Major League Baseball Triple Crown
In Major League Baseball, a player earns the Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific statistical categories. When used without a modifier, the Triple Crown generally refers to a batter who has led either the National or American leagues in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI). The Triple Crown epitomizes three separate attributes of a good hitter: hitting for average, hitting for power, and producing runs. It has been accomplished 17 times, with Miguel Cabrera being the most recent to accomplish the feat in 2012, the first since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
The pitching Triple Crown is accomplished by a pitcher who has led the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average (ERA). The pitching Triple Crown has been accomplished 38 times, including 8 since 1997. Generally, the Triple Crown refers to leading a specific league such as the National League (NL) or the American League (AL) in these categories. However, if a player leads all of Major League Baseball in all three categories, he might be said to have captured a "Major League Triple Crown". Furthermore, it is not a requirement for a player to be the sole leader in each category; only a tie of first place in each category is needed in order to be eligible. Yastrzemski tied with Harmon Killebrew for the American League lead in home runs (44) when he won the Triple Crown in 1967.
Read more about Major League Baseball Triple Crown: Batting Triple Crown, Pitching Triple Crown, Records, Triple Crown Winners
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