Pitching Triple Crown Winners in the Major Leagues

Pitching Triple Crown winners have been rare in the history of professional baseball, both in the traditional Major Leagues and in the Negro Leagues. A player wins the Triple Crown (an unofficial honor for which no actual award is given) by leading his league in three major pitching categories in the same season: wins, earned run average (ERA), and strikeouts.

Although more precise statistics have been developed to measure a player’s worth, leading the league in these three categories leaves no doubt about the player’s exceptional, well-rounded pitching prowess. It’s no coincidence that all the pitchers who have won the Triple Crown have also won the Cy Young Award since that award was established in 1956.

Boston right-hander Tommy Bond was the first pitcher to win the Triple Crown, with 40 wins, a 2.11 ERA, and 170 strikeouts in 1877. He also led the league in shutouts, WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched), and strikeout-to-walk ratio. In that era of “iron-horse” pitchers, Bond pitched 521 innings. Boston finished first in the National League with a record of 42-18, with Bond getting the win in all but two of the team’s games.

In 1878 Bond again led the league in wins and strikeouts, and he won the ERA title in 1879. He played in the major leagues for ten seasons, including seven in the National League from 1876 to 1882. He finished his career with 234 wins, 972 strikeouts, and a lifetime ERA of 2.14, currently good for 10th place among all major league pitchers. To date, Bond has not been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn of the Providence Grays won the Triple Crown in 1884 with 60 wins—the winningest season in major league history. He posted an ERA of 1.38 and an amazing 441 strikeouts to go along with the victories. He pitched 678-2/3 innings and notched 73 complete games in leading the Grays to the pennant.

In the 1884 “World’s Series,” the first recognized interleague championship series, Radbourn won all three games against the New York Metropolitans of the American Association. He allowed no earned runs in 22 innings.

Radbourn had also led the league in wins in 1883 with 48 and finished second in both ERA and strikeouts that year. In a career of just 11 seasons (1881-1891), he totaled 310 victories, winning 20 or more games nine times and pitching 488 complete games. He finished with a 2.68 ERA and 1,830 strikeouts. Radbourn was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1939.

Radbourn had Triple Crown competition in 1884, as Guy Hecker of the Louisville Eclipse won the crown in the rival American Association. Hecker’s numbers were just a notch or two below Radbourn’s, with 52 wins, a 1.80 ERA, and 385 strikeouts. He had one fewer complete game than Radbourn with 72.

Hecker’s major league career spanned nine years from 1882 to 1890, during which he posted a record of 175-146 with an ERA of 2.93 and 1,110 strikeouts. He played for Louisville for the first eight years before joining the National League’s Allegheny City club, the predecessor of the Pittsburgh Pirates, as a player-manager in his final season. Unfortunately, the team finished in last place, 66-1/2 games out, with a record of 23-113-2.

Although he is not in the Hall of Fame, Hecker holds a unique distinction among the pitching Triple Crown winners. In 1886, he won the American Association batting title with a .341 average. No other winner of the pitching Triple Crown has ever won a batting crown.

Right-hander Tim Keefe won the National League Triple Crown in 1888 as he led the New York Giants to the pennant with 35 wins, a 1.74 ERA, and a major league-leading 335 strikeouts. His victories included one stretch of 19 consecutive wins, a record that held up for more than two decades. He won four more games in the Giants’ World Series win over the St. Louis Browns of the American Association, posting a 0.51 ERA over 35 innings.

Keefe had several other dominant seasons besides 1888. He won over 40 games in both 1883 and 1886, led the National League in ERA as a rookie in 1880 and again in 1885, and was the first pitcher to strike out more than 300 batters in three separate seasons. His 0.86 ERA in 1880 is the third-best single-season ERA in major league history.

Keefe posted 342 wins in his 14-year career, 10th on the all-time list, with a 2.63 ERA. His 2,564 career strikeouts were a record until being eclipsed by Cy Young in 1908. He was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1964.

Boston pitcher John Clarkson won the Triple Crown in 1889 with a major league-leading 49 wins along with a 2.73 ERA and 284 strikeouts. He also led the majors with 68 complete games and eight shutouts. He accomplished these feats on a pitching staff that also included 1884 Triple Crown winner Old Hoss Radbourn.

Clarkson had come close to a major league Triple Crown with the Chicago White Stockings in 1885, when he had 53 wins and 308 strikeouts to lead the majors but fell short with a 1.85 ERA, finishing third in the NL behind Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch. Clarkson also led the league in wins and strikeouts in 1887.

In a career of 12 major league seasons, he won 30 or more games six times and finished with 328 wins, a 2.81 ERA, and 1,978 strikeouts. The Veterans Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1963.

Amos Rusie of the New York Giants won the major league Triple Crown in 1894 with 36 wins, an ERA of 2.78, and 195 strikeouts. His ERA was especially noteworthy in a season where the National League average ERA was 5.33.

Known for the velocity of his fastball, the “Hoosier Thunderbolt” remained effective after the distance from the pitcher to home plate was increased in 1893 from 50 feet to 60 feet, 6 inches—a change prompted in part by the hard-throwing Rusie’s wildness.

Although 1894 was the only year in which Rusie led the league in wins, he did win 30 or more games in four consecutive seasons. He led the major leagues in strikeouts five times, but he also led the majors in walks for an equal number of seasons, including a record 289 walks allowed in 1890. In 10 seasons, Rusie won 246 games. He was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1977.

Denton True “Cy” Young of the Boston Americans won the American League Triple Crown in 1901, the first year of the league’s existence. Young led both leagues with 33 wins and an ERA of 1.62 while leading the AL with 158 strikeouts. His mark of 0.9 walks per 9 innings was also the best in the majors, as was his 4.27 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Young began his career in 1890 with the Cleveland Spiders of the National League. After 11 years as a star pitcher in the senior circuit, he provided immediate credibility to the new American League when he joined the Boston franchise in 1901.

In his 22-year career, Young won 20 or more games 16 times and over 30 games five times, finishing with a record 511 wins that will never be approached, let alone broken. His career 2.63 ERA and 2,803 strikeouts were posted in 906 games, including a record 749 complete games. Young was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1937, and the Cy Young Award for pitching excellence was named in his honor.

Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants was the first pitcher to win two Triple Crowns. In 1905, he posted 31 wins with a sparkling 1.28 ERA and 206 strikeouts; he also recorded the second no-hitter of his career. He then led the Giants to victory in the World Series, pitching three complete-game shutouts against the Philadelphia Athletics in six days.

He won his second Triple Crown in 1908 with 37 wins—still the modern (i.e., post-1900) National League record—a 1.43 ERA, and 259 strikeouts. In both 1905 and 1908, he also led the majors in shutouts.

Mathewson’s career spanned 17 seasons (1900−1916) and 636 games, all but one with the Giants. His 373 career wins put him first in the National League, tied with Grover Alexander. He won 22 or more games in 12 consecutive seasons beginning in 1903, winning at least 30 games four times. He led the league in strikeouts five times and struck out 2,507 batters in his career.

Mathewson served in World War I after his playing career ended. He developed tuberculosis after being accidentally gassed during a training exercise, and he died in 1925 at age 45. He was one of the “First Five” players inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936, the only one inducted posthumously.

In 1905 Philadelphia Athletics left-hander George Edward “Rube” Waddell had 27 wins and a 1.48 ERA to lead the American League, and his 287 strikeouts were tops in the majors. He also led the majors in games pitched, fewest hits per 9 innings and most strikeouts per 9 innings. His most memorable win occurred on July 4 when he beat Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox in a 20-inning game in which both pitchers went the distance. The Athletics won the AL pennant, but Waddell missed the World Series with a shoulder injury.

Waddell’s 13-season career (1897, 1899-1910) included four consecutive seasons in which he won more than 20 games. He finished with 193 career wins, a 2.16 ERA, and 2,316 strikeouts. He led the American League in strikeouts for six consecutive seasons, leading the majors in five of those six years, including a post-1900 single-season record of 349 in 1904, which was not surpassed until Sandy Koufax struck out 382 in 1965. The talented but eccentric Waddell played for five teams during his career. He died from tuberculosis at age 37 in 1914 and was posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1946.

Right-hander Walter “Big Train” Johnson of the Washington Nationals (popularly known as the Senators) is the only American League pitcher to win the Triple Crown three times, accomplishing the feat in 1913, 1918, and 1924. In his dominant 1913 season, he led the major leagues with 36 victories against only 7 losses for a .837 winning percentage. His 1.14 ERA and 243 strikeouts also led the majors, as did his 29 complete games, 11 shutouts, and 6.3 strikeouts to walks ratio. The Senators finished second, but Johnson was named the AL’s MVP.

In 1918, Johnson led both leagues with 23 wins, a 1.27 ERA, and 162 strikeouts. He again led the majors in shutouts, with eight. In 1924, he posted 23 wins, including a major league-best six shutouts, an ERA of 2.72, and 158 strikeouts. He was named the American League MVP for the second time, as the Senators won the pennant and went on to beat the New York Giants in the World Series.

Johnson pitched for 21 seasons, from 1907 to 1927, all with Washington. He led the league in wins six times and put together ten consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins. He led the AL in ERA five times and strikeouts twelve times. His 417 career victories are second all-time, his 2.17 ERA is twelfth best, and his 3,509 career strikeouts rank ninth. Johnson also holds the career record for shutouts with 110. He was one of the original five players inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936.

Grover Cleveland Alexander, sometimes known as “Pete” or “Old Pete,” was the first of two National League pitchers to win the Triple Crown three times and the only pitcher to win it with two different teams.

In 1915, Alexander won the crown with the Philadelphia Phillies, winning 31 games, striking out 241 batters, and recording a 1.22 ERA. In 1918 he won his second Triple Crown as a Phillie, recording 33 wins with a 1.55 ERA and 167 strikeouts. In 1920 Alexander won his third crown, this time as a member of the Chicago Cubs, with 27 wins, a 1.91 ERA, and 173 strikeouts.

In his 20-season career from 1911 to 1930, Alexander won 373 games, tying him with Christy Mathewson for first on the National League career leader board and third in the majors. He led the league (and the majors) in wins six times, ERA four times, complete games in six seasons, and shutouts in seven seasons. The Baseball Writers elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1938.

James Leslie “Hippo” Vaughn was the first left-handed pitcher to win the National League Triple Crown. In 1918, Vaughn recorded 22 wins, a 1.74 ERA, and 148 strikeouts for the first-place Chicago Cubs. He also led the majors with eight shutouts. Although Vaughn pitched three complete games in the World Series against the Boston Red Sox, striking out 17 and allowing only 3 runs for a 1.00 ERA, he came away with only one win as the Cubs lost the series in six games. Game 1 was a pitcher’s duel between Vaughn and Babe Ruth, in which Ruth’s Red Sox came out on top 1-0.

Vaughn played nine of his thirteen seasons for the Cubs, for whom he notched 151 of his 178 career wins. He won 20 or more games five times and came close to a second Triple Crown in 1919, when he led the league in strikeouts but finished second in wins and ERA. He retired with a career ERA of 2.49 and 1,416 strikeouts. As of this writing, Vaughn has not been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Brooklyn Robins left-hander Charles Arthur “Dazzy” Vance won the Triple Crown in 1924. His 28 wins and 262 strikeouts led the majors, as did his 30 complete games, his 1.022 WHIP, and his 10.5 WAR. The Robins finished second in the National League, and Vance was named the NL MVP. In 1925, he pitched a no-hitter against the Phillies and led the league in wins for the second consecutive season.

Vance’s major league success was somewhat unusual—he was 31 years old when he first became a regular in 1922, after 10 seasons in the minors and appearances in a handful of major league games in 1915 and 1918.

Vance led the National League in strikeouts a total of seven times. He finished his 16-year career with 197 wins, a 3.24 ERA, and 2,045 strikeouts. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1955.

Robert Moses “Lefty” Grove of the Philadelphia Athletics won two consecutive American League Triple Crowns in 1930 and 1931. He had superb winning percentages in both years. In 1930—when his crown was also a Major League Triple Crown—he posted a record of 28-5 for a .848 percentage, along with a 2.54 ERA and 209 strikeouts. He also led the majors with nine saves.

In 1931, he won the MVP award with a 31-4 record (a winning percentage of .886). His ERA was 2.06, he had 175 strikeouts, and he led the majors with 27 complete games. The Athletics won the American League pennant in both 1930 and 1931, beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series in 1930 but losing to the Cardinals in 1931.

Grove was an American Leaguer for all 17 years of his career, pitching nine seasons for the Athletics from 1925 to 1933 and eight seasons for the Boston Red Sox from 1934 to 1941. He won 20 or more games eight times, leading the league in four of those years and finishing with 300 career victories. His ERA, the best in the league nine times, was 3.06 for his career, and he finished with 2,266 strikeouts after leading the league in that category for each of his first seven seasons. Grove was a six-time All-Star and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1947.

Stuart “Slim” Jones was the first pitcher to win a Triple Crown in the Negro Leagues. In 1934, the 21-year-old Philadelphia Stars left-hander posted a record of 20-4 (a winning percentage of .833) with a 1.29 ERA and 164 strikeouts. His ERA was the best in the majors. He also led his league with 30 complete games, 6 shutouts, and an 8.4 WAR.

Jones started the East-West All-Star game and pitched three shutout innings. The Stars won the 1934 pennant and beat the Chicago American Giants in the Championship Series, with Jones pitching a shutout in the decisive game to seal the victory.

Unfortunately, 1934 proved to be Jones’s only notable season. He ended his seven-year career with a 32-21 won-loss record, going a combined 12-17 in his other six seasons. He died from pneumonia at age 25, not long after the end of the 1938 baseball season.

Vernon Louis “Lefty” Gomez of the New York Yankees won the Triple Crown twice, in 1934 and 1937. In 1934 he led the American League with 26 wins, a 2.33 ERA and 158 strikeouts. His 25 complete games topped the majors. In 1937, he recorded an AL-best 21 wins and 2.33 ERA, along with a major league-best 194 strikeouts. His six shutouts also led the majors. The Yankees won the pennant and the World Series, as Gomez pitched two complete-game victories and posted a 1.50 ERA with eight strikeouts.

Gomez pitched for the Yankees for 13 seasons, from 1930 to 1942, then pitched in one game for the Washington Senators in 1943 before retiring. He won a total of 189 games in his career, with a 3.34 ERA and 1,468 strikeouts.

He was named to the first seven American League All-Star teams and pitched in five World Series, compiling a 6-0 record. The Veterans Committee elected Gomez to the Hall of Fame in 1972.

Homestead Grays right-hander Ray Brown was one of two Negro Leagues pitchers to win a Triple Crown in 1938. Brown captured the crown in the Negro National League II with a perfect won-loss record of 14-0, a major league-leading 1.88 ERA, and 70 strikeouts. He also led the league with 11 complete games, 4 shutouts, 3 saves, a 1.023 WHIP, and a 4.9 WAR.

Brown’s career spanned 14 years from 1931 to 1945, including 12+ seasons with the Grays. His 1940 season was arguably even better than 1938—he led the league with a 17-2 record and a 2.07 ERA and struck out 75 batters. With a 6.8 WAR, he was a second-time All-Star.

Brown led his league in wins six times, complete games six times, and saves five times. He compiled a career record of 119-46 with a 3.12 ERA. According to Baseball Reference, he is the Homestead Grays’ all-time top player with a 35.5 WAR. The Special Committee on the Negro Leagues elected him to the Hall of Fame in 2006.

Right-hander Hilton Smith of the Kansas City Monarchs won the 1938 pitching Triple Crown in the Negro American League with a 9-2 record, a 1.92 ERA, and 88 strikeouts. It was his second year with the Monarchs, and his 1937 stats had been even better: a won-loss record of 11-4 with a 1.68 ERA and 97 strikeouts.

Smith had a 13-year career in the Negro Leagues, and he also played in numerous non-league games. He often played in the outfield when he wasn’t pitching. Of his 162 official games as a pitcher, 160 were with the Monarchs. He pitched in four postseason series and compiled a 6-0 record with a 1.49 ERA in nine games. 

Smith was a seven-time Negro American League All-Star. The Veterans Committee voted him into the Hall of Fame in 2001.

In 1939, Cincinnati Reds right-hander Bucky Walters led the National League with 27 wins, tops in the majors, a 2.29 ERA, and 137 strikeouts. He also led the majors with 31 complete games and 319 innings pitched. He was selected to the All-Star team and was the NL MVP as the Reds won the pennant.

He had less success in the 1939 World Series, going 0-2 as the Reds lost the series to the Yankees in four games. In 1940, however, he was 2-0 in the World Series with a 1.50 ERA and two complete games, including a shutout in Game 6, to help the Reds beat the Detroit Tigers.

Walters played in 19 major league seasons ranging from 1931 to 1950, but he began as a third baseman and did not pitch in a major league game until 1934. He won 198 games, again leading the league in wins in 1940 and 1944. He also led the league in ERA in 1940 but finished fifth in strikeouts. Walters was a six-time All-Star but has not, to date, been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Right-hander Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians won the Triple Crown in 1940, at age 21, by leading the majors with 27 wins and 261 strikeouts and leading the AL with a 2.61 ERA. He also led the league with four shutouts and led the majors with 31 complete games.

His most memorable win occurred on Opening Day when he pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox—the only Opening Day no-hitter in American League history. (Leon Day of the Negro National League II’s Newark Eagles pitched the only other Opening Day no-hitter in baseball history in 1946.)

Feller made his big league debut with the Indians in 1936 when he was just 17 years old, and he spent all 18 seasons of his career (interrupted for more than three years for military service in World War II) with the Indians.

He had six seasons with 20 or more wins, leading the league each time, and finished with 266 lifetime wins. He never led the league in ERA other than in 1940, but he led the majors in strikeouts seven times—including the four seasons preceding his military service and his first three full seasons afterward. He was an eight-time All-Star and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962.

Right-hander Johnny Wright of the Homestead Grays won the Negro National League II Triple Crown in 1943 with 18 wins, a 2.54 ERA, and 94 strikeouts. He also led the league with 22 starts and 15 complete games. His 5.7 WAR was the highest in the league among pitchers, and he was selected for the All-Star team.

Wright played in the Negro Leagues for 10 years, spending all or part of six seasons with the Grays, as well as shorter stints with the Newark Eagles and the Toledo Crawfords. Although he pitched well throughout his career, he never won more than five games in any year other than his 1943 Triple Crown season.

In 1945, Wright was signed to a Brooklyn Dodgers minor league contract along with Jackie Robinson—making him one of the first two Black players to be signed by a traditional major league team in the 20th century. Unlike Robinson, however, Wright did not make the jump to the Dodgers.

Left-hander Hal Newhouser of the Detroit Tigers won the American League Triple Crown in 1945 with 25 wins, a 1.81 ERA, and 212 strikeouts. His win and strikeout totals were tops in the major leagues, and he also led the majors with 29 complete games and eight shutouts.

He won his second consecutive American League MVP award and was named the Major League Player of the Year as the Tigers won the pennant and then went on to beat the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.

Newhouser had a 17-year career from 1939 to 1955, including 15 seasons with the Tigers and two with the Indians. He led the American League in wins four times and finished with 207 wins, a 3.06 ERA, and 1,796 strikeouts. In addition to his two MVP awards, he was a six-time All-Star. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972 after selection by the Veterans Committee.

Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Sandy Koufax won three National League Triple Crowns in four years, winning in 1963, 1965, and 1966. In each case, his NL-leading stats also led the majors.

Koufax struck out more than 300 batters in each of his Triple Crown seasons: 306 in 1963, 382 in 1965, and 317 in 1966. His 1965 season included a 1-0 perfect game against the Cubs on September 9, in which he struck out 14 batters. It was the fourth no-hitter of his career.

In 12 seasons from 1955 to 1966, all with the Dodgers (first in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles), Koufax recorded 165 wins, a 2.76 career ERA, and 2,396 strikeouts. Including the four no-hitters, he had 137 complete games and 40 shutouts. He won three unanimous Cy Young Awards coinciding with his three Triple Crown seasons, was the National League MVP in 1963, and was a seven-time All-Star.

In four World Series, Koufax led the Dodgers to three championships with an ERA of 0.95. Due to an arthritic condition, he retired after the 1966 season while at his peak. In 1972, at age 36, he became the youngest player ever inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Veteran left-hander Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves won the 2024 National League Triple Crown in his first NL season after 13 years in the AL. He tied the American League Triple Crown winner, Tarik Skubal, with 18 wins, but Sale’s .857 winning percentage (18-3) was tops in the majors. He also edged out Skubal by one point with a 2.38 ERA versus Skubal’s 2.39. But his 225 strikeouts put him in second place, as Skubal notched 228 Ks.

Sale’s sparkling season on the mound earned him the Cy Young Award, a Gold Glove, and the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award. He was a National League All-Star, his eighth All-Star honor after being named to the AL team seven times.

In 14 Major League seasons through 2024, Sale has compiled a record of 138-83 with a 3.04 ERA and 1,414 strikeouts. On the career leaderboard among active players for the Triple Crown categories, he ranks seventh in wins, third in ERA, and fourth in strikeouts.

Not only were there Triple Crown winners in both leagues in 2024, but their Triple Crown stats were almost identical. Like Chris Sale in the National League, Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal recorded 18 wins in his American League Triple Crown season. His 2.39 ERA was just a notch below Sale’s 2.38 mark, and he struck out 228 batters, three more than Sale.

Skubal was the American League Cy Young Award winner and was named to the All-Star team. He pitched one inning in the AL win and retired the side on 10 pitches. In three postseason games, he went 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA and 20 strikeouts.

2024 was only Skubal’s fifth season in the majors, all with the Tigers. He improved each year, but in a sense, he came out of nowhere to win the crown. With his 18 wins, he reached double figures for the first time and built his overall record to 41-31. It will be interesting to watch his progress in the coming years.

Winning the pitching Triple Crown is a special achievement because it requires excellence in three areas of pitching that don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand: wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Wins are somewhat dependent on the success of a pitcher’s team as well as his ability to pitch deep into games. It’s difficult to maintain a consistently low ERA over a long season, while a pitcher needs to throw a lot of innings to record a league-leading number of strikeouts.

The pitchers profiled in this article have all succeeded in putting up league-leading numbers in all three categories to create a special season. Is there a current pitcher or a future star who will join the ranks of pitching Triple Crown winners? Each season brings new candidates, but as the 2024 season demonstrates, sometimes they are veterans like Chris Sale and sometimes they’re relative newcomers like Tarik Skubal. Here’s hoping others will emerge to win the Triple Crown in the coming years.

Lefties vs. Righties. Of the 35 Triple Crown winners, 22 have been right-handers and 13 have been left-handers (including both 2024 winners). The first lefty to win the award was Rube Waddell in 1905, the ninth winner overall. Three of the winners were literally called “Lefty”: Lefty Grove (1930 and 1931), Lefty Gomez (1934 and 1937), and Steve “Lefty” Carlton (1972).

The Winners’ Ages. The average age of the pitching Triple Crown winners (including repeat winners) has been 28. The youngest winner so far has been Dwight Gooden, who was 20 years old in 1985. Three pitchers won the crown when they were 21—Tommy Bond, Slim Jones, and Bob Feller. On the other end of the age scale, Randy Johnson (38) in 2002 has been the oldest winner so far, followed by Walter Johnson (36) in 1924, and Roger Clemens (35) in 1998 and Chris Sales (35) in 2024.

Gold Glove Winners. Only four Triple Crown winners have also won Gold Glove Awards. Only two, Chris Sale in 2024 and Clayton Kershaw in 2011, have won Gold Gloves in the same year when they won the Triple Crown. The other two won their Gold Gloves in different years from their Triple Crowns: Johan Santana in 2007 and Steve Carlton in 1981.

Batting Prowess. Pitchers are not known for their hitting, of course, and now that both leagues use the DH, hitting is irrelevant for most pitchers. But in earlier days, two Triple Crown winners were recognized for their success in the batter’s box, although not in their Triple Crown seasons: In 1992, Dwight Gooden won the Silver Slugger Award with a slash line of .264/.274/.375. And most impressively, back in 1886, Guy Hecker won the American Association batting title with a .341 average and a slash line of .341/.402/.446.

No Pitching Triple Crown Winners in the 1950s. A least one pitcher has won the Triple Crown in every decade of Major League Baseball, from the 1870s to the present—except for the 1950s. That decade was part of the longest dry spell between pitching Triple Crowns. After Hal Newhouser won his Triple Crown in 1945, baseball had to wait 18 years for another one—the first of three by Sandy Koufax in 1963.

Eight Years with Two Crowns. Two pitchers have won the Triple Crown in the same season eight times. The first year it happened was 1884, when Old Hoss Radbourn won the crown in the National League and Guy Hecker won it in the American Association. The two pitchers combined for 112 wins! The most recent double-crown year was 2024, when Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal won the NL and Al crowns, respectively, with nearly identical records. 

Post-Season Play for Triple Crown Pitchers. Winning the Triple Crown does not necessarily translate into post-season success for the pitcher’s team. Just over half of the Triple Crown winners have reached the post-season in the year they won the crown.

And only seven pitchers so far have led their teams to victory in the modern AL/NL World Series: Christy Mathewson (1905), Walter Johnson (1924), Lefty Grove (1930), Lefty Gomez (1937), Hal Newhouser (1945), and Sandy Koufax (1963 and 1965). Two others—Old Hoss Radbourn (1884) and Tim Keefe (1888)—pitched for teams that won the pre-modern World Series. And two won the Negro League World Series or its equivalent—Slim Jones with the Philadelphia Stars (1934) and Johnny Wright with the Homestead Grays (1943).