The Triple Crown is one of the most prestigious awards in all of professional baseball, and it is only given to the very best players who have ever played the game. However, what is Triple Crown in baseball, and what are the requirements to become a winner of the Triple Crown? In this post on our blog, we delve into the background of this extraordinary accomplishment in baseball as well as the specifics of it.
Table of Contents
Introduction To The Triple Crown
“The Triple Crown in baseball is often considered to be one of the sport’s most prestigious accolades, and for good reason. The award is presented to the player who accumulated the most points in their league’s respective statistical categories over a single season. These are the batting average, the number of home runs, and the number of runs driven in (RBI).”
Even though it could look like an easy accomplishment, carrying it out well is rather challenging. To do this, a player must not only have exceptional hitting skills but also have sufficient power to rack up a large number of home runs and produce a significant number of runs batted in. In addition to this, they need to be able to keep a good batting average despite the additional attention that will be paid to them by the pitchers.
What Is A Triple Crown Winner In Baseball?
The Triple Crown is one of baseball’s most coveted individual awards because it is so difficult to win all three of its major categories in a single season. There have only been 27 players in the history of Major League Baseball to win the Triple Crown. Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers was the most recent player to win the Triple Crown. He did so in the year 2012.
Here is the list of MLB’s Triple Crown Winners:
| 1878 | Paul Hines |
| 1887 | Tip O’Neill |
| 1901 | Nap Lajoie |
| 1909 | Ty Cobb |
| 1922 | Rogers Hornsby |
| 1925 | Rogers Hornsby |
| 1933 | Chuck Klein |
| 1933 | Jimmie Foxx |
| 1934 | Lou Gehrig |
| 1937 | Joe Medwick |
| 1942 | Ted Williams |
| 1947 | Ted Williams |
| 1956 | Mickey Mantle |
| 1966 | Frank Robinson |
| 1967 | Carl Yastrzemski |
| 2012 | Miguel Cabrera |
It is believed that players “in contention” for the honor come very near to obtaining the Triple Crown. In most cases, this occurs when two or more players are tied for second place in two of the statistical categories while a third player is comfortably in first place in the third category.
For example, in 2018, three players were vying for the American League Triple Crown: Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians led the league in batting average and RBI while Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros led the league in home runs. Ultimately, Bregman won the home run title and Ramirez won both batting average and RBI, making him that year’s American League Triple Crown winner.
The National League has had slightly more Triple Crown winners than their counterparts in the American League. The first NL Triple Crown winner was Tip O’Neill of the St. Louis Browns who did it way back in 1887. The American League’s first Triple Crown winner was Nap Lajoie of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1901.
Read More: Top 10 Best Youth Baseball Cleats
The Batting Triple Crown is often considered to be a combination of two other awards, the batting title, and the home run crown. Batting titles are awarded to players who lead their league in batting average and home run crowns are awarded to those who lead their league in home runs.
While there have been many batting titles and home run crowns won over the years, there have been far fewer Triple Crown winners, making it one of the most coveted individual achievements in all of baseball.
Criteria Needed To Win The Triple Crown
Three main statistical categories determine the winner of the Triple Crown: batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI). To win the Triple Crown, a player must lead their respective league in all three categories.
A player’s batting average is calculated by dividing the number of hits they’ve earned by the number of at-bats they’ve had. Home runs are pretty self-explanatory – it’s the number of times a player has hit the ball over the outfield fence for a solo home run. And lastly, RBIs refer to the total runs batted in – not just solo homers, but any time a player hits the ball and someone else on their team scores.
The last player to achieve this feat was Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers in 2012. He won the American League (AL) Triple Crown with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs, and 139 RBI. To win the Triple Crown, a hitter must be not only great but also lucky enough to stay healthy and have consistent at-bats throughout the season.
You can watch the historic journey of Miguel Cabrera to become the first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 here:
While it is certainly an accomplishment to lead one’s league in any single offensive category, it is a rare feat to lead the league in all three categories. In fact, since 1900 there have been just 17 Triple Crown winners in Major League Baseball (MLB). Of those 17 winners, 14 have come from the AL and just 3 from the National League (NL).
The most recent NL Triple Crown winner was Joe Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals way back in 1937. The last NL player to come close to winning the Triple Crown was Albert Pujols of the Cardinals who led his league in all three categories in 2008 but finished second in batting average (.357) and RBI (115) behind Ryan Howard (.349 batting average and 146 RBI) of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Conclusion
So what is a Triple Crown in baseball? You just finished reading the article shared by Honesty Apps – A website specializing in analyzing baseball tactics – explaining what it is and what it takes to become a Triple Crown winner. Only a handful few players in baseball history have ever accomplished the arduous feat of winning the Triple Crown. Baseball’s Triple Crown involves both skill and commitment, and those who succeed can feel proud that they attained such a remarkable feat. You too may become one of baseball’s elite Triple Crown winners with the perfect mix of effort and talent.
Author Profile
