I'm home sick so I was watching the 04 WS on DVD, and enjoying Varitek's triple in game 2, when I got to thinking about triples, and doing a little pointless research. What I found was kind of interesting. Here is a list of players and their at-bats per triple (AB/3B). In the olden days, there were a lot more triples.

Rogers Hornsby 48
Babe Ruth 62
Jimmie Fox 65
George Brett 76
Johnny Damon 77
Ted Williams 109
Hank Aaron 126
Yaz 203
Arod 248
Eddie Murray 324
Mo Vaughn 553
Cecil Fielder 737
Mark McGuire 1031

Johnny Damon's number look really good here. In his four years in Boston, he was steady on the doubles (34, 32, 35, 35), but his triples numbers show a trend (11, 6, 6, 6). Did they tell him to stop at second after the first year? I'm interested to see if he can do 35 doubles and 6 triples for the third year in a row.

Current Sox:
Trot Nixon 103
Coco Crisp 116
Alex Gonzalez 140
Mark Loretta 213
David Ortiz 345
Jason Varitek 397
Manny Ramirez 408
Mike Lowell 1189
Kevin Youkilis, in 287 MLB ABs, has no triples.

Mike Lowell's number are truly impressive. I though Mark McGuire was bad. When Mo Vaughn is twice as likely to get a triple than you are....

So, Boston, if you see a triple from Mike Lowell or Kevin Youkilis, cheer extra!

There were probably different rules at to what constituted a triple back in the "old days". If there were runners on and the throw was to home they probably scored it a triple. Nowadays it might be a double with the runner advancing to third on the throw. Errors may have played a part as well. This is pure speculation on my part because I don't have the time to check on it, however.

1) In 1978, Jim Rice led the league in homers, with 46, but also in triples, with 15. Only four other players have ever done that. Can you name two?

2) Only two players have ever had 20 triples, 20 homers and 20 SB in the same season. Can you name one?


Hint: One of the answers to #1 is also an answer to #2.

In the olden days, outfield fences were much farther away from home plate than now. Line drives to the gaps could roll for a long time in some of those old ballyards. Until the mid 1950s, it was common for the center field fence to be 450+ feet away from home, sometimes surpassing 500 feet. By 1961 (hello, Mr. Maris) most fences had been moved in to about where the are now (400-410 to center).

I wonder then, in parks like RFK, Petco, Shea, and others considered to be "pitchers parks," is the triple per AB rate higher?

Mantle and Mays did #1 for sure. I think Mays accomplished #2 as well.

You're right so far. Can you get the other guy on question 2?

For question #1, here's the full list:

In the last century - 1900-1999 - there has been only one rookie to lead his league in triples and homers.
His name is Harry Lumley... a right-fielder for the 1904 Brooklyn Superbas.

A well-known Dead Ball Era power-hitter, he was a 23-year-old rookie when he lined a National League leading 18 triples and 9 home runs. Lumley also finished second to Hall of Famer Honus Wagner in total bases - 247 - and was second in RBIs with 78.

Baseball statistics show what a special feat this is... in the major leagues dating back to 1873, there has been just four other players to lead their leagues in triples and homers in the same season. And, two of them accomplished this resounding feat in the same season - 1955.

The Four Players:

Harry Stovey, Worchester... also accomplished this feat as a rookie. In 1880 he hit 14 triples and 6 home runs.

Willie Mays, New York Giants - 1955... playing in his fourth season, his 13 triples and 51 home runs led the NL.

Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees - 1955... playing in his fifth season, his 11 triples and 37 home runs led the AL.

Jim Rice, Boston Red Sox, 1978... playing in his fifth Season, his 15 triples and 46 home runs led the major Leagues.

BaseballHistorian.com

Frank Schulte, 1911- 21/21/23

Wow. Yeah!

Add Jim Bottomley, 1928, to the list of 3B/HR leaders in the same year. He's the last one.

And Buck Freeman, 1899, to the 20/20/20 club.

George Brett came three steals away from doing the 20/20/20 dance in 1979- that's who I thought you were talking about, originally.

I remembered that in my original post on triples, I wondered what Damon would do, since he'd been so consistent, and hit exactly 35 doubles and 6 triples two years in a row (and 32 doulbles and 6 triples the year before that). Well, he hit 35 doubles and 5 triples. Pretty damn consistent.

His caught stealing numbers spiked massively. I didn't realize how bad his rate was in '04. Idiot.