As we enter the final days of the 2012 season, Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera is trying to do something no ballplayer has done in 45 years—win a Triple Crown. The last Triple Crown winner was Boston‘s Carl Yastrzemski, who led the American League in all three major batting categories in 1967.
If Cabrera wins out, he will become the second Tiger in history to win a Triple Crown, joining all-time batting leader Ty Cobb, who won the honor in 1909.
Here are 10 things you may not know about the MLB Triple Crown.
There have been 17 Triple Crowns in baseball history, with 15 different players winning the honor.
The American League has seen nine Triple Crowns and the National League seven. Canadian Tip O’Neill of the St. Louis Browns was the only player from the American Association to win a Triple Crown, way back in 1887.
Rogers Hornsby (1922 and 1925) and Ted Williams (1942 and 1947) are only two-time Triple Crown winners.
Paul Hines of the Providence Grays was the first Triple Crown winner, taking National League honors in 1878.
The highest batting average for a Triple Crown winner was Hugh Duffy of the Boston Braves, who hit .438 in 1894, still MLB’s single-season record. Nap Lajoie of Philadelphia led the American League with a .426 average for the Philadelphia A’s in 1901.
National League Triple Crown winner Rogers Hornsby hit .401 in 1922 and .403 in 1925 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The most HRs in a Triple Crown season is 52, hit by Yankees switch-hitter Mickey Mantle in 1956.
The Yankees‘ Lou Gehrig knocked in 165 runs in 1934, the most ever for a Triple Crown winner. Jimmie Foxx had 163 for the Philadelphia A’s in 1933.
The last National Leaguer to win the Triple Crown was Joe “Ducky” Medwick, way back in 1937, some 75 years ago.
The only Triple Crown winners not elected to the Hall of Fame were the first two winners: Paul Hines and Tip O’Neill, and Heinie Zimmerman of the 1912 Cubs.
Triple Crown Winners
American League
YEAR PLAYER HR RBI AVG
1967 Carl Yastrzemski, Boston 44 121 .326
1966 Frank Robinson, Baltimore 49 122 .316
1956 Mickey Mantle, New York 52 130 .353
1947 Ted Williams, Boston 32 114 .343
1942 Ted Williams, Boston 36 137 .356
1934 Lou Gehrig, New York 49 165 .363
1933 Jimmie Foxx, Philadelphia 48 163 .356
1909 Ty Cobb, Detroit 9 115 .377
1901 Nap Lajoie, Philadelphia 14 125 .422
National League
YEAR PLAYER HR RBI AVG
1937 Joe Medwick, St. Louis 31 154 .374
1933 Chuck Klein, Philadelphia 28 120 .368
1925 Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis 39 143 .403
1922 Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis 42 152 .401
1912 Heinie Zimmerman, Chicago 14 103 .372
1894 Hugh Duffy, Boston 18 145 .438
1878 Paul Hines, Providence 4 50 .358
American Association
YEAR PLAYER HR RBI AVG
1887 Tip O’Neill 44 121 .326
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com