Triple Crown (baseball)

In baseball , the Triple Crown is a special award that can be achieved by a batter (batsman) or pitcher (thrower) by leading the three most important batting and pitching statistics in the league in one season. These are

• in batting: Home runs (HR), runs batted in (RBI; runs scored when the player was on the bat) and batting average (AVG; average)
• for pitching: earned run average (ERA; average points given to the opponent per nine innings ), wins (games won) and strikeouts (K)

The Triple Crown is the greatest challenge a baseball player faces and is therefore rarely achieved. The batting triple crown is considered to be more difficult to achieve than the pitching triple crown, the last time it was won in Major League Baseball in 2012 by Miguel Cabrera .

In Major League Baseball, a triple crown is awarded when a player leads the three categories in his league, the American or National League . One speaks of a "Major League Triple Crown" if a player manages to lead both leagues. This extremely rare feat was last achieved by Miguel Cabrera in 2012 in batting and Justin Verlander (American League) and Clayton Kershaw (National League) in pitching in 2011.

Triple Crown Winner

	Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
	Player is still active

Batting

Abbreviations: AA = American Association , AL = American League , NL = National League , AVG = Batting Average , HR = Home Runs , RBI = Runs Batted In , 1B = First Baseman , 2B = Second Baseman , 3B = Third Baseman , LF = Left Field , CF = Center Field , RF = Right Field , OF = Out Field

year	Batter		team	league	position	AVG	MR	RBI
1878	Paul Hines		Providence Grays	NL	CF	.358	4th	50
1887	Tip O'Neill		St. Louis Brown Stockings	AA	LF	.435	14th	123
1894	Hugh Duffy		Boston Beaneaters	NL	OF	.440	18th	145
1901	Nap Lajoie		Philadelphia Athletics	AL	2 B	.426	14th	125
1909	Ty Cobb		Detroit Tigers	AL	RF	.377	9	107
1922	Rogers Hornsby		St. Louis Cardinals	NL	2 B	.401	42	152
1925	Rogers Hornsby		St. Louis Cardinals	NL	2 B	.403	39	143
1933	Jimmie Foxx		Philadelphia Athletics	AL	1B	.356	48	163
1933	Chuck Klein		Philadelphia Phillies	NL	RF	.368	28	120
1934	Lou Gehrig		New York Yankees	AL	1B	.363	49	165
1937	Joe Medwick		St. Louis Cardinals	NL	LF	.374	31	154
1942	Ted Williams		Boston Red Sox	AL	LF	.356	36	137
1947	Ted Williams		Boston Red Sox	AL	LF	.343	32	114
1956	Mickey Mantle		New York Yankees	AL	CF	.353	52	130
1966	Frank Robinson		Baltimore Orioles	AL	RF	.316	49	122
1967	Carl Yastrzemski		Boston Red Sox	AL	LF	.326	44	121
2012	Miguel Cabrera		Detroit Tigers	AL	3B	.330	44	139

Pitching

Abbreviations: AA = American Association , AL = American League , NL = National League , ERA = Earned Run Average , W = Win , L = Loss , K = Strikeout

year	Pitcher		team	league	ERA	W − L	K
1877	Tommy Bond		Boston Red Stockings	NL	2.11	40-17	170
1884	Guy Hecker		Louisville Colonels	AA	1.80	52-20	385
1884	Charles Radbourn		Providence Grays	NL	1.38	60-12	441
1888	Tim Keefe		New York Giants	NL	1.74	35-12	335
1889	John Clarkson		Boston Beaneaters	NL	2.73	49-19	284
1894	Amos Rusie		New York Giants	NL	2.78	36-13	195
1901	Cy Young		Boston Americans	AL	1.62	33-10	158
1905	Christy Mathewson		New York Giants	NL	1.27	31-9	206
1905	Rube Waddell		Philadelphia Athletics	AL	1.48	27-10	287
1908	Christy Mathewson		New York Giants	NL	1.43	37−9	259
1913	Walter Johnson		Washington Nationals	AL	1.09	36−7	243
1915	Pete Alexander		Philadelphia Phillies	NL	1.22	31−10	241
1916	Pete Alexander		Philadelphia Phillies	NL	1.55	33-12	167
1918	Walter Johnson		Washington Nationals	AL	1.27	23-13	162
1918	Hippo Vaughn		Chicago Cubs	NL	1.74	22−10	148
1920	Pete Alexander		Chicago Cubs	NL	1.91	27-14	173
1924	Dazzy Vance		Brooklyn Robins	NL	2.16	28−6	262
1924	Walter Johnson		Washington Nationals	AL	2.72	23-7	158
1930	Lefty Grove		Philadelphia Athletics	AL	2.54	28-5	209
1931	Lefty Grove		Philadelphia Athletics	AL	2.06	31-4	175
1934	Lefty Gomez		New York Yankees	AL	2.33	26-5	158
1937	Lefty Gomez		New York Yankees	AL	2.33	21-11	194
1939	Bucky Walters		Cincinnati Reds	NL	2.29	27-11	137
1940	Bob Feller		New York Yankees	AL	2.61	27-11	261
1945	Hal Newhouser		Detroit Tigers	AL	1.81	25−9	212
1963	Sandy Koufax		Los Angeles Dodgers	NL	1.88	25-5	306
1965	Sandy Koufax		Los Angeles Dodgers	NL	2.04	26−8	382
1966	Sandy Koufax		Los Angeles Dodgers	NL	1.73	27−9	317
1972	Steve Carlton		Philadelphia Phillies	NL	1.97	27-10	310
1985	Dwight Gooden		New York Mets	NL	1.53	24-4	268
1997	Roger Clemens		Toronto Blue Jays	AL	2.05	21−7	292
1998	Roger Clemens		Toronto Blue Jays	AL	2.65	20−6	271
1999	Pedro Martínez		Boston Red Sox	AL	2.07	23-4	313
2002	Randy Johnson		Arizona Diamondbacks	NL	2.32	24-5	334
2006	Johan Santana		Minnesota Twins	AL	2.77	19−6	245
2007	Jake Peavy		San Diego Padres	NL	2.54	19−6	240
2011	Clayton Kershaw		Los Angeles Dodgers	NL	2.28	21-5	248
2011	Justin Verlander		Detroit Tigers	AL	2.40	24-5	250

Web links

• Winner of the Triple Crown with statistics on Baseball-Reference.com (English)