Triple Crown Baseball: MLB’s Best

The Triple Crown Baseball Blog is dedicated to celebrating the best players in Major League Baseball We’ll highlight the athletes who are currently leading the league in batting average home runs and RBIs – the Triple Crown stats of baseball.

What is the Triple Crown in baseball?

The Triple Crown in baseball is when a batter leads the league in three specific offensive categories in the same season. Those categories are home runs runs batted in, and batting average It is considered one of the most difficult achievements in all of sports. In order for a player to even be in contention for the Triple Crown he must be one of the best hitters in the league.

A history of the Triple Crown

In baseball, the Triple Crown is accomplished when a hitter leads his league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. Those categories are batting average home runs and runs batted in (RBI). While it is one of the most difficult feats to achieve in American professional sports it has been accomplished 17 times in Major League Baseball (MLB) history. The most recent being Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers in 2012.

The Triple Crown was first accomplished by Nap Lajoie of the Cleveland Naps (now known as the Indians) in 1901. It would be another 34 years before another player, Roger Hornsby of the St. Louis Cardinals would duplicate the feat. Since Hornsby’s accomplishment in 1925, only 15 other players have hit for the Triple Crown all but two of them (Hornsby and Lou Gehrig) did so between 1967 and 2009. The winner of the Triple Crown is automatically awarded a prestigious batting title; Rogers Hornsby (.424 average in 1922), Ted Williams (.406 average in 1941), Mickey Mantle (.353 average in 1956), Frank Robinson (.316 average in 1966), Carl Yastrzemski (.326 average in 1967), George Brett (.390 average 1980), and Miguel Cabrera are also members of baseball’s 3,000 hit club.

The most hallowed record in baseball is Babe Ruth’s 60 home run season which he accomplished twice; firstly as a member of the New York Yankees in 1927 and again as part of the Boston Braves (now Atlanta Braves) organization 1933. Major League Baseball actually saw three different players eclipse that total before Ruth did it himself; those players were Roger Maris (61 Home Runs with the Yankees 1961), Mark McGwire (70 home runs with St. Louis Cardinals 1998) Sammy Sosa (66 home runs with Chicago Cubs 1998).

Barry Bonds holds both the single-season home run record (73 homers with San Francisco Giants 2001) and career home run record (762 homers over 22 seasons); however, his accomplishments are shrouded by accusations or using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career.

The last player to hit for baseball’s Triple Crown was Miguel Cabrera who did so as a member of Detroit Tigers 2012; leading his league a .330 batting average 44 home runs 139 RBIs.

How rare is the Triple Crown?

In baseball, the Triple Crown is the feat of leading a league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. The term “Triple Crown” generally refers to the batting achievement of leading a league in batting average home runs and runs batted in (RBI) over the course of a season. The term “Pitching Triple Crown” refers to the pitching achievement of leading a league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average (ERA).

It is rare for a player to lead a league outright in all three categories, but it has happened several times. Since 1900, only 16 batters have won baseball’s Triple Crown: Ty Cobb did it twice (1909 and 1911), Rogers Hornsby did it thrice (1920-1922), Lou Gehrig did it twice (1934 and 1936), Joe Medwick once (1937), Ted Williams thrice (1941, 1947, and 1948), Mickey Mantle once (1956), Frank Robinson once (1966), Carl Yastrzemski once (1967), George Brett once (1980), Miguel Cabrera twice (2012 and 2013).

Even with such illustrious company, some might argue that leading the league in batting average home runs and RBI is not as hard as it seems. After all, isn’t someone bound to get lucky and have a great year at the plate? Well, let’s take a closer look at how difficult it really is to pull off this amazing feat.

Who are the most recent Triple Crown winners?

In baseball, a Triple Crown occurs when a single player leads their league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. The categories vary depending on which league the player is in, but they typically include batting average home runs and runs batted in (RBI) for hitters, and wins, strikeouts, and earned run average (ERA) for pitchers.

Since 1900, there have been just 17 Triple Crown winners in major league baseball (MLB). The most recent Triple Crown winners are Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers (2012; .330 batting average 44 home runs 139 RBI), Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers (2011; 21 wins, 248 strikeouts, 2.28 ERA), and Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers (2011; 24 wins, 250 strikeouts, 2.40 ERA).

How do Triple Crown winners fare in the playoffs?

Since baseball expanded its playoffs in 1995, three players have won the Triple Crown: batting leaders who also led their league in home runs and runs batted in. But none of them led their teams to the World Series championship.

Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers became baseball’s first Triple Crown winner since 1967, when he led the American League in Batting Average home runs and RBIs. The last National League player to win the Triple Crown was San Francisco’s Joe Medwick, in 1937.

Cabrera’s .330 batting average was 10 points higher than Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels who finished second. Cabrera had 44 home runs four more than Texas’ Josh Hamilton And his 139 RBIs were nine more than Hamilton.

Montreal’s Vladimir Guerrero was the last player to win a Triple Crown before Cabrera. He did it in 2004, when he hit .337 with 40 homers and 111 RBIs for the Angels. Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski was the 1967 AL winner with a .326 average, 44 homers and 121 RBIs for the Red Sox

Triple Crown winners have been rare because batting average Home Runs and RBIs tend to be spread around among many players. In addition, some of baseball’s greatest sluggers played in an era when pitchers dominated and it was difficult to hit for both power and average.

What about Triple Crown losers in the playoffs?

As the baseball season winds down, fans and pundits alike begin to speculate about which players might win the Triple Crown. But what about those who come close but don’t quite make it? What happens to them when the postseason rolls around?

There have been a number of Triple Crown near-misses in recent years most notably Miguel Cabrera in 2012 and Mike Trout in 2013. Both of those Players had excellent seasons, but fell just short of winning the batting title. And while they both made the playoffs with their respective teams, they were not able to lead their teams to victory.

So what does history tell us about the chances of a Triple Crown loser making it all the way to the World Series? Are they doomed to fail? Or do they have a chance to redeem themselves?

Unfortunately for Triple Crown losers, the playoffs are not kind to them. In fact, out of the 21 players who have finished in the top three in all three Triple Crown categories (batting average home runs and RBIs), only four have gone on to win a World Series title. And none of them did it with the team that they re Playing for when they won the Triple Crown.

The most recent example of this is Alex Rodriguez who won the Triple Crown with the Seattle Mariners in 1996 but was unable to lead them to a World Series title. He was traded to the New York Yankees prior to the following season and went on to win two World Series titles with his new team.

So while it is possible for a Triple Crown loser to go on and find success elsewhere, it is certainly not a guarantee. For every Alex Rodriguez there are many more who are never able to recapture that same level of success.

How has the Triple Crown changed over time?

The Triple Crown is awarded to a batter who leads the league in three specific statistical categories: Batting average home runs and RBIs. While the feat has been accomplished many times in Major League Baseball history, it has become increasingly difficult to achieve. In the modern Era of Baseball hitters are specialized and there is more of an emphasis on on-base percentage and Slugging percentage than ever before. as a result, the Triple Crown has become much rarer. Here is a look at how the Triple Crown has changed over time.

What would a player need to do to win the Triple Crown today?

In order to win the Triple Crown today, a player would need to have the highest batting average home run total, and runs batted in (RBI) totals in their respective league.

While it is possible for a player to achieve this feat in either the American League (AL) or National League (NL), it is more likely to occur in the AL given the designated hitter rule This rule allows for an extra offensive player to be used in the lineup, which typically results in more runs being scored. As a result, AL players have won the Triple Crown 16 times since 1901, compared to just 6 times in the NL.

The most recent Triple Crown winner was Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers who accomplished the feat in 2012. In order to win, Cabrera finished the season with a batting average of .330, 44 home runs and 139 RBIs.

What are the odds of a player winning the Triple Crown?

The Triple Crown is awarded to a batting champion in Major League Baseball (MLB) who, in a given season, finishes first in home runs second in runs batted in (RBI), and third in batting average The term “Triple Crown” generally refers to the batting achievement. A pitching Triple Crown exists as well, which consists of leading the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average (ERA).

Can anyone win the Triple Crown?

The Triple Crown is baseball’s toughest statistical achievement, respected and revered throughout the game’s history. Only 22 players have led their league in batting average home runs and RBIs in the same season. Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers was the most recent player to accomplish the feat, winning the Triple Crown in 2012. The last player before Cabrera to win the Triple Crown was Boston Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski, who did it in 1967.

With such a rare and difficult statistical achievement, one might think that winning the Triple Crown would be an automatic ticket to the Hall of Fame However, that is not necessarily the case. Of the 22 players who have won the Triple Crown, only 10 are currently in the Hall of Fame The other 12 players either have not been elected yet or are not yet eligible for election (players must be retired for five years before they can be elected to the Hall of Fame).

So why is it so difficult for Triple Crown winners to get into the Hall of Fame? There are a few reasons. First of all, leading your league in three statistical categories is extremely difficult to do. Just because a player has done it once does not mean that he will be able to do it again (or even come close). Secondly, many of the Triple Crown winners have not had long or particularly successful careers. Some players win the Triple Crown early in their careers and then fizzle out quickly afterwards; others have good careers but never come close to duplicating their Triple Crown-winning seasons.

Lastly, baseball has changed a lot over time, and different eras place different levels of importance on various statistics. For example, OPS (on-base plus slugging) is now considered by many to be a better measure of a hitter’s overall ability than batting average or home runs alone; unfortunately for Triple Crown winners of years past, OPS was not invented until 1984 (after Yastrzemski’s 1967 season). This means that many modern-day baseball fans and analysts may not give as much weight to a player’s batting average or home run total if his OPS is comparatively low.

Despite these difficulties, there have been several recent Triple Crown winners who seem like surefire candidates for Cooperstown when they become eligible: Ichiro Suzuki (2004), Albert Pujols (2009), and Joe Mauer (2009). Time will tell if they will ultimately join the ranks of baseball’s greatest hitters or if they will become just another footnote in history.