I am the son of a potato farmer.
I attended Notre Dame University.
I was the last player to achieve one of baseball's rarest accomplishments.
I was a first-ballot electee into MLB's hall of fame.
Oh, and Tim Zinnecker's initials (TRZ) appear in my name, in that order, with no spaces between the letters.
Who am I?
Carl Yastrzemski a.k.a Yaz
Tom, you are correct! What rare baseball accomplishment is Yaz the most recent to achieve? (Perhaps my love of the Cardinals clouds my objectivity, but perhaps Albert Pujols will be the next to do so!)
Yaz was the last player to win the Triple Crown.
Scott, yes indeed! No one has achieved the hitter's Triple Crown since Yaz in 1967, over 40 years ago. It is a rare feat, indeed. But someone achieved it just the year before Yaz. Name that player.
Also, league MVP Yaz — along with Cy Young winner Jim Lonborg — carried the Sox to the World Series in 1967. They lost to my Cardinals in seven games. But the Sox got revenge in 2004, sweeping the Cards in four games.
Frank Robinson, Orioles, 1966.
Calvin, you are correct! I believe Frank Robinson is the only player to win the MVP in both the National and American leagues.
No one has achieved the hitter's Triple Crown in the National League since 1937 (Joe Medwick). OK, Albert Pujols, it's your time!!
Can you name the only two players to achieve the hitter's Triple Crown not once, but twice?
Ted Williams, of my beloved Red Sox, and (I think — guessing here) Rogers Hornsby of your Cardinals?
Correct on both! The others (not previously mentioned above) who have achieved this milestone (only once, though) since 1900 include Nap Lajoie (1901), Ty Cobb (1909), Chuck Klein and Jimmy Foxx (both in 1933 in their respective leagues), Lou Gehrig (1934), and Mickey Mantle (1956).
I would have thought Stan Musial would have done it. Too bad he didn't.
Re Stan Musial: "His best offensive season was 1948, when he hit a career-high .376 and missed the NL Triple Crown by a single homer. That year he led the NL in batting average, slugging, hits, doubles, triples, runs, and RBI."
Source: http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Stan_Musial_1920
Another Cardinal came close (although not as close as Musial, above) in 1971: Joe Torre, who had an MVP season and led the league in RBI's (137) and average (.363). He hit 24 homers (only half of the 48 hit by league leader Willie Stargell).