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It hasn't happened since 1967, but Albert Pujols is knocking on the door of hitting for the Triple Crown and Sportsbook.com has posted odds on this occuring.
Sportsbook.com would pay $250 for every $100 bet should Pujols win the Triple Crown (lead the National League at the end of the regular season in home runs/runs batted in/batting average).
It should be noted that the oddsmakers at Sportsbook have made him a pretty big long shot to break the record. Odds that he WON'T break the record were set at a line of -400.
He's such a great hitter they now refer to him as "King Albert".
Tim Kurkjian of ESPN Magazine points out that there is a reason nobody has made the Triple Crown since 1967. "It is really hard to do," he writes.
Carl Yastrzemski accomplished the feat that year and, before that, it was Joe Medwick in 1937.
"How hard? It has been done only 13 times since 1900: Nap Lajoie (1901), Ty Cobb (1909), Rogers Hornsby (1922 and '25) Jimmie Foxx and Chuck Klein (1933), Lou Gehrig (1934), Medwick (1937), Ted Williams (1942 and '47), Mickey Mantle (1956), Frank Robinson (1966) and Yastrzemski. There's no Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Willie Mays or Hank Aaron on that list."
Kurkjian adds:
"The reason it has gotten harder to win the Triple Crown is that the game has become more specialized every year. There are hitters who have sacrificed power for a high average, such as Carew, Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn, who won a combined 20 batting titles after Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown. There are hitters who have sacrificed their averages to hit for power, such as Ryan Howard.
"And there are so many more teams and more hitters in today's game that the competition is perhaps stronger than it has ever been. Mike Schmidt won eight home run titles, but in this decade, seven different National League players have won a home run title, eight different NL players have won a batting title and seven different American League players have won an RBI crown. Sammy Sosa had more 60-homer seasons (three) than he had home run titles (two). Bonds has the most homers of all time but only two home run titles.
"It has grown harder to win the Triple Crown because of the Rockies, who joined the NL in 1993 and play in the greatest hitters' ballpark of all time. In their brief history, they have had six batting champions, six RBI champions and three home run champions. Compare their history to that of the White Sox, who have been in the AL since 1900 but have only three batting champions, three home run champs and one RBI champ."
In any event, the betting option is open here for those who want to take a swing at Alex Pujols Hitting for the Triple Crown at nearly 3/1 odds.
Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
