Trio Vies for Triple Crown
It has been over 40 years since baseball has seen a triple-crown winner, but 2010 is sure getting hopes up.
Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski was the last to pull the feat in 1967, but this year there are not just one, but three candidates who may finally get it done.
American Leaguers Miguel Cabrera and Josh Hamilton are both within reach of pulling off the triple-crown, which requires leading the league in batting average, RBIs and home runs.
In the National League, it's the Reds' Joey Votto who has surpassed Albert Pujols’ Cardinals in the NL Central. Votto leads the NL in home runs.
Pujols a surprise omission
Many find it hard to believe that Pujols is not one of the candidates, as he is a complete hitter in every sense of the word. Many thought that he would be the one to finally win the Triple Crown, although there is still time.
"The only guy I can see hit 40 home runs, hit .330 and drive in 130, isPujols. He's done it for a lot of years," said Cabrera earlier this season.
Ironically it’s Cabrera who’s in position to pull the feat off, who’s quite the hitter himself. He leads the Majors with a .346 batting average and has the edge in RBIs with 77, 13 more than Hamilton with 64. Cabrera has also hit 22 home runs, two shy of Toronto’s Jose Bautista for the lead. While it’s exciting to think of the idea that we can see a triple-crown winner, we’re still in July.
"I think it’s too soon," Cabrera said. "I don't think about that. It's going to be two more months. I want to focus on winning games. If it happens, it happens. You have to not put pressure on yourself. You have to be yourself and go out there and play every day hard."
Hamilton has a similar opinion: "If I said it wouldn't be nice, obviously, I would be lying. If it happens, it happens. If not, I'll just settle for a strong year and a winning year. Those are the two things that are foremost on my mind."
Distinguished company
To join the list of the 11 Triple Crown winners of the past century is no minor feat. All those players are in the Hall of Fame including twice-crowned Ted Williams and Honus Wagner. Not even Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth or Willie Mays are on that list.
It truly takes a special season to pull off this feat. It also takes consistency. In 1967, Yastrzemski hit .324 with 19 home runs and 56 RBIs in 79 games before the All-Star break, and went .329/25/65 afterward. The year before, Frank Robinson won the AL Triple Crown going .312/.321, 21/28 and 56/66.
So, clearly, the current candidates' work is far from complete. In fact, they really need to pick it up a notch.
Votto is the unusual suspect in all of this as he is enjoying a breakout year. He may have to pick it up though. While he leads the NL with 22 home runs, he’s only fifth in RBI’s with 60. He’s also got some tough company with Albert Pujols in the same division and Pujols is just a hot streak away from being mentioned on this list.
For all hitters though, you can’t constantly be thinking about the award. It’s about hitting consistently and helping your team win and that could just be enough.
"I'm just like everybody else. I want to succeed. I want to play well and be meaningful to the team," Votto said "Good things come with that and they will."
Added Reds right fielder Jay Bruce: "It's getting hard to ignore him. He's arguably one of the top three hitters in the game."
Not only is he one of the top hitters in the game, but he has the chance to pull off something many baseball’s icons have never done: winning that elusive triple-crown.
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