When was the last time there was a triple crown winner in baseball?
Gonzalez knows. He was the last player to reach the All-Star break with at least 32 home runs and 86 RBI until Pujols came along with this season’s 32 and 87. Although the second half of Gonzalez’s 2001 season was successful — and capped by a World Series title — his numbers dropped. He hit 22 home runs after the break vs. 35 before, 56 RBI vs. 86 and batted .290 vs. .355. “It can be hard to sustain because a lot of things start coming into play,” Gonzalez said. “Where are you in the standings? Will you sit out? Will guys pitch around you?” Pujols holds comfortable leads in home runs and RBI. He trails three National League players in average, with leader Hanley Ramirez of Florida holding a .349 to .332 edge. Catching Ramirez is an attainable goal for a guy with a reputation for being dedicated to his craft. “I got to know him well and went on some Team Nike trips with him in the offseason,” Gonzalez said. “From Day 1, I admired him, and the No. 1 reason was his work ethic.” It is hard
Gonzalez knows. He was the last player to reach the All-Star break with at least 32 home runs and 86 RBI until Pujols came along with this season’s 32 and 87. Although the second half of Gonzalez’s 2001 season was successful — and capped by a World Series title — his numbers dropped. He hit 22 home runs after the break vs. 35 before, 56 RBI vs. 86 and batted .290 vs. .355. “It can be hard to sustain because a lot of things start coming into play,” Gonzalez said. “Where are you in the standings? Will you sit out? Will guys pitch around you?” Pujols holds comfortable leads in home runs and RBI. He trails three National League players in average, with leader Hanley Ramirez of Florida holding a .349 to .332 edge. Catching Ramirez is an attainable goal for a guy with a reputation for being dedicated to his craft. “I got to know him well and went on some Team Nike trips with him in the offseason,” Gonzalez said. “From Day 1, I admired him, and the No. 1 reason was his work ethic.” It is hard
Peavy won the pitching Triple Crown in 2007, leading the National League with 19 wins, 240 strikeouts, and a 2.54 ERA. Since the divisional play era started in 1969, Peavy is only the eighth player to accomplish this feat. On October 23, Peavy won the Players Choice Award for Outstanding NL Pitcher. He added the NL Cy Young — as a unanimous choice — on November 15, becoming just the 10th National League player in history to win the Cy Young Award in a unanimous vote (Sandy Koufax was unanimously selected three times). The completion of the 2007 campaign represented Peavy’s sixth year in the league. Over that six-year period Peavy collected two strikeout champion awards, two major league ERA titles, and a unanimous, triple-crown Cy Young Award. On December 12, 2007, he signed a 4 year extension, worth $52 million with the Padres. At the time the contract was the largest in Padres history. The contract includes a $22 million option for 2013.
t’s also difficult to lead all three in the same season. Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds have been atop all three but never in the same season. Baseball hasn’t seen a Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. His numbers improved in every category the second half of the season. Hank Aaron is the last player to lead all three at the All-Star break. Like many, he couldn’t duplicate his first-half numbers. He had eight fewer home runs and 29 fewer RBI, and his average fell from .347 midseason to .322 at its conclusion. Stakes change in the second half. Teams in the hunt become more willing to pitch around opposing stars. In 1998, then-Arizona Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter intentionally walked San Francisco Giants slugger Bonds with the bases loaded and a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. Hard to enhance your home run total that way. Some of the game’s greatest players never achieved baseball’s Holy Trinity. Aaron fell short. So did Willie Mays.
