THE CAREER TRIPLE CROWN

Thank you Rory and Katie

“Hi Bill,

No active player has achieved the career Triple Crown.”

So began the answer to my query to the fabulous Katie Sharp of baseball-reference.com. Any reader of the great Jayson Stark is familiar with her name. Jayson, who holds the title of GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) when it comes to collecting delightful data, prevails on Katie regularly to enlighten readers. As I do my best to emulate the Stark brilliance of Jayson, I decided to ask a couple of questions of Katie, my ownself.

Now, unlike another hero of mine, Joe Posnanski, I am not versed in multiple sports to write about them. However, I do try to pay attention to significant events. So while I didn’t really care that Rory McIlroy won the Masters, the sports folks did speak about an aspect of the victory that intrigued me. They said that with the victory, McIlory joined the elite group of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods, in winning a Career Grand Slam (winning all four major championships: the Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship, and PGA Championship, at least once during their career).

Which got me thinking (always something dangerous), which ballplayers have won career Triple Crowns? And, to up the ante, and not have it in a single season in which they won the batting Triple Crown? I was easily able to get the single-season Triple Crown winners.

Here are the Triple Crown winners since 1901:

Then I asked Katie that critical second question, "What about ballplayers with career Triple Crowns who did not do it in one season?"

Katie, the All-Star, came through with the list, and I added the icing to the cake.

Here's the list, with the 10 from the modern era in bold.

• Henry Aaron - Twice led the league in BA, and four times led in HR and RBI

• Barry Bonds - Pre-BALCO, once led the league in HR and RBI. Post-roidal - twice led the league in BA and once in HR.

• Dan Brouthers - In the prehistoric 19th century, Brouthers led the league in batting five times and twice led in home runs and RBI.

• Ed Delahanty - Again in the 19th century, Delahanty won one batting crown, two times was the HR champ, and three times led in RBI.

• Joe DiMaggio - Joltin’ Joe led the league in batting, homers, and RBI twice each.

• Andrés Galarraga - Andres had a batting crown, a HR title, and twice led in RBI.

• Johnny Mize - I was surprised to learn that Big Jawn led the league in batting once to go along with his four HR titles and three RBI leaderships.

• Albert Pujols - Prince Albert had a fantastic career with the Cardinals, leading the league in BA (once), HR (twice), and RBI (once).

• Manny Ramírez - Manny Being Manny is often described as the best right-handed bat seen in contemporary times. He led the league in each category once and drove his teams and fans crazy numerous times. Who knows what he ingested over the years?

• Álex Rodríguez - ARod, who has led the majors in rehabilitating his image for numerous years, led the league in batting once, HR five times, and ribbies twice.

• Babe Ruth - The Babe had one batting title, a dozen home run titles, and led in RBI five times.

• Tris Speaker - One, one, and one of each for the man with a .345 lifetime BA.

• Sam Thompson - All before 1900, Sam Thompson led once in BA, twice in home runs, and thrice in RBI.

In case you were curious, Willie Mays never led the league in RBI, Stan Musial never led in home runs, and Ken Griffey Jr. never led in BA.

Thank you again, Katie Sharp.

IF YOU HAD EUGENIO SUAREZ HITTING FOUR DINGERS IN A DBACKS WIN…

You lose.

He hit four but Arizona lost, 8-7, to the Braves.

More on four-homer game hitters tomorrow.

TRIVIA QUESTION FROM THE QUIZMASTER

Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman has 339 saves. Thirteen relievers have earned 350+ saves. Can you name the seven who pitched for the Red Sox?

THE PODCAST YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING TO

Is This A Great Game, Or What? (https://greatgameorwhat.com/)

Now, three-times-a-week Hall of Fame baseball writer (and one of my heroes) Tim Kurkjian is joined by his son, Jeff, as they talk baseball. What makes the show so special is that Tim and Jeff share their love of baseball and their love for each other.

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