The Quadruple Crown (Not MLB Recognized)

 

What does it mean when a hitter wins the Triple Crown? The hitter led the league in home runs, Runs Batted In, and Batting Average. So far, there have been 17 total Triple Crown winners, the first being Paul Hines in 1878 and the latest being Miguel Cabrera in 2012. Nobody wins often wins the Triple Crowne Triple Crown very often, and Cabrera was the first to do it in 2012 since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. But, You know what's rarer and more impressive than the Triple Crown? It's called the Quadruple Crown, which MLB doesn't recognize. A player must lead the league in Home Runs, Runs Batted In, Batting Average, and Hits.

Quadruple Crown Winners

1887: Tip O'Neill           .435 AVG, 14 HR, 123 RBI, 225 HITS

1894: Hugh Duffy          .440 AVG, 18 HR, 145 RBI, 237 HITS

1901: Nap Lajoie            .426 AVG, 14 HR, 125 RBI, 232 HITS

1909: Ty Cobb              .377 AVG,  9 HR, 107 RBI, 216 HITS

1933: Chuck Klein         .368 AVG, 28 HR, 120 RBI, 223 HITS

1937: Joe Medwick        .374 AVG, 31 HR, 154 RBI, 237 HITS

1967: Carl Yastrzemski   .326 AVG, 44 HR, 121 RBI, 189 HITS

The Quadruple Crown was more common before 1920, considered "The Dead Ball Era." In 1909, the nine home runs that Ty Cobb led the league with were all Inside-the-park. I guess MLB doesn't recognize the Quadruple Crown because it almost doesn't happen anymore, or maybe the Triple Crown is significant enough, and I don't know. Although in 2012, Miguel Cabrera was only 11 Hits shy of leading the league in the four categories.

References:

1. The Batting Triple Crown via Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Crown_(baseball)#Batting_Triple_Crown

2. List of Triple Crown Winners  via Baseball Reference

https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/triple_crowns.shtml

3. List of Quadruple Crown Winners via  Reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/a456f9/oc_are_there_any_quadruple_crown_winners_in_mlb/