Triple Double

Since the American League joined its older brother to present Major League ballgames in 1901, the two have combined to produce 33 Triple Crown winners from the mound – masters of their sphere and art to such a degree that at season’s end, each had painted a triptych proclaiming league leadership in wins and strikeouts to flank an ERA title.

As with any snapshot that both spans more than a century and spotlights individual performances within a single season, this club offers a compelling blend of immortals and fleeting expressions of excellence: Sandy Koufax and Bob Feller make an appearance, as do the Johnsons, Walter and Randy. Hippo Vaughn, Bucky Walters, Dwight Gooden, Johan Santana and Jake Peavy show up, too. As of this writing, the bookends in this club nicely fit the diverse view: Cy Young in 1901 and most recently, Shane Bieber in the Covid-shortened 2020 campaign.

Across all these years and these hurling super-seasons, four campaigns claim a special attribute, a little extra brightness to illuminate the grandeur: a convergence for the Junior and Senior Circuits that witnessed a Triple Crown winner on each side. In 1905, Christy Mathewson made his imprint on the NL while Rube Waddell wowed ‘em in the AL. Twice, Walter Johnson partnered, first with the aforementioned Vaughn in 1918 and then with Dazzy Vance in 1924. Decades later, in 2011, Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw brought this magnificence to a new audience.

In mining this quartet of mirror-image seasons, one can unearth all sorts of fun details, like the fact that in 1905, 1918, 1924 and 2011, at least one-right-hander takes the stage – southpaws have never met to shake hands and congratulate one another. With little more than five weeks left in 2024’s regular season, that little nugget is in jeopardy.

After games on Sunday, August 18, Atlanta’s Chris Sale paces the NL in wins (14), K’s (187) and ERA (2.62). The 35-year-old lefty, beckoning memories of when he was a capital-D dominant presence for the Sox (White and Red), has breathed a vigorous new chapter into a career that appeared all but cooked. The addition of a Triple Crown (along with, maybe, his first Cy Young) carries a joyous improbability to the consideration – a shooting star streaking across our baseball horizon when it had earlier appeared extinguished.

With eerily similar numerical testaments to his prowess (14 wins, 185 strikeouts, 2.49 ERA), Detroit’s Tarik Skubal is in position to become the third Tiger – after Verlander and Hal Newhouser in 1945 – to wear the crown. The 27-year-old portsider – unlike Sale – was a name thrown around during the preseason when it came to predictions about clearing room in his trophy case, and he’s made those who touted him look prescient. Skubal’s burst has been anticipated, which affords us all a different vision of delight.

There are all sorts of ways to annotate a baseball season. Early on, we allow ourselves to contemplate “on the pace for” while also – perhaps grudgingly – acknowledging that April hot streaks have a way of cooling. The Midsummer Classic offers the space to take stock and sample size for greater license to peer into the what ifs of performance.

Now, the season has passed the three-quarter mark and is zipping toward conclusion, and we can see a better defined shape of what might be memorable, historical – a special signifier that can take pride of place on the shelf of baseball and showcase loudly, proudly, “This was 2024.”

Skubal and Sale have plenty of work left in signing their individual ledgers. Sale’s current innings total almost matches his collected output from 2021-2023, he holds an edge of a single K over San Diego’s Dylan Cease, and leading ERAs can be obliterated with just a disastrous start or two. Skubal is just one win ahead of a quartet sitting at 13 and he has already thrown more innings this season than in any other in his big league career. A Triple Crown still seems so far away, and their collective grasps on the achievement tenuous.

As races for Division titles and playoff slots amplify, as batters take aim at their own breed of immortality, as we all consume the final weeks of play before the postseason, the pursuits for a pitching Triple Crown will have their place – in the box scores, in the upcoming matchups, in the work of those closely trailing Sale and Skubal. Can those two join Lefty Grove, Lefty Gomez, Pete Alexander, Pedro Martinez, Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens and the others in an exclusive, magical club that speaks of mightiness and guile and scintillating stuff? I’ll be following.

Update (Thursday, September 26)

With just days left in the regular season, Sale and Skubal are still in position to wear the crown at season’s end, as both still hold the top spots in the three categories.  For each hurler, their numbers and leads after games on Wednesday, September 25:

Sale:

18 wins (#2 guy claims 16)
2.38 ERA (#2 guy sits at 2.56)
225 K’s (#2 guy has 224)

Skubal:

18 wins (three guys sit in second, with 16)
2.39 ERA (#2 guy sits at 2.88)
228 K’s (#2 guy has 223)

Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.