On the sports fan bucket list of athletic achievements unlikely to be witnessed in my lifetime, a baseball player winning the Triple Crown ranked somewhere between Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak being matched and an NBA player equaling Oscar Robertson’s feat of averaging a triple-double for an entire season in 1962.
For those under 50, the Triple Crown was a mythical mantle from the days before divisional play and the designated hitter. Until Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera won it this year in the American League, no one had worn the Crown — leading the league in homers, runs batted in, and batting average — since Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. It was an impossible feat that enhanced an Impossible Dream.
Comments
Since takng over Bob Ryan's spot, this is your best column yet, CLG. Keep it up and I'll forgive lines like "well-heeled wheels" ;)
Whoops, shoulda been ;-). Can you forgive me?
Setting aside Mr. Gasper's complaints about those horrible bullying stat geeks, I suspect the fact that Cabrera was the best player on a pennant winner should go some way towards countering the statistical argument argument for Trout. Those 11 wins that Trout could be credited with never really got the Angels near to, let alone into, a playoff spot.
I know the post season does not factor in the MVP voting. However I am glad he did not get the award HE CHOKED IN THE PLAYOFFS! Kind of reminds me of a Yankee player A-ROD. Yaz did not choke in the world series the Sox got beat by a much superior team back then.
Geez Chris you sound awfully defensive. And come to think of it, defense is why Trout should win this thing. A brilliant fielder does make a difference. The Triple Crown is 100% an offensive stat.