A Triple Crown is an ultimate achievement in the Major League. It attests to the batting dominance in home runs, RBIs, and the run average. With the 2022 season on its last legs, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has emerged as the biggest contender for the crown.
During the All-Star break, Paul Goldschmidt, the first baseman for the Cardinals, hogged the limelight as the one slated to win the Triple Crown. He continues to be the favorite to win the National League MVP award. But as the regular season winds down, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has taken over and is in a better position than Goldschmidt. He ranks atop the combined AL/NL list in homers, RBIs, and batting average. This puts the Yankees slugger to win the 13th crown in MLB history.
Judge has mostly been in the news because he is trying to beat Roger Maris’s AL record of 61 home runs in a single season. Maris set this record 61 years ago. Judge hit two more home runs against the Brewers on Sunday, bringing his season total to 59. He is about to become only the sixth person to hit 60 or more home runs in a single season. But as Judge keeps getting closer to Maris’s record, he is also getting closer to leading the league in all three parts of the Triple Crown. He is only two batting average points away from doing this.
Masterful Mashing.
59th of the year. 2nd of the game. #AllRise pic.twitter.com/5XKksQuDYX
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 18, 2022
With his 4-for-5 performance in Milwaukee on Sunday, Judge raised his batting average to .316, tying him for second in the AL with Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts and trailing the Twins’ Luis Arraez, who is hitting .317. The New York star is going to finish the season as the leader in home runs. He also has the highest RBIs – 127 – in the Major League.
Here’s where Aaron Judge stands in his quest for the Triple Crown in AL/NL history and the first since Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
Sunday’s stats: 4-for-5, 2 HR, 4 RBIs
Last 10 games: 19-for-38 (.500), 4 HR, 9 RBIs
Next game: Tuesday vs. PIT, 7:05 p.m. ET
Batting average: .316 – second in AL behind Luis Arraez’s .317
Home runs: 59 — Top
Runs batted in: 127 — First
The magical season of @TheJudge44 continues. pic.twitter.com/R3X3I2c6gu
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 18, 2022
Past Triple Crowns
Here are some of the best players of all time that Judge would join if he did it. Since RBIs became an official stat in 1920, only 10 players in the AL or NL have won a Triple Crown. Two of these players have won more than once. In the Divisional Era, there has only been one Triple Crown since 1967.
Triple Crown winners
| Year | Player | Team | League |
| 2012 | Miguel Cabrera | Detroit Tigers | (AL) |
| 1967 | Carl Yastrzemski | Boston Red Sox | (AL) |
| 1966 | Frank Robinson | Baltimore Orioles | (AL) |
| 1956 | Mickey Mantle | New York Yankees | (AL) |
| 1947 | Ted Williams | Boston Red Sox | (AL) |
| 1942 | Ted Williams | Boston Red Sox | (AL) |
| 1937 | Joe Medwick | St. Louis Cardinals | (NL) |
| 1934 | Lou Gehrig | New York Yankees | (AL) |
| 1933 | Jimmie Foxx | Oakland Athletics | (AL) |
| 1933 | Chuck Klein | Philadelphia Phillies | (NL) |
| 1925 | Rogers Hornsby | St. Louis Cardinals | (NL) |
| 1922 | Rogers Hornsby | St. Louis Cardinals | (NL) |
Recent close calls
Since Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown in 2012, several big-name hitters have tried to win it at the end of the season, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Here are five players who came close but didn’t make it.
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2021, AL): Shohei Ohtani won the MVP award, but Vlad Jr.’s attempt to win the Triple Crown was a big part of the story. He tied for the AL home run title with 48, but failed to top in batting average and RBI.
- Marcell Ozuna (2020, NL): Ozuna led the season in home runs and RBIs, but his .338 average put him third.
- Christian Yelich (2018, NL): Yeli was the NL MVP for the Brewers. He won the batting title and came close to Nolan Arenado and Javier Báez in home runs and RBIs.
- J.D. Martinez (2018, AL): Martinez won the AL RBI title and came in second in both home runs (43) and batting average (five behind Khris Davis) (.330, 16 points behind Red Sox teammate Mookie Betts).
- Miguel Cabrera (2013, AL): Miggy almost won two straight Triple Crowns. He won the batting title, but Orioles slugger Chris Davis beat him by nine home runs and one RBI.
Judge’s Triple Crown Chances
- Two Yankees already won the Triple Crown. Lou Gehrig had it in 1934. Mickey Mantle claimed it 22 years later. Judge would be the third player in Yankees history to win the Triple Crown if he gets this season. Only the Cardinals and Red Sox had three players who won the crown more thrice.
- If Judge wins the Triple Crown this year, it will be 100 years since Hornsby won the first one in 1922.
- If he gets hold of it, he will be the seventh consecutive from the American League to have it. Since 1937, no one from the National League has won the crown.
Will Aaron Judge will win the crown? Who will get it for pitching?
