The pitching Triple Crown (leading the league in Wins, ERA and Strikeouts) may not have the glamor of the batting one, but its winners make up a pretty distinguished roster. Try your hand at some Triple Crown trivia, answers below the fold.
1. Since 1997, we’ve had a bumper crop, with five pitchers winning a total of six Triple Crowns. Name them.
2. Name the threeo pitchers to win it three times.
3. Two of the first three winners (Tommy Bond in 1877 and Guy Hecker in the American Association in 1884) aren’t in Cooperstown – but between 1889 and 1996, 18 pitchers combined to do it 27 times – name the three of those 18 who are not in the Hall of Fame.
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1. Jake Peavy, Johan Santana, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens (twice). Clemens won it both years he pitched for the Blue Jays.
2. No surprises here: Sandy Koufax, Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander. Note that Johnson spread out his dominance, winning it at age 25, 30 and 36.
3. Dwight Gooden, Bucky Walters and Hippo Vaughn (Vaughn only won it because Alexander was in the Army that year). Walters and Vaughn both got somewhat late starts in their careers – Walters made the majors as a third baseman – but who would have thought that Gooden would end up on a list like this, back when he was 20 years old and ruled the world? We’ve seen other phenoms since Gooden and better pitchers as well, but we may never see another that good that young.
Off the top of my head:
1) Pedro, Randy Johnson, Clemens, Santana, Schilling
2) Koufax, Walter Johnson, Clemens
3) Ron Guidry, Dwight Gooden, Vida Blue
Bob Gibson was interviewed on WFAN today. Great guy, not one of those, “Things were better in my day” type of people. His answer to Sabathia: Go for the money. Gibson loved to hit, and was great, but not he wouldn’t stay in he NL (and he hates the DH). He’s a pro.
Also, when asked how “few” (a paraphrase) of the pitchers would make it then who pitch now, it was really a, “well good pitching is there, period, and they would be fine then too.” No, these aren’t quotes, but my impressions.
And the McCarver story, when Tim went up, and Gibson told him the only thing he knew about pitching was he couldn’t hit it, was true. But, according to Gibson, McCarver was wound too tightly and he needed a laugh. Another one: with a man on, McCarver told him where the throw would go if Gibson caught it. To Maxville (Dal was a great second baseman but my grandmother could hit better). Gibson told him the throw was going home, since the Cards couldn’t score any runs for him.
If you hadn’t seen Gibson pitch, he was an angry Pedro in his prime on the mound. In truth, I think Pedro was better, but I wold be happy to give the ball to Gibby game seven over almost anybody. Maybe anybody.
The segment on Gibson in the Ken Burns documentary series “Baseball” gives a great sense of how intense a competitor he was.