The Rookies

Coaching third: Someone about to get spiked.

Albert Pujols’ amazing start to the 2009 season has brought renewed interest in the Triple Crown (leading the league in home runs, RBIs, and batting average) in one season. This achievement, which hasn’t been accomplished in over 40 years, is undoubtedly a mark of a tremendous season. The Triple Crown, however, is a fairly arbitrary stat—why not use slugging percentage, for instance? It also ignores a large portion of the game: The lead-off hitters and base stealers have little chance in this competition, yet their value to a team is far from negligible.

Enter the Small Ball Triple Crown.

It is awarded to a hitter who leads the league in on-base percentage, stolen bases, and runs in a season. Of course, these are also arbitrary stats, but I think they are to run creation what the Triple Crown stats are to slugging. Going into this, I had no idea if there would be any seasons even close (or if there would be a glut), but looking at the categories, a player who achieves this feat has to not only be willing to steal, but also be an excellent hitter on a good team.

This proved to be a rare combination.

Small Ball Triple Crown Winners:

It turned out that only two people had won the small ball triple crown in the modern era (after 1901). The first was Ty  Cobb, who had this unbelievable season in 1915:  .486 OBP, 96 stolen bases, and 144 runs. That stolen base record lasted until the 1960’s, when it was broken by Maury Wills. Cobb really is the prototypical player for this stat; he had over 4,000 hits, fantastic speed, and an uncompromising desire to use that speed to run into the crowd and punch people steal bases.

"Rickey would like to accept the Small Ball Triple Crown on Rickey's behalf."

It makes sense, then, that the second winner of this triple crown is the all-time leader in steals. Rickey Henderson won it in 1990, putting up a line of  .439 OBP, 66 steals, and 119 runs. Rickey, too, is the once-in-a-generation player that fits the requirements. While his legacy was slightly tarnished by his off-the-field antics and his ill-fated comebacks, Henderson was one of the premier hitters of his era. Fans tend to forget just how good a hitter he was, but the Small Ball Triple Crown remembers.

Small Ball Triple Crown Near-Misses:

There have been several close calls with the SBTC. In 1908, Honus Wagner led the league in steals and OBP, but finished a single run short of the league lead. in 1977, Rod Carew had an amazing .449 OBP and 128 runs scored, but finished third in steals. The last player to lead two categories of the SBTC in one year? Improbably, it’s Barry Bonds. In 1992, when Bonds’ head was still normal-sized, he led the league in runs scored and OBP, but his 39 stolen bases were not enough.

Active Small Ball Triple Crown Contenders

Unfortunately, there is no category for samba.

So who could next join this hallowed club? Unfortunately, Small Ball Triple Crown candidates are rarer than 300-game winners. The only two players I currently could see having a chance would be Carl Crawford of the Rays and Jose Reyes of the Mets. Of these two, Reyes, although injured this year,  is the better bet, having led the NL in steals and finished second in runs three times. Both Crawford and Reyes need to significantly raise their OBP to have a shot at the SBTC.

It’s looking unlikely that there will be another one soon, and thus my made-up stat will fade into oblivion.