On Wednesday, Miguel Cabrera became the 16th major-league hitter to complete a Triple Crown and the first since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. Cabrera ended the 2012 campaign with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs and 139 RBI, leading the AL in all three categories. He lead the league in OPS, too, for what it’s worth.
Miguel Cabrera becomes 16th winner of baseball’s Triple Crown
Cabrera joins an exclusive club in baseball that includes 11 Hall of Famers (asterisk denotes HoF standing):
- 1967: Carl Yastrzemski*
- 1966: Frank Robinson*
- 1956: Mickey Mantle*
- 1947: Ted Williams*
- 1942: Ted Williams
- 1937: Joe Medwick*
- 1934: Lou Gehrig*
- 1933: Jimmie Foxx*
- 1933: Chuck Klein*
- 1925: Rogers Hornsby*
- 1922: Rogers Hornsby
- 1909: Ty Cobb*
- 1901: Nap Lajoie*
- 1887: Tip O'Neill
- 1878: Paul Hines
A few interesting notes about previous Triple Crown winners:
- Cabrera's title was, by far, the longest drought between Triple Crowns (45 years). The previous largest gap was 14 years (1887 to 1901).
- Only five players who won a Triple Crown won the MVP in the same season (Cobb, Foxx, Medwick, Mantle, and Robinson).
- Only two players (Mantle and Robinson) were on teams that won the World Series in their Triple Crown year.
- Hornsby and Williams are the only players to accomplish the feat twice.
- St. Louis has played host to four Triple Crown winners (O'Neill, Hornsby twice, and Medwick).
- All players who accomplished the Triple Crown in the 20th century are in the Hall of Fame.
- The highest batting average for a player in his Triple Crown year si .435 (O'Neill).
- The highest homer total for a player in his Triple Crown year is 52 (Mantle).
- The highest RBI total for a player in his Triple Crown year is 165 (Gehrig),
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