Agfdhyk

Rogers Hornsby (left) and Ted Williams (right) are the only batters to have won the Triple Crown twice. Hornsby achieved this in 1922 and 1925, while Williams accomplished this in 1942 and 1947.

In baseball, a player earns the Triple Crown when he leads 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 same season.^[1][2] The term "Pitching Triple Crown" refers to the pitching achievement of leading a league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average (ERA).

The term "Triple Crown" is typically used when a player leads one league, such as the American League (AL) or the National League (NL), in the specified categories. A tie for a lead in any category, such as home runs, is sufficient to be considered the leader in that category. A "Major League Triple Crown" may be said to occur when a player leads all of Major League Baseball in all three categories.

Batting Triple Crown

The term "Triple Crown" generally refers to the batting achievement. A batter who completes a season leading a league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) may be said to have won the "Triple Crown".^[1] As the term, unless modified, connotes the batting achievement, it may not be necessary to refer to this as the "batting" Triple Crown.

The Triple Crown reflects the ability of a batter to excel in three important ways: to hit safely a high percentage of the time (batting average); to hit the ball long distances (home runs); and to produce when runners are on base, driving them home to score (RBI). It is an uncommon feat to lead all batters in each of these categories. It has been accomplished 17 times in a major league, most recently in 2012, by Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera's was the first since 1967, when Carl Yastrzemski accomplished the feat. As such, this helps create enormous offense for a team throughout the season, to the point where the last four times a player won the Triple Crown, his team went to the World Series.

In the major leagues, the most batting Triple Crowns won by a player is two. Rogers Hornsby was the first to accomplish it, winning his first in 1922 and then leading both major leagues in 1925 en route to his second Triple Crown, both with the St. Louis Cardinals.^[3][4]Ted Williams later matched this mark in the AL, winning in 1942 and 1947 with the Boston Red Sox.^[5][6] The Cardinals have won the most batting Triple Crowns as a franchise with four. Along with Hornsby's two, Tip O'Neill won in the now-defunct American Association in 1887 while the team was known as the St. Louis Browns,^[7] and Joe Medwick added the Cardinals' fourth in 1937.^[8] Eleven of the thirteen eligible^[9] players who have batting Triple Crowns have been elected to the Hall of Fame.^[10][11] Baseball writer and ESPN contributor Tim Kurkjian believes the Triple Crown has become more difficult to win with the advent of more hitters who choose to specialize in either hitting for batting average or power.^[12]

Batting Quadruple Crown

Even more rare than the Triple Crown is the Quadruple Crown in which a Batter leads the league in the previously mentioned 3 categories of batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) over the same season as well as hits. This has notably been done by, Taiwanese CPBL player, Wang Po-Jung in which he led the Chinese Professional Baseball League or CPBL with a batting average of .407, 31 home runs, 101 RBIs, and 178 hits. ^[13]

Pitching Triple Crown

Clayton Kershaw (left) and Justin Verlander (right) won the National and American League pitching triple crowns, respectively, in 2011. It was the first time since 1924 that both leagues had pitching triple crown winners.

A pitcher who leads the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average (ERA) is said to have won the "Pitching Triple Crown".^[14] In contrast to the respective batting statistics, the Pitching Triple Crown statistics are more or less complementary of one another (for example, a pitcher who is especially proficient at striking out batters is likely to allow a relatively low number of earned runs, and consequently more likely to win games), therefore, the accomplishment is not quite as rare as the batting feat.

In the major leagues, the Pitching Triple Crown has been accomplished 38 times. The most by one player is three, accomplished by three players. Grover Cleveland Alexander captured his first two in consecutive seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies (1915–1916), and won a third in 1920 with the Chicago Cubs. Alexander is the only major league pitcher to win a Pitching Triple Crown with more than one major league team.^[15][16][17]Walter Johnson won his three Triple Crowns with the first Washington Senators, leading the league in all three categories in 1913, 1918, and 1924.^[18][19][20]Sandy Koufax was the most recent to capture three Triple Crowns, winning his three within four seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1963, 1965–1966); all of Koufax's crowns were Major League Crowns (led both leagues), the most for any player.^[21][22][23]

Other major league pitchers who have won multiple Pitching Triple Crowns include Christy Mathewson (1905 and 1908 New York Giants), Lefty Grove (1930 and 1931 Philadelphia Athletics), Lefty Gomez (1934 and 1937 New York Yankees), and Roger Clemens (1997 and 1998 Toronto Blue Jays).^[24]

One pitcher, Guy Hecker, won a Triple Crown in a major league that is currently defunct; he led the American Association in wins, strikeouts, and ERA in 1884 while pitching for the Louisville Colonels.^[25]

Eighteen of twenty-four major league pitchers who have won a Triple Crown and are eligible for the Hall of Fame have been elected to the Hall of Fame.^[26] The Triple Crown winners who most recently became eligible for the Hall are Pedro Martínez and Randy Johnson. Both were elected to the Hall of Fame in 2015, each in their first year of eligibility.^[27]

The most recent major league pitchers to achieve the feat are Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander, who won for the NL and AL, respectively, in 2011 (the first season since 1924 to see Triple Crown winners in both leagues).^[28]

Major League Records

The first major league pitcher to achieve the Pitching Triple Crown was Tommy Bond, in the NL in 1877. The following year, Paul Hines became the first major leaguer to lead the NL in the three batting categories; he and Miguel Cabrera are the only to two players to hit for an AL or NL Triple Crown winners and not (yet) reach the Hall of Fame, although Cabrera is not yet eligible for election.^[10][24] The highest home run total reached by a Crown winner was Mickey Mantle, with 52 in 1956. The highest RBI total belongs to Lou Gehrig, with 165 in 1934. Rogers Hornsby has the highest home run total by a NL winner, 42, from his 1922 campaign. The NL high for RBI is 154, made by Joe Medwick in 1937. Hugh Duffy's .440 average in 1894 is the highest batting average by any player in NL history. Nap Lajoie, in 1901, set the all-time AL single-season high in batting average with .426. Among the major leaguers who earned the pitching Triple Crown, the lowest ERAs belong to Walter Johnson (1.14 in 1913 AL) and Grover Alexander (1.22 in 1915 NL). The highest win total belongs to Charles Radbourn, amassed in 1884, who in that year set a major league single-season record with at least 59 wins.^[29][30] Radbourn struck out 441 batters that season, the highest total for a Triple Crown winner. Walter Johnson holds the highest win total by an AL pitching Triple Crown winner, with 36, attained in 1913. Among AL pitching Triple Crown winners, Pedro Martínez registered the highest season strikeout total, with 313 in 1999. Since 1901, the major league pitcher with the highest season strikeout total in the course of a Triple Crown season is Sandy Koufax, punching out 382 in 1965.

Triple Crown winners

Key

Year	Links to the article about the corresponding Major League Baseball season
	Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
	Player is active
*	Denotes "Major League" Triple Crown
§	Player also won the MVP Award in the same year
HR	Home runs
RBI	Runs batted in
AVG	Batting average
W	Wins
K	Strikeouts
ERA	Earned run average
NL	National League
AL	American League
AA	American Association

Batting

NOTE: Research in 2015 places the Chicago Cubs' Heinie Zimmerman of 1912 (back) on this list as well.^[31] Yet there is doubt over whether Hugh Duffy's 1894 RBI totals were the highest.^[32]

Miguel Cabrera is the most recent Triple Crown winner, achieving it in 2012; the first since 1967.

Year	Player	Position	Team	League	HR	RBI	AVG	Ref(s)
1878	Paul Hines	Center fielder	Providence Grays	NL	4	50	.358	[33]
1887	Tip O'Neill	Left fielder	St. Louis Browns	AA	14	123	.435	[7]
1894	Hugh Duffy	Outfielder	Boston Beaneaters	NL	18	145	.440	[34]
1901	Nap Lajoie	Second baseman	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	14	125	.426	[35]
1909	Ty Cobb	Right fielder	Detroit Tigers	AL	9*	107*	.377*	[36][37]
1922	Rogers Hornsby	Second baseman	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	42	152	.401	[3]
1925	Rogers Hornsby	Second baseman	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	39*	143*	.403*	[4][38]
1933	Jimmie Foxx§	First baseman	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	48	163	.356	[39]
1933	Chuck Klein	Right fielder	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	28	120	.368	[40]
1934	Lou Gehrig	First baseman	New York Yankees	AL	49*	165*	.363*	[41][42]
1937	Joe Medwick§	Left fielder	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	31	154	.374	[43]
1942	Ted Williams	Left fielder	Boston Red Sox	AL	36*	137*	.356*	[5][44]
1947	Ted Williams	Left fielder	Boston Red Sox	AL	32	114	.343	[6]
1956	Mickey Mantle§	Center fielder	New York Yankees	AL	52*	130*	.353*	[45][46]
1966	Frank Robinson§	Right fielder	Baltimore Orioles	AL	49	122	.316	[47]
1967	Carl Yastrzemski§	Left fielder	Boston Red Sox	AL	44	121	.326	[48]
2012	Miguel Cabrera§	Third Baseman	Detroit Tigers	AL	44	139	.330	[49]

Pitching

Grover Cleveland Alexander won three National League pitching Triple Crowns (1915–1916, 1920) with two different teams.

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax won three National League pitching Triple Crowns, two consecutively and all three within four seasons.

Walter Johnson won three American League pitching Triple Crowns with the Washington Senators.

Year	Player	Team	League	ERA	W	K	Ref(s)
1877	Tommy Bond	Boston Red Caps	NL	2.11	40	170	[50]
1884	Guy Hecker	Louisville Colonels	AA	1.80	52	385	[25]
1884	Charles Radbourn	Providence Grays	NL	1.38	59	441	[51]
1888	Tim Keefe	New York Giants	NL	1.74	35	335	[52]
1889	John Clarkson	Boston Beaneaters	NL	2.73	49	284	[53]
1894	Amos Rusie	New York Giants	NL	2.78	36	195	[54]
1901	Cy Young	Boston Americans	AL	1.62	33	158	[55]
1905	Christy Mathewson	New York Giants	NL	1.27	31	206	[56]
1905	Rube Waddell	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	1.48	27	287	[57]
1908	Christy Mathewson	New York Giants	NL	1.43	37	259	[58]
1913	Walter Johnson	Washington Senators	AL	1.14*	36*	243*	[18][59]
1915	Grover Cleveland Alexander	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	1.22*	31*	241*	[15][60]
1916	Grover Cleveland Alexander	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	1.55	33	167	[16]
1918	Walter Johnson	Washington Senators	AL	1.27*	23*	162*	[19][61]
1918	Hippo Vaughn	Chicago Cubs	NL	1.74	22	148	[62]
1920	Grover Cleveland Alexander	Chicago Cubs	NL	1.91	27	173	[17]
1924	Walter Johnson	Washington Senators	AL	2.72	23	158	[20]
1924	Dazzy Vance	Brooklyn Robins	NL	2.16*	28*	262*	[63][64]
1930	Lefty Grove	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	2.54*	28*	209*	[65][66]
1931	Lefty Grove§	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	2.06*	31*	175*	[67][68]
1934	Lefty Gomez	New York Yankees	AL	2.33	26	158	[69]
1937	Lefty Gomez	New York Yankees	AL	2.33	21	194	[70]
1939	Bucky Walters§	Cincinnati Reds	NL	2.29	27	137	[71]
1940	Bob Feller	Cleveland Indians	AL	2.61	27	261	[72]
1945	Hal Newhouser§	Detroit Tigers	AL	1.81*	25*	212*	[73][74]
1963	Sandy Koufax§	Los Angeles Dodgers	NL	1.88*	25*	306*	[21][75]
1965	Sandy Koufax	Los Angeles Dodgers	NL	2.04*	26*	382*	[22][76]
1966	Sandy Koufax	Los Angeles Dodgers	NL	1.73*	27*	317*	[23][77]
1972	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	1.97	27	310	[78]
1985	Dwight Gooden	New York Mets	NL	1.53*	24*	268*	[79][80]
1997	Roger Clemens	Toronto Blue Jays	AL	2.05	21	292	[81]
1998	Roger Clemens	Toronto Blue Jays	AL	2.65	20	271	[82]
1999	Pedro Martínez	Boston Red Sox	AL	2.07	23	313	[83]
2002	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	NL	2.32	24	334	[84]
2006	Johan Santana	Minnesota Twins	AL	2.77*	19*	245*	[85][86]
2007	Jake Peavy	San Diego Padres	NL	2.54	19	240	[87]
2011	Clayton Kershaw	Los Angeles Dodgers	NL	2.28	21	248	[88]
2011	Justin Verlander§	Detroit Tigers	AL	2.40	24	250	[89]

See also

Book: Triple Crown (baseball)

• Cy Young Award


• Hank Aaron Award


• List of Major League Baseball awards


• Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award

References

General

• 
  "MLB Triple Crown Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 10, 2010..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
  


• 
  "MLB Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  


• 
  Gammons, Peter; Gillette, Gary; Palmer, Pete. The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition (ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia). Sterling. ISBN 978-1-4027-4771-7.
  

Inline citations