Triple Crowns with a Bat Trivia Quiz

Answer: Babe Ruth

Amazingly, the Babe never won the Triple Crown but came close many times. In 1923, after leading the league in home runs and RBIs, he was runner-up with his .393 batting average to Harry Heilmann who batted .403 with the Tigers. In 1924, Ruth led in batting average and home runs, but was runner-up in RBIs to Goose Goslin of the Senators.

In 1926, the Babe was again the runner-up in batting by .006 to Heinie Manush of the Tigers. In 1931, Ruth was the runner-up in RBIs and batting average. The Babe just couldn't get a break and put it all together, as he was close a mind boggling four times.

Answer: Frank Robinson

Robinson's rookie award came in 1956 with the Cincinnati Reds. Frank's MVP came in 1961 in his only NL World Series season. After being traded to the Orioles after the 1965 season, Robinson defied nature by winning the AL Triple Crown in 1966. His .316 average, 49 home runs, and 122 RBIs made the Reds regret the trade. Ironically, Frank never led the league in any of the Triple Crown categories again.

He retired in 1976 as a Cleveland Indian, was inducted into the hall in 1982, and was also a manager.

Answer: Mickey Mantle

Mantle, a switch-hitter won the award in 1956 with the Yankees. The 'Commerce Comet' hit 52 home runs, batted .353 along with 130 RBIs. Mickey also won the MVP in the season. He topped Ted Williams with a .345 average, Vic Wertz with 32 home runs, and Tiger Al Kaline by only two RBIs.

Answer: Philadelphia

Chuck Klein won his with the Phillies, but the team still finished seventh in the National League. Foxx won his with the Athletics of Philadelphia, and they finished third in the American League. A very unique statistic for Major League baseball in the same season.

Answer: Rogers Hornsby

The great second baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals won them with almost identical numbers. His first in 1922 came 42 home runs, 152 RBIs, and batted .401 in the season. Hornsby's second came in 1925 by hitting 39 out of the park, 143 RBIs, and batting .403 in the season. 1921 would have given him another Triple Crown, had he not finished runner-up in home runs to George Kelly of the New York Giants.

Answer: 9

In 1909, home runs were a commodity and with Cobb's nine, this made him the all-around hitter. The closest home run hitter in the season was Tris Speaker of Boston who hit seven. In 1910, Cobb was the runner-up in all three Triple Crown categories. Ty would have won the award again in 1911, but fell short to Frank Baker of the Athletics in home runs. Cobb hit an amazing .420 in 1911 with 127 RBIs.

Answer: 1910s

There was no batting Triple Crown winner between 1909 (Ty Cobb) and 1922 (Rogers Hornsby). Carl Yastrzemski hit the last Triple Crown of the century in 1967 with the Red Sox.

Answer: Carl Yastrzemski

Robinson won his with the Orioles in 1966, then the 'Yaz' finished off the century by winning it in 1967 with the Red Sox, which also earned him the MVP award in the season. He hit 44 home runs, had 121 RBIs, and batted .326. With what was a low league-leading batting average, Carl still pulled it off.

In comparison to the National League in 1967, Roberto Clemente led the league in batting with .357, Hank Aaron with 39 home runs, and Orlando Cepeda had 111 RBIs.

Answer: Lou Gehrig

Munson, who won the Rookie of the Year in 1970, won the MVP in 1976 but was never close to the Triple Crown. The Babe came close many times but never won the Triple Crown. It was Gehrig who won it in Ruth's last season with the Yankees in 1934. Lou hit 49 home runs, had 165 RBIs, and hit a .363 average. Gehrig also led the league in many other categories, but unfoundedly finished fifth in the MVP voting behind the Tigers' Mickey Cochrane, Charlie Gehringer, Schoolboy Rowe, and Yankee teammate Lefty Gomez. Something did not compute in 1934.

Answer: Ted Williams

Although all Triple Crown winners, Williams was not only the first Red Sox player to win it, but he won two. Ironically, he won it in 1942 just before being drafted into WWII. Then he returned to the Major Leagues in 1946 and won the AL MVP. He was also the runner-up in all three Triple Crown categories in 1946.

In 1947, he made up for it and won the Triple Crown a second time. In 1949, he missed his third Triple Crown by a hair by tying in RBIs, hit more home runs than anyone in the league, but lost the batting title to George Kell of the Tigers by less than .001.