When I turned on the computer, no pitcher was in the power of the Triple Crown pitching in the majors. There wasn’t one that was simultaneously ahead in wins, strikeouts and ERA.
It is striking that the triple jewel of pitchers does not capture the same interest that fans and the media tend to give to the gem of hitters. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that more and more pitchers have reached it, such as the fact that the offense involves more difficulty, a fact derived from the unquestionable verification that pitching tends to be above batting.
The numbers prove it. In more than a century in the big leagues, fifteen hitters in seventeen chances have finished a season first in home runs, RBIs and offensive average. On the pitchers side, twenty-five, thirty-six times, have achieved their trilogy.
It even just happened. In 2020, Shane Bieber with the Cleveland Indians was number one in the American League with 8 wins, a 1.63 ERA and 122 strikeouts. Perhaps the achievement of the right did not have the media coverage it deserved due to the condition of the campaign, reduced from its usual schedule of 162 matches per team, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The AL roster features Cy Young with the Red Sox, Walter Johnson with the Senators, Lefty Grove with the Athletics, Lefty Gomez with the Yankees, Bob Feller with the Indians, Hal Newhouser with the Tigers, Roger Clemens with the Blue Jays, Johan Santana with the Twins, Justin Verlander with the Tigers, Pedro Martínez with the Red Sox and Shane Bieber with the Indians.
At NL, there are Christy Mathewson with the Giants, Grover Alexander with the Phillies and Cubs, Hippo Vaughn with the Cubs, Dazzy Vance with the Dodgers, Bucky Walters with the Reds, Harry Brecheen with the Cardinals, Sandy Koufax with the Dodgers , Steve Carlton with the Phillies, Dwight Gooden with the Mets, Randy Johnson with the Bells, Jake Peavy with the Padres and Clayton Kershaw with the Dodgers
Seven members of the brotherhood have taken possession of the Triple Crown more than once. They are, in the American, Walter Johnson in 1913, 1918 and 1924. Grove in 1929, 1930 and 1931. Gomez in 1934 and 1937. Clemens in 1997 and 1998. In the National, Mathewson in 1905 and 1908. Alexander in 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1920. Koufax in 1963, 1965 and 1966.
120 years have passed between Young’s Triple Crowns in 1901 and Bieber’s in 2020. A long period to not give the true and meaning that it has. Do not believe?
