Triple Crown of Pitching on Baseball Almanac

Triple Crown of Pitching

The Triple Crown of pitching is "awarded" to the pitcher who leads — or ties — his league in three major pitching areas: 1: wins 2: strikeouts and 3: earned run average. All three of those categories must be led or tied at the end of the season in order to be part of a Triple Crown performance. Few players have ever come close and when one simply leads in two categories it is often a noteworthy achievement. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the Triple Crown Winners.

"I have it figured out. Pitcher's aren't going to like the answer I give, but it's true, and it is in four short words. They aren't ball players." - National League Triple Crown Winner (1924) Dazzy Vance in The Sporting News (08-14-1957, Page 24)

American League Triple Crown Winners In Chronological Order
Year	Name^(Quantity)	Wins	ERA	SO	Team / Roster
1901	Cy Young⁽¹⁾	33	1.62	158	1901 Boston Americans
1905	Rube Waddell⁽¹⁾	27	1.48	287	1905 Philadephia Athletics
1913	Walter Johnson⁽¹⁾	36	1.14	243	1913 Washington Senators
1918	Walter Johnson⁽²⁾	23	1.27	162	1918 Washington Senators
1924	Walter Johnson⁽³⁾	23	2.72	158	1924 Washington Senators
1930	Lefty Grove⁽¹⁾	28	2.54	209	1930 Philadephia Athletics
1931	Lefty Grove⁽²⁾	31	2.06	175	1931 Philadephia Athletics
1934	Lefty Gomez⁽¹⁾	26	2.33	158	1934 New York Yankees
1937	Lefty Gomez⁽²⁾	21	2.33	194	1937 New York Yankees
1940	Bob Feller⁽¹⁾	27	2.61	261	1940 Cleveland Indians
1945	Hal Newhouser⁽¹⁾	25	1.81	212	1945 Detroit Tigers
1997	Roger Clemens⁽¹⁾	21	2.05	292	1997 Toronto Blue Jays
1998	Roger Clemens⁽²⁾	20	2.65	271	1998 Toronto Blue Jays
1999	Pedro Martinez⁽¹⁾	23	2.07	313	1999 Boston Red Sox
2006	Johan Santana⁽¹⁾	19	2.77	245	2006 Minnesota Twins
2011	Justin Verlander⁽¹⁾	24	2.40	250	2011 Detroit Tigers
Year	Name^(Quantity)	Wins	ERA	SO	Team / Roster
American League Triple Crown Winners
National League Triple Crown Winners In Chronological Order
Year	Name^(Quantity)	Wins	ERA	SO	Team / Roster
1877	Tommy Bond⁽¹⁾	40	2.11	170	1877 Boston Red Caps
1884	Old Hoss Radbourn⁽¹⁾	59	1.38	441	1884 Providence Grays
1888	Tim Keefe⁽¹⁾	35	1.74	335	1888 New York Giants
1889	John Clarkson⁽¹⁾	49	2.73	284	1889 Boston Beaneaters
1894	Amos Rusie⁽¹⁾	36	2.78	195	1894 New York Giants
1905	Christy Mathewson⁽¹⁾	31	1.28	206	1905 New York Giants
1908	Christy Mathewson⁽²⁾	37	1.43	259	1908 New York Giants
1915	Grover Alexander⁽¹⁾	31	1.22	241	1915 Philadelphia Phillies
1916	Grover Alexander⁽²⁾	33	1.55	167	1916 Philadelphia Phillies
1918	Hippo Vaughn⁽¹⁾	22	1.74	148	1918 Chicago Cubs
1920	Grover Alexander⁽³⁾	27	1.91	173	1920 Chicago Cubs
1924	Dazzy Vance⁽¹⁾	28	2.16	262	1924 Brooklyn Robins
1939	Bucky Walters⁽¹⁾	27	2.29	137	1939 Cincinnati Reds
1963	Sandy Koufax⁽¹⁾	25	1.88	306	1963 Los Angeles Dodgers
1965	Sandy Koufax⁽²⁾	26	2.04	382	1965 Los Angeles Dodgers
1966	Sandy Koufax⁽³⁾	27	1.73	317	1966 Los Angeles Dodgers
1972	Steve Carlton⁽¹⁾	27	1.97	310	1972 Philadelphia Phillies
1985	Dwight Gooden⁽¹⁾	24	1.53	268	1985 New York Mets
2002	Randy Johnson⁽¹⁾	24	2.32	334	2002 Arizona Diamondbacks
2007	Jake Peavy⁽¹⁾	19	2.54	240	2007 San Diego Padres
2011	Clayton Kershaw⁽¹⁾	21	2.28	248	2011 Los Angeles Dodgers
Year	Name^(Quantity)	Wins	ERA	SO	Team / Roster
National League Triple Crown Winners

In 1884, Guy Hecker, who played for Louisville Colonels of the American Association, also earned the Triple Crown and is the only American Association pitcher to do so during their history. He had fifty-two wins, three-hundred eighty-five strikeouts and an earned run average of 1.80!

More than one-hundred twenty-five years of baseball, thousands of great pitchers, and the Triple Crown has only been earned thirty-five times by twenty-seven different Major League pitchers.

Grover Alexander (1915 & 1916), Lefty Grove (1930 & 1931), Sandy Koufax (1965 & 1966), and Roger Clemens (1997 & 1998) each accomplished the triple crown in consecutive years.

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