In Baseball Roundtable’s last post, we took a look at MLB’s (batting) Triple Crown Winners – with an emphasis on those who earned that distinction in multiple seasons. (For that post, click here.) This post will look at a less publicized Triple Crown category, focusing on those hurlers who won MLB’s pitching Triple Crown (Wins-Earned Run Average, Strikeouts); again emphasizing those with multiple qualifying seasons. The list reads like w “Who’s Who” of moundsmen. You might recognize some of them by their nicknames The Left Arm of God, The Big Train, Rocket, Big Six and a couple of well-known Lefty’s.” Of the 32 pitchers who have recorded at least one Triple Crown season, 19 are in the Hall of Fame (three of those not in the Hall have yet to be eligible).
So, let’s get on with it.
Pitchers with Three Triple Crown Seasons
Asterisk = Hall of Famer
Sandy Koufax* … 1963, 1965, 1966
Photo: Publicity still, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax (aka “The Left Arm of God”) earned three pitching Triple Crowns in the midst of one of the most dominant streaks in MLB pitching history. From 1962 through 1966, Koufax went 111-34, with a 1.95 earned run average and 1,444 strikeouts in 1377 innings. In that five-season stretch, Koufax led the NL in:
- Earned Run Average all five seasons;
- Wins in three campaigns;
- Shutouts three times;
- Strikeouts three times (all three with 300+ whiffs);
- Complete games twice;
- WHIP four times;
- Strikeouts per nine innings four times.
In that five-season span, he also won three Cy Young Awards earned one NL MVP Award and threw four no-hitters (one a perfect game).
“I can see how he won 25 games. What I don’t understand is how he lost five.”
Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra on Sandy Koufax (1963)
If it were not for traumatic arthritis in his pitching elbow – which forced his retirement at age 30 (after one his finest seasons) – Koufax probably would have eventually moved into first place on his own in the pitching Triple Crown list. In his final MLB season, Koufax led all of MLB in wins (27); ERA (1.73); strikeouts (317); innings pitched (323); starts (4, tied); complete games (27); shutouts (tied, five).
For his career Koufax was 165-87, 2.76, with 2,396 whiffs in 2,324 innings.
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A Tale of Two Pitchers
Sandy Koufax started as a hard thrower who, some observed, saw his control diminish as his velocity increased. In Spring Training 1961, it has been reported, Dodgers’ catcher Norm Sherry, urged Koufax to loosen his group on the ball, take a little bit off his fastball and make more use of his curve and change-up.
As the chart below shows that advice apparently made an impression (or, perhaps, Koufax just matured – he was only 25 in 1961).
“I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss her ball and stated trying to make then hit it.”
Sandy Koufax
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Walter Johnson* … 1913, 1918, 1924
Photo: Charles M. Conlon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Hall of Famer Walter “The Big Train” Johnson notched three Triple Crown seasons in a 21-season MLB career that saw him win 417 games with 12 seasons of 20 or more wins. In his first Triple Crown season, Johnson also led the AL in complete games (29), shutouts (11), innings pitched (346), WHIP (0.78). He also notched (among qualifiers) the fewest walks per nine innings and most strikeouts per nine innings. That performance earned him one of his two AL MVP Awards. His second MVP Award would come 11-seasons later (1924), when he as picked up his third pitching Triple Crown.
How good was Walter Johnson? In his career, he led the American League in:
- Strikeouts 12 times;
- Wins six times;
- ERA five times;
- Starts four times;
- Complete games six times;
- Shutouts seven times;
- Innings pitched five times.
Between 1910 and 1916, Johnson won 25 or more games in every season. You get the idea.
No Need to Dust Off Plate … Nobody’s Coming Home
Walter Johnson’s 110 career shutouts are the all-time MLB high, 20 ahead of runner-up Grover Cleveland (Pete) Alexander.
Johnson finished his career with a 417-279 record (second in wins only to Cy Young); a 2.17 ERA; 531 complete games (fifth all-time) in 666 starts; and 3,509 strikeouts (ninth all-time).
“His fastball looked about the size of a watermelon seed and it hissed at you as it passed.”
Hall of Famer Ty Cobb on Walter Johnson
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Grover Cleveland Alexander* … 1915, 1916, 1920
Photo: Mattingly23, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Grover Cleveland (Pete) Alexander made his MLB debut with the Philllies in 1911 – at the age of 24 – and he wasted no time in showing his potential on the major-league stage. In that rookie season, he led the National League in wins (28 – versus 13 losses), complete games (31), shutouts (7) and innings pitched (367), while finishing fifth in ERA and second in strikeouts.
Of note is the fact that Alexander Alexander’s professional baseball career almost ended before he ever made it to a major-league mound. In a July 1909 Missouri League game, Alexander, running between first and second, was hit in the head by the shortstop’s attempted double play relay. According to Jan Finkel’s Society for American Baseball Research Alexander biography “”Reports vary, but he was unconscious between 36 and 56 hours. He awoke suffering from double vision, which he endured during the fall and winter into the next spring.” It’s possible the injury contributed to epilepsy that would later take its toll on the future Hall of Famer.
In his first Triple Crown season (1915), Alexander led the NL not only in wins (31), ERA (1.22) and strikeouts (241), but also in complete games (36), shutouts (12), innings pitched (376 1/3) and WHIP (0.842).
Lucky Number Seven
In his first seven MLB seasons (1915-17), Pete Alexander led the NL in wins and strikeouts five times each (three times reaching 30 or more victories).
Over his 20-season MLB career, Alexander led the NL in wins six times, ERA five times, complete games six times, shutouts seven times, innings pitched seven times and strikeouts six times.
Alexander’s baseball career was interrupted in 1917 by military service in World War. He reportedly suffered from shell shock (which we would now term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), as well as ear and arm injuries. His injuries, coupled with epilepsy and ongoing issues with alcohol, likely had had an impact on Alexander’s mound achievements. For example, in his first seven seasons (1911-1917), Alexander led the NL in strikeouts five times. In his final 13 seasons (post World War I service), he led the league in whiffs just once. From 1911 through 1917, Alexander was 190-88, winning an average of 24 games per season with a 2.12 ERA. From 1918 through his retirement in 1930, he went 183-120, winning an average of 14 games per season) and posting a 2.96 Era.
Still, Alexander maintained the pinpoint control that was his trademark as a moundsman. Over his 20-season MLB career, he walked only 1.6 batters per nine frames and, from 1914 through 1929, walked just 1.4 batters per nine innings, never reaching 2 batters per nine frames in any season.
Put It There, right There, Pal
Over his MLB career, Pete Alexander recorded the fewest walks per nine innings in his league five times and finished in the top two a total of ten times.
Over his 20-MLB seasons, Alexander went 373-208, 2.56 with 436 complete games and 90 shutouts in 600 starts (696 appearances). His 373 MLB wins are third all-time and his 90 shutouts second, (first in the NL). He won 20 or more games nine times, with 30 or more wins in three of those seasons. He led the NL in ERA five times, complete games six times, shutouts seven times, innings pitched seven times and strikeouts six times. His 16 shutouts in 1916 remain tied for the most-ever in a single MLB season.
“He (Pete Alexander) could pitch into a Tin Can. His control was always remarkable – the finest I’ve ever seen.”
Grantland Rice in “Winningest Pitchers: Baseball’s 300-Game Winners”
Another Roundtable” one thing leads to another” moment: ” Grover Cleveland Alexander is the only MLB player named after a past president, who later had a future president play him in a movie. (Ronald Reagan played Alexander in the 1952 movie The Winning Team.)
Players with Two Pitching Triple Crowns
Asterisk = Hall of Famer
Roger Clemens … 1997, 1998
Roger Clemens put together consecutive Triple Crown seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997 and 1998. They were his age-34 and age-35 seasons, 14th and 15th MLB campaigns. By the start of the 1997 season, he was already a five-time All Star with a 192 MLB wins on his resume.
Clemens played in 24 MLB seasons (1984-2002 … Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees,Astros) – taking the mound from age 21 to age 44. He led his league in wins four times, ERA seven times, strikeouts five times, complete games three times and shutouts six times. Along the way, Clemens won a record seven Cy Young Awards and was the 1986 American League MVP. His overall stats were: 354-184 (ninth in career MLB wins), 3.12, with 4,672 strikeouts (third) in 4,916 2/3 innings pitched (16th).
Twenty Times Two
Roger Clemens is the only MLB pitcher to record 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game twice. In those two games (April 29, 1986 and September 18, 1996) – both for the Red Sox – he pitched 18 innings, gave up eight hits and one run, while walking zero and fanning 40. For those who liked to know such things, the one run came on a Gorman Thomas (Mariners) home run on a 1-2 pitch in the top of the seventh inning of the 1986 outing.
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Lefty Gomez* … 1934, 1937
Photo: Goudey Gum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Hall of Famer Vernon “Lefty” Gomez, captured the American League pitching Triple Crown in 1934 and 1937. Those were the only two seasons in which Gomez led the AL in wins, the only two seasons he led in ERA and two of the only three seasons he led in strikeouts. He also led the AL in complete games once, shutouts three times and innings pitched once
Gomez finished with a career mark of 189-102 (including four seasons of 20+ wins), 3.34, with 1,468 strikeouts in 2,503 innings pitched, and 173 complete games in 320 starts. He was 6-0, 2.86 in seven World Series starts.
Quick with the Quip
Lefty Gomez was known as one of baseball’s most engaging and entertaining characters, His plaque in the New York Yankees’ Monument Park reads “Noted for his excellent wit, as he was fast with a quip and a pitch.”
Gomez pitched in 14 MLB seasons (1930-42 for the Yankees and one game in 1943 for the Senators). He was an All Star in seven seasons.
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Lefty Grove* … 1930, 1931
Photo: Goudey, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Hall of Famer Robert “Lefty” Grove notched back-to-back Triple Crown seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1930 and 1931. Those campaigns were part of a seven-season stretch (1927-33) in which he won 20 or more games each season (31 in 1931), leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts four times each.
Put Me In Coach
In his 1930 Triple Crown season, Gomez not only led the Al in wins, ERA and whiffs, he also topped the league in saves (noted retroactively) with nine. That season, he made 52 starts and 18 relief appearances. He was 23-2, 2.55 as a starter and 5-2, 2.03, with nine saves as a reliever.
Grove pitched 17 MLB seasons (1925-41 … Athletics, Red Sox) going 300-142, 3.06, with 298 complete games in 457 starts. He led the AL strikeouts seven times – his first seven MLB seasons (1925-31). He also led the league in ERA nine times, complete games three times, shutouts three times, He was the 1931 AL MVP.
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Christy Mathewson* … 1905, 1908
Photo: trialsanderrors 
In Hall of Famer Christy “Big Six” Mathewson’s second Triple Crown season (Giants 1908), he not only led the National League in wins (37) ERA (1.43) and strikeouts (259), but also in pitching appearances (56), saves (5), starts (44), complete games (34), shutouts (11), innings pitched 390 2/3 and WHIP (0.827).
Christy Mathewson was, in many ways, the All-American boy (one of his nicknames was “The Gentleman Hurler) – handsome, honest, well-educated, well-read and well-spoken. At Bucknell University, he played football, basketball and baseball and was a bright student, a class president and a member of the band, glee club and a pair of literary societies.
“Christy (Mathewson was the greatest pitcher who ever lived. He had knowledge, judgment, perfect, control and form. It was wonderful to watch him pitch, when he wasn’t pitching against you.”
Hall of Fame Manager Connie Mack
Mathewson played in 17 MLB seasons (1900-16 … Giants, except for one game with the Reds in 1916). He won 20 or more games in 13 seasons (30 or more four times) and led NL in wins four times, ERA five times, complete games twice, strikeouts five times and shutouts four times. He led in strikeouts-to-walks ratio nine times, including eight consecutive seasons (1907-14).
Mathewson finished his career with a 373-188 record, a 2.13 ERA, 2,507 strikeouts (in 4,788 2/3 innings) and 435 complete games in 552 starts.
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Pitchers with Single Triple Crown Seasons
Asterisk = Hall of Famer
2020 – Shane Bieber, Indians. American League … 8-1, 1.63 ERA, 122K
2011 – Justin Verlander, Tigers, American League … 24-5, 2.40 ERA, 250K
2011 – Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, National League… 21-5, 2.28 ERA, 248K
2007 – Jake Peavey, Padres, National League … 19-6, 2.54 ERA, 240K
2007 was the only season in which Jake Peavey led the league in wins. In fact, it was the only season in which he won more than 15 games. He led the NL in strikeouts twice and ERA twice in his 15 MLB seasons.
2006 – Johan Santana, Twins, American League … 19-6, 2.77 ERA, 245K
2002 – Randy Johnson*, D-backs, American League … 24-5, 2.32 ERA, 334K
Randy Johnson had five seasons of 300+ whiffs, including four consecutive (1999-2002).
1999 – Pedro Martinez*, Red Sox, American League…. 23-4, 2.07, 313K
In 1999, Pedro Martinez led the AL in wins by five, won the ERA title by 1.37 earned runs per nine frames and had 113 more strikeouts than the AL runner-up.
1985 – Dwight Gooden, Mets, National League … 24-4, 1.53 ERA, 268K
1972 – Steve Carlton*, Phillies … 27-10, 1.97, 310K
Steve Carlton won the 1972 pitcher Triple Crown for the last-place Phillies (who finished 59-97).
1945 – Hal Newhouser*, Tigers, American League … 25-9, 1.81 ERA, 212K
1943 – Johnny Wright, Homestead Grays, Negro National League II … 18-3, 2,54 ERA, 94K
1940 – Bob Feller*, Indians, American League … 27-11, 2.61 ERA, 261K
1939 – Bucky Walters, Reds, National League … 27-11, 2.29, 137K
1938 – Ray Brown*, Homestead Grays, Negro National League II … 14-0, 1.88 ERA, 70K
Between 1935 and 1942 (eight seasons), Ray Brown led the Negro National League II in wins six times.
1934 – Stuart “Slim” Jones, Philadelphia Stars, Negro National League II … 20-4, 1.24 ERA, 164K
1924 – Arthur “Dazzy” Vance*, Brooklyn Robins, National League … 28-6, 2.16 ERA, 262K
Dazzy Vance led the NL in strikeouts in seven straight seasons (1922-28).
1918 – James “Hippo” Vaughn, Cubs, National League … 22-10, 1.74 ERA, 148K
1913 – George “Rube” Waddell*, Athletics, American League 27-10, 1.48 ERA, 287K
In 1902, Rube Waddell started the season with the Los Angeles Angels of the California League. He joined the Philadelphia Athletics in mid-season (making his first appearance June 26). He went on (in that short span) to win 24 games (the league’s second-highest total), put up the league’s second-best ERA (2.05) and lead the league in strikeouts (205). He would go on to lead the league in whiffs in each of the next five seasons.
1901 – Denton “Cy” Young*, Boston Americans, American League … 33-10, 1.62 ERA, 158K
1894 – Amos Rusie*, New York Giants, National League … 36-13, 2.78 ERA, 195K
1889 – John Clarkson*, Boston Beaneaters, National League … 49-19, 2.73 ERA, 284K
1888 – Tim Keefe*, New York Giants, National League … 35-12, 1.74 Era 335K
1884 – Guy Hecker, Louisville Eclipse, American Association … 52-20, 1.80 ERA, 385K
In 1886, Guy Hecker went 26-23, 2.87 on the mound – and led the American Association in batting with a .341 average. He appeared in 49 games on the mound, 22 at first base and 17 in the outfield.
1884 – Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn*, Providence Grays, National League 60-12, 1.38 ERA, 441K
In 1884, Old Hoss Radbourn started 73 games and completed 73 games. He also come on in relief in two games and appeared in seven games in the outfield, five at first base, two at shortstop and one at second base.
Side Note: Some sources credit Radbourn with “only” 59 wins in 1884, baseball-reference lists the total at 60.
1877 – Tommy Bond, Boston Red Stockings, National League … 40-17, 2.11 ERA, 170K
Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball-Almanac.com, “The Baseball 100,” by Joe Posnanski, Avid Reader Press, 2021.
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