The hitting Triple Crown has only been achieved 16 times in MLB history. Two players, Rogers Hornsby & Ted Williams, completed the feat twice. So, only 14 players have ever won the hitting Triple Crown!
Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox, was the last triple crown winner in Major League Baseball in 1967.
This guy has some interesting ideas about changing the current requirements for the Triple Crown. I can tell he is not a die-in-the-wool baseball fan. He's full of shit! Don't believe a word he has to say!
Every year I follow the stats with interest to see if anyone has a shot a being a triple crown winner. Last year Albert Pujols gave it a hellava run, finishing with 43 (T4), 124 (T4), .359 (1) after petering out a little at the end of the season.
Of current players, it looks to me like Pujols has the best shot at achieving the feat. He hits for average and power and is good with men on base.
Todd Helton has a shot too. If Colorado were in the AL, he would have 2 [6] seasons: 2000 at 4,1,1 and 2001 at 2,1,3. He plays in a hitters' park and gets lots of at bats. His main malfunction is that he is in the same league as Pujols, Bonds, Sosa, Walker.
Bonds won't do it because his RBI totals will always be affected by the number of walks, intentional or not, he accumulates.
A-Rod won't do it because he hasn't hit for high average since 96 when he led the league with a .358 BA. Also, he's moving out of a hitter's park at Texas and into Yankee Stadium, not known for being friendly to right-handed pull hitters. He will have a tougher time hitting his usual 40 HR this year because of that.
Is there anyone else in the AL that is capable of the Triple Crown? I can't think of anyone right off the top of my head. Carlos Delgado perhaps?
Other past near misses in the past with top 5 finishes in the stats in their league:
Total, Year, Player, HR, RBI, BA
[9], 2003, Albert Pujols, 43 (T4), 124 (T4), 359 (1)
[8], 2001, Todd Helton, 49 (T4), 146 (2), 336 (2)
[11], 2000, Vlad Guerrero, 44 (T4), 166 (4), 345 (3)
[9], 1999, Manny Ramirez, 44 (T3), 165 (1), 333 (5)
[7], 1998, Albert Belle, 49 (2), 152 (2), 328 (3)
[6], 1997, Larry Walker, 49 (1), 130 (3), 366 (2)
[11], 1997, Mike Piazza, 40 (T4), 124 (4), 363 (3)
[5], 1995, Donte Bichette, 40 (1), 128 (1), 340 (3)
[5], 1994, Jeff Bagwell, 39 (2), 116 (1), 367 (2)
[8], 1994, Albert Belle, 36 (3), 101 (T3), 357 (2)
[8], 1994, Frank Thomas, 38 (2), 101 (T3), 353 (3)
[6], 1993, Barry Bonds, 46 (1), 123 (1), 336 (4)
[9], 1992, Gary Sheffield, 33 (3), 100 (5), 330 (1)
[8], 1988, Galarraga, 39 (T3), 329 (1), 302 (T4)
I hadn't realized there were so many close calls in the last 15 years...
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Posted by: Pixy Misa on March 17, 2004 12:50 AMI've got a dark horse now that he's in the American League...Anaheim's Vladimir Guerrero
Posted by: Darren on March 17, 2004 07:30 PMGood call Darren, although his power numbers are not high enough. He would have led the AL last year with .330, but his 25 HR/79RBI would have dropped him to 28/38 for [67] points in my scale.
He is in a good lineup now for RBI's. If they hit him in front of Anderson, he might get some better pitches to hit for power. If they pitch him behind Anderson, his RBIs go way up. Either way, he should have a bang-up season barring injury!
Posted by: Madfish Willie on March 17, 2004 08:45 PMJust transposed some numbers to the AL for Vlad... in 2000, he would have had a [5] point season 44(2), 123(2), 345(1).
In looking at his career stats, it looks like he may have a better shot than even Helton. A-Rod won't lead the league in HR this year, although he may have some really good RBI numbers. The batting averages in the AL have tended to lower than the NL in the past few years.
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