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Albert Pujols or the Field?

Written by 
Chris Liss
Published on March 23, 2009

There hasn't been a Triple Crown winner (among hitters) since 1967 when Carl Yastrzemski went 44/121/,326. That's 41 years without one when prior to Yaz, Frank Robinson had won in 1966, Mickey Mantle in 1956, Ted Williams in 1947 and 1942, Joe Medwick in 1937, Lou Gehrig in 1934, etc. In other words, this is an unprecedented dry spell for Triple Crowns.

Albert Pujols with his unique combination of power and contact skills is the most likely player to win one this year - is anyone else capable? And if you wanted to make a Triple Crown bet for 2009, would you rather have Pujols or the field?

When I first thought of this, I figured Pujols was a no-brainer, but consider the following:

  • He lacks strong OBP players ahead of him to provide RBI opportunities
  • He plays in the NL with Ryan Howard (better HR park), Adam Dunn and Ryan Braun, i.e., all the top home run hitters in baseball (now that ARod's out).

    On the positive side:

  • Matt Holliday, a batting average and RBI threat at Coors Field, is now in the AL
  • The NL lacks batting average specialists like Joe Mauer, Ichiro and even Placido Polanco (.93 career contact rate) and Derek Jeter.

    Miguel Cabrera's got to be the favorite in the AL, and with ARod out, he might have as good a chance as Pujols, though he does have to out-hit those pesky batting average specialists.

    I think I'd still take Pujols, but it's close.

    As for active players who have won a career Triple Crown, i.e., ever led the league in each of the three categories during a full season, here they are:

  • Alex Rodriguez

    That's it. Unless you count Barry Bonds.

    By the way, while looking up the stats for this post, I was shocked to see who led the NL in RBI in 2003 and especially 2004 - without cheating - does anyone remember?