Triple Crown
A Triple Crown is an achievement earned by a batter who leads their league in batting average (BA), home runs (HR), and runs batted in (RBI) at the end of the regular season, or by a pitcher who leads their league in earned runs average (ERA), wins, and strikeouts.
The term Triple Crown, without modifier, normally refers to the batting achievement. For pitchers, the term Pitching Triple Crown is normally used for clarity.
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Batting Triple Crown
In the Bull League, the batting Triple Crown is an exceptionally rare achievement. The first player to achieve it after the adoption of the "full length" 162-game season was John Rambo of the Chicago Pit Bulls, in 2021.
Billy Kidd, of the Toronto Ducks, won the Triple Crown in 1992, but the season length was no more than 16 games for any team. The feat is still considered an impressive achievement, as the 1991-1993 seasons were marked by pitcher dominance, when no-hitters, shut outs, and low batting averages were prolific throughout the league. Kidd batted for an average of .307, with 6 HR and 11 RBI that year. He was the only hitter to be over the .300 mark in either league that season.
Pitching Triple Crown
A pitcher who leads their league in ERA, wins and strike outs is said to have won the "Pitching Triple Crown." The feat is not as rare as the batting achievement, and several pitchers have won it since 1995, though none won it in years prior.
Two pitchers have won the Triple Crown twice, Jack Stevens and Ricky Terrazas. Stevens won it in 1996, and again in 1998 (both times with New York), while Terrazas earned his in 2005 (with Chicago) and in 2012 (with Montreal). Terrazas is also the only pitcher who has achieved the Triple Crown in both the AEL and the LL.
In 1998, pitchers won the Triple Crown in both the AEL and the LL, the only year there have been two Triple Crown winners.
Triple Crown winners
Year | Links to the article on that season |
---|---|
† | Member of the Hall of Fame |
‡ | Player is active |
* | Player won the MVP and/or SKA |
HR | Home runs |
RBI | Runs batted in |
AVG | Batting average |
ERA | Earned runs average |
W | wins |
K | Strike outs |
AEL | American Eagle League |
LL | Lake League |
Batting
Year | Player | Position | Team | League | HR | RBI | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992[1] | Billy Kidd | Center field | Toronto Ducks | LL | 6 | 11 | .307 |
2021 | John Rambo | Right field | Chicago Pit Bulls | LL | 77 | 206 | .413 |
2024 | John Rambo | Right field | Chicago Pit Bulls | LL | 44 | 137 | .384 |
Pitching
See [2].
Year | Player | Team | League | ERA | W | K |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | Jack Stevens†* | New York Minutemen | LL | 2.22 | 10 | 162 |
1997 | Kurt Coler†* | Calgary Chinooks | AEL | 2.26 | 11 | 116 |
1998 | Ricky Geraldo†* | California Tidals | AEL | 1.90 | 10 | 104 |
1998 | Jack Stevens†* | New York Minutemen | LL | 2.04 | 13 | 193 |
2005 | Ricky Terrazas†* | Chicago Pit Bulls | AEL | 2.18 | 9 | 129 |
2012 | Ricky Terrazas†* | Montreal Metros | LL | 1.54 | 13 | 184 |
2019 | Knuckles Malone‡ | Toronto Nomads | LL | 2.59 | 22-10 | 264 |