan Gomes of the Cleveland Indians, who did it in 2013. He batted .294 with 27 home runs and 86 RBIs.

3.2 The Triple Crown Winners of the 19th Century

The first player to accomplish the feat of leading his league in batting average, home runs, and RBIs was Tip O’Neill, who did so for the St. Louis Browns of the American Association in 1887. Harry Stovey became the first player in the National League to lead his league in all three Triple Crown categories when he did so for the Worcester Ruby Legs in 1883.

The first major league Triple Crown winner was Roger Connor of the National League’s New York Giants, who batted .371 with 21 home runs and 131 RBIs in 1878. The most recent Triple Crown winner in Major League Baseball was Miguel Cabrera of the American League’s Detroit Tigers, who batting . tutorial_pdf944 with 44 home runs and 139 RBIs during the 2012 MLB season. Cabrera’s classmate in this rare group is Frank Robinson, who accomplished the feat while playing for both the Cincinnati Reds (1961) and Baltimore Orioles (1966). Stan Musial (1948) and Cecil Travis (1941) are tied for second place all-time among Major Leaguers with three apiece.

3.3 The Triple Crown Winners of the 20th Century

During the 20th century Major League Baseball saw only three Triple Crown winners. But what exactly is the Triple Crown? In simple terms, it’s when a hitter leads his league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in during the same season. It’s a rare feat, made even more so by the fact that it hasn’t been accomplished in over four decades. Let’s take a look at the three men who did it during baseball’s modern era.

The first Triple Crown winner of the 20th century was Boston Red Sox outfielder Harry Hooper, who accomplished the feat in 1910. That year he hit .302 with 10 home runs and 103 RBI to help lead the Sox to a World Series title. Hooper would go on to play 19 seasons in the majors, compiling a career batting average of .274 with 82 homers and 1,166 RBI. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

The second man to win baseball’s Triple Crown was New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, who did it in 1934. That season Gehrig hit an astounding .363 with 49 homers and 165 RBI. He also led the league in slugging percentage (.706), total bases ( 347), and OPS (1.084). Gehrig’s .706 slugging percentage is still the 14th highest single-season mark in MLB history. The Yankees went on to win the World Series that year, giving Gehrig two championships in his first two Triple Crown seasons. He would go on to win two more World Series titles before his untimely death in 1941.

The most recent Triple Crown winner is Detroit Tigers outfielder Miggy Cabrera, who accomplished the feat in 2012. Cabrera hit .328 with 44 homers and 139 RBI to help lead the Tigers to an AL Central division title. He also led the league in OPS (.999) and total bases (341). Cabrera became just the 16th player in MLB history to win a batting title, home run crown, and RBI title in the same season. He is also just one of four players (along with Frank Robinson, Hank Aaron, and Fred Lynn) to ever win MVP honors in a Triple Crown season

Conclusion

In baseball, a Triple Crown occurs when a single player leads the league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. These categories are typically batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI), although sometimes other categories such as stolen bases or on-base percentage are substituted for batting average.

To date, there have been just 13 individual Triple Crown winners in the history of Major League Baseball. The most recent was Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, who accomplished the feat in 2012. Prior to Cabrera, the last player to achieve a Triple Crown was Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

In order to qualify for the batting title (and, as a result, the Triple Crown), a hitter must have at least 3.1 Plate Appearances per team game played ( PA/G). This is typically 502 PAs over the course of a 162-game season, but can be fewer if a player is injured or was not with his team for an extended period of time during the season.