Triple Crown

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[edit] Definition

One of the rarest seasons in all of sport is the Triple Crown year. A Batting Triple Crown is accomplished by leading, or tying for the league lead, in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI). A Pitching Triple Crown is accomplished by leading the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average all in the same season.

[edit] Batting Triple Crown

The Batting Triple Crown is considered so difficult to win because players rarely hit for a high average and hit the requisite home runs to lead the league in both. In fact, players rarely win the batting title and either the home run or RBI title.

Fourteen players have won the Triple Crown since in the history of the Major Leagues. Of those, Rogers Hornsby and Ted Williams each won it twice. Carl Yastrzemski last accomplished the feat in 1967 in the American League. Joe Medwick was the last National Leaguer to do it in 1937.

Heinie Zimmerman was once credited with winning 1912 National League Triple Crown with a line of .372-14-103. However, it was later found that the league's RBI totals were flawed and since he has been stripped of the title. Revised totals indicate that he finished that season with 99 RBI, 3 fewer than league-leader Honus Wagner and one behind Bill Sweeney.

The Triple Crown has been accomplished in Nippon Professional Baseball eleven times, most recently by Nobuhiko Matsunaka in 2004. Hiromitsu Ochiai won it three times in a five year span, and both Sadaharu Oh and Randy Bass each won it twice.

[edit] Batting Triple Crown Winners

[edit] Major League Baseball

League Season Player Team AVG HR RBI
1878 NL Paul Hines Grays 0.358 4 50
1887 AA Tip O'Neill Browns 0.435 14 123
1894 NL Hugh Duffy Beaneaters 0.438 18 145
1901 AL Nap Lajoie Athletics 0.426 14 125
1909 AL Ty Cobb Tigers 0.377 9 107
1922 NL Rogers Hornsby Cardinals 0.401 42 152
1925 NL Rogers Hornsby Cardinals 0.403 39 143
1933 NL Chuck Klein Phillies 0.368 28 120
1933 AL Jimmie Foxx Athletics 0.356 48 163
1934 AL Lou Gehrig Yankees 0.363 49 165
1937 NL Joe Medwick Cardinals 0.374 31 154
1942 AL Ted Williams Red Sox 0.356 36 137
1947 AL Ted Williams Red Sox 0.343 32 114
1956 AL Mickey Mantle Yankees 0.353 52 130
1966 AL Frank Robinson Orioles 0.316 49 122
1967 AL Carl Yastrzemski Red Sox 0.326 44 121

[edit] Nippon Professional Baseball

League Season Player Team AVG HR RBI
1938 Fall JPBL Haruyasu Nakajima Tokyo Giants 0.361 10 38
1965 PL Katsuya Nomura Nankai Hawks 0.320 42 110
1973 CL Sadaharu Oh Yomiuri Giants 0.355 51 114
1974 CL Sadaharu Oh Yomiuri Giants 0.332 49 107
1982 PL Hiromitsu Ochiai Lotte Orions 0.325 32 99
1984 PL Boomer Wells Hankyu Braves 0.355 37 130
1985 PL Hiromitsu Ochiai Lotte Orions 0.367 52 146
1985 CL Randy Bass Hanshin Tigers 0.350 54 134
1986 PL Hiromitsu Ochiai Lotte Orions 0.360 50 116
1986 CL Randy Bass Hanshin Tigers 0.389 47 109
2004 CL Nobuhiko Matsunaka Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 0.358 44 120


[edit] Korea Baseball Organization

! Season Player Team AVG HR RBI
1984 Man-soo Lee Samsung Lions 0.340 23 80
2006 Dae-ho Lee Lotte Giants 0.336 26 88

[edit] Serie A1

! Season Player Team AVG HR RBI
1962 Roberto Gandini Milano 0.375 12 40
1974 Giorgio Castelli Parma 0.515 26 78
1987 Roberto Bianchi Bologna 0.474 27 72
1991 Roberto Bianchi Milano 0.460 16 55

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[edit] Pitching Triple Crown Winners

The Pitching Triple Crown is more common than a hitter's Triple Crown having been accomplished in the Major Leagues 35 times versus 16 by batters. This is in part because there are fewer players in the running for each title every year.

The last pitching Triple Crown winner was Jake Peavy in the National League in 2007, Pedro Martínez in 1999 was the last American Leaguer do it. Grover Alexander accomplished the feat four times including three seasons (1915-1917) in-a-row. The only other pitcher besides Alexander, to win the award three times is Sandy Koufax.

In the NPB 16 pitchers have accomplished the feat with only Kazuhisa Inao achieving it twice.

[edit] Major League Baseball

League Season Player Team ERA Wins Strikeouts
1877 NL Tommy Bond Red Caps 2.11 40 170
1884 NL Old Hoss Radbourn Grays 1.38 59 441
1888 NL Tim Keefe Giants 1.74 35 335
1889 NL John Clarkson Beaneaters 2.73 49 284
1894 NL Amos Rusie Giants 2.78 36 195
1901 AL Cy Young Americans 1.62 33 158
1905 NL Christy Mathewson Giants 1.28 31 206
1905 AL Rube Waddell Athletics 1.48 27 287
1908 NL Christy Mathewson Giants 1.43 37 259
1913 AL Walter Johnson Senators 1.14 36 243
1915 NL Grover Alexander Phillies 1.22 31 241
1916 NL Grover Alexander Phillies 1.55 33 167
1917 NL Grover Alexander Phillies 1.83 30 200
1918 NL Hippo Vaughn Cubs 1.74 22 148
1918 AL Walter Johnson Senators 1.27 23 162
1920 NL Grover Alexander Cubs 1.91 27 173
1924 NL Dazzy Vance Robins 2.16 28 262
1924 AL Walter Johnson Senators 2.72 23 158
1930 AL Lefty Grove Athletics 2.54 28 209
1931 AL Lefty Grove Athletics 2.06 31 175
1934 AL Lefty Gomez Yankees 2.33 26 158
1937 AL Lefty Gomez Yankees 2.33 21 194
1939 NL Bucky Walters Reds 2.29 27 137
1940 AL Bob Feller Indians 2.61 27 261
1945 AL Hal Newhouser Tigers 1.81 25 212
1963 NL Sandy Koufax Dodgers 1.88 25 306
1965 NL Sandy Koufax Dodgers 2.04 26 382
1966 NL Sandy Koufax Dodgers 1.73 27 317
1972 NL Steve Carlton Phillies 1.97 27 310
1985 NL Dwight Gooden Mets 1.53 24 268
1997 AL Roger Clemens Blue Jays 2.05 21 292
1998 AL Roger Clemens Blue Jays 2.65 20 271
1999 AL Pedro Martinez Red Sox 2.07 23 313
2002 NL Randy Johnson Diamondbacks 2.32 24 334
2007 NL Jake Peavy Padres 2.54 19 240

[edit] Nippon Professional Baseball

League Season Player Team ERA Wins Strikeouts
1937 Spring JPBL Eiji Sawamura Tokyo Giants 0.81 24 196
1938 Fall JPBL Victor Starffin Tokyo Giants 1.05 19 146
1943 JPBL Hideo Fujimoto Tokyo Giants 0.73 34 253
1948 JPBL Hiroshi Nakao Yomiuri Giants 1.84 27 187
1954 CL Shigeru Sugishita Chunichi Dragons 1.39 32 273
1954 PL Motoji Takuwa Nankai Hawks 1.58 26 275
1958 CL Masaichi Kaneda Kokutetsu Swallows 1.30 31 311
1958 PL Kazuhisa Inao Nishitetsu Lions 1.42 33 334
1959 PL Tadashi Sugiura Nankai Hawks 1.40 38 336
1961 CL Hiroshi Gondo Chunichi Dragons 1.70 35 310
1961 PL Kazuhisa Inao Nishitetsu Lions 1.69 42 353
1978 PL Keishi Suzuki Kintetsu Buffaloes 2.02 25 178
1980 PL Isamu Kida Nippon Ham Fighters 2.28 22 225
1981 CL Suguru Egawa Yomiuri Giants 2.29 20 221
1985 CL Tatsuo Komatsu Chunichi Dragons 2.65 17 172
1990 PL Hideo Nomo Kintetsu Buffaloes 2.91 18 287
1999 CL Koji Uehara Yomiuri Giants 2.09 20 179
2006 PL Kazumi Saitoh Seibu Lions 1.75 18 205

[edit] Further Reading

  • John E. Daniels: "Where Have You Gone, Carl Yastrzemski ?: A Statistical Analysis of the Triple Crown", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 37, 2008, pp. 107-114
  • Vince Gennaro: "The Most Dominant Triple Crown Winner", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Number 31, 2003, pp. 86-87.
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