New baseball term “Triple Frown”
We all know about perhaps the rarest important full season accomplishment, the Triple Crown. It's when a player leads his league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in. It's ultra rare and has only been done 16 times in major league history and 0 since Carl Yastrzemski did it in 1967.
This entry is about the inverse of that accomplishment, the "Triple Frown". This is accomplished when a player that qualified for the batting title (3.1 Plate Appearances times the number of games played by that player's team, 502 for 162 games) finishes last in the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.
So today we salute you Mr. Ramon Santiago for being the most recent player in Major League history to "accomplish" this ultra rare baseball feat in 2003. You are only the third guy to do so as Ozzie Smith did it one year, with a .211-0-27 in 1979. Freddy Maguire is the only player to accomplish this feat twice, in 1929 and again in 1931.
But hey, don't blame Ramon for what was an all time horrid team that only managed to scratch together 43 wins.
Every year there are canidates for this dubious award. In 2009 Emilio Bonificio got off to an absolutely torrid start, only to have what is one of the worst declines anyone has ever seen. If not for his hot start, and Carlos Pena's Pete Incaviglia impersonation he might have taken home this award in 2009.
Relax Ramone, you don't have to induct a new club member just yet.
Thanks to FCB's David Branson for digging this up, and giving me the idea to write this entry. Also to scotty21690, who coined the Triple Frown term.
