Major League Baseball Triple Crown - Pitching Triple Crown

Pitching Triple Crown

Clayton Kershaw (left) and Justin Verlander (right) won the National and American League pitching triple crowns, respectively, in 2011. It was the first time since 1924 that both leagues had pitching triple crown winners.

The most pitching Triple Crowns captured by one player is three, accomplished by three players. Grover Cleveland Alexander captured his first two in consecutive seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies (1915–1916), and won a third in 1920 with the Chicago Cubs. Alexander is the only pitching Triple Crown winner to win his titles with more than one team. Walter Johnson won his three Triple Crowns with the first Washington Senators, leading the league in all three categories in 1913, 1918, and 1924. Sandy Koufax was the most recent to capture three Triple Crowns, winning his three within four seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1963, 1965–1966); all of Koufax's wins were Major League crowns, the most for any player. Other pitchers who have won multiple Triple Crowns include Christy Mathewson (1905 and 1908 New York Giants), Lefty Grove (1930 and 1931 Philadelphia Athletics), Lefty Gomez (1934 and 1937 New York Yankees), and Roger Clemens (1997–1998 Toronto Blue Jays). One pitcher, Guy Hecker, won a Triple Crown in a major league that is currently defunct; he led the American Association in wins, strikeouts, and ERA in 1884 while pitching for the Louisville Colonels. Seventeen of nineteen eligible pitchers who have won a Triple Crown have been elected to the Hall of Fame. Under the aforementioned eligibility rules for the Hall of Fame, six living pitchers who have been active since 2007 are ineligible for election. The Triple Crown winner who most recently became eligible for the Hall is Clemens, who is expected to make his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot in November 2012 for the 2013 elections. The most recent Triple Crown winners for pitching are Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander, who won for the NL and AL respectively in 2011 (the first season since 1924 to see Triple Crown winners in both leagues).