The Triple Crown is "awarded" (received or honored with as no physical award exists) to the hitter who leads his own League in all three of these hitting statistics: 1: Home runs. 2: Batting average. 3: Runs batted in.
All three 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 a player simply leads in two categories it is often a noteworthy achievement. Research by Baseball Almanac.
"Never swing at a ball you're fooled on or have trouble hitting." - Batting Advice from Triple Crown Winner (1942 & 1947) / Hall of Famer Ted Williams in Sport Magazine (Ted Williams, December 1954, 'Hitting Advice', Page 34)
Triple CrownAmerican League Triple Crown Winners |
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AL # | MLB # | Year | American League | POS | HR | Top 25 | Avg | Top 25 | RBI | Top 25 | Team | MVP |
1. | 4. | 1901 | Nap Lajoie | 2B | 14 | Top 25 | .426 | Top 25 | 125 | Top 25 | Philadelphia | n/a |
2. | 5. | 1909 | Ty Cobb | RF | 9 | Top 25 | .377 | Top 25 | 107 | Top 25 | Detroit | n/a |
3. | 8. | 1933 | Jimmie Foxx | 1B | 48 | Top 25 | .356 | Top 25 | 163 | Top 25 | Philadelphia | |
4. | 10. | 1934 | Lou Gehrig | 1B | 49 | Top 25 | .363 | Top 25 | 165 | Top 25 | New York | -- |
5. | 12. | 1942 | Ted Williams | LF | 36 | Top 25 | .356 | Top 25 | 137 | Top 25 | Boston | -- |
6. | 13. | 1947 | Ted Williams | LF | 32 | Top 25 | .343 | Top 25 | 114 | Top 25 | Boston | -- |
7. | 14. | 1956 | Mickey Mantle | CF | 52 | Top 25 | .353 | Top 25 | 130 | Top 25 | New York | |
8. | 15. | 1966 | Frank Robinson | RF | 49 | Top 25 | .316 | Top 25 | 122 | Top 25 | Baltimore | |
9. | 16. | 1967 | Carl Yastrzemski | LF | 44 | Top 25 | .326 | Top 25 | 121 | Top 25 | Boston | |
10. | 17. | 2012 | Miguel Cabrera | 3B | 44 | Top 25 | .330 | Top 25 | 139 | Top 25 | Detroit | |
AL # | MLB # | Year | American League | POS | HR | Top 25 | Avg | Top 25 | RBI | Top 25 | Team | MVP |
Triple Crown
National League Triple Crown Winners |
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NL # | MLB # | Year | National League | POS | HR | Top 25 | Avg | Top 25 | RBI | Top 25 | Team | MVP |
1. | 1. | 1878 | Paul Hines | CF | 4 | Top 25 | .358 | Top 25 | 50 | Top 25 | Providence | n/a |
2. | 3. | 1894 | Hugh Duffy | CF | 18 | Top 25 | .440 | Top 25 | 145 | Top 25 | Boston | n/a |
3. | 6. | 1922 | Rogers Hornsby | 2B | 42 | Top 25 | .401 | Top 25 | 152 | Top 25 | St. Louis | -- |
4. | 7. | 1925 | Rogers Hornsby | 2B | 39 | Top 25 | .403 | Top 25 | 143 | Top 25 | St. Louis | |
5. | 8. | 1933 | Chuck Klein | RF | 28 | Top 25 | .368 | Top 25 | 120 | Top 25 | Philadelphia | -- |
6. | 11. | 1937 | Joe Medwick | LF | 31 | Top 25 | .374 | Top 25 | 154 | Top 25 | St. Louis | |
NL # | MLB # | Year | National League | POS | HR | Top 25 | Avg | Top 25 | RBI | Top 25 | Team | MVP |
Triple Crown American Association Triple Crown Winners |
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AA # | MLB # | Year | American Association | POS | HR | Top 25 | Avg | Top 25 | RBI | Top 25 | Team | MVP |
1. | 2. | 1887 | Tip O'Neill | LF | 14 | Top 25 | .435 | Top 25 | 123 | Top 25 | St. Louis | n/a |
AA # | MLB # | Year | American Association | POS | HR | Top 25 | Avg | Top 25 | RBI | Top 25 | Team | MVP |
MLB Triple Crown Hitters | Bold = HOF | Baseball Awards | Triple Crown Pitchers |
At the end of the 1887 season, Tip O'Neill also led the American Association in triples, doubles, total bases, slugging average, runs, on base percentage and hits!
Did you know that Ty Cobb, during his Triple Crown season (1909), simultaneously led the American League in stolen bases with seventy-six, making him the only Triple Crown ballplayer to also lead his league in stolen bases?
Did you know that during their Triple Crown season, Ty Cobb (1909), Rogers Hornsby (1925), Lou Gehrig (1934), Ted Williams (1942), and Mickey Mantle (1956), not only led their respective League in all three categories, but their totals were the highest across Major League Baseball?
Several written sources include Heinie Zimmerman from 1912; however, both Baseball Almanac and Major League Baseball have corrected his RBI total (it was one-hundred three but should be ninety-nine) due to ongoing research into box scores.