It has been 44 years since someone has hit for the Triple Crown. Boston Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski was the last player to achieve the feat in 1967. Yaz is confident that his Triple Crown won't be the last in MLB history. He said, "Somebody will break it. All the records, you would think [get broken]... Usually, somebody wins two of the three categories. To get that third one makes it more difficult. There's always somebody that pops up and has more home runs or something like that, or RBIs. So you just never know."
The player who may finally hit for the Triple Crown is wearing the same uniform as Yaz did for all 23 years of his career. It is very possible that Boston Red Sox first basemen Adrian Gonzalez can achieve the feat. Gonzalez is 7th in the AL with a .325 batting average, 4th in the AL with 9 home runs, and leads the AL with 34 RBI's. Gonzalez has a rare combination of outstanding power and consistency to get on base. There is no doubt that Gonzalez is going to hit a lot of home runs and is going to have a lot of chances to knock guys in, batting third in a very dangerous Red Sox lineup. If Gonzalez can keep his average up, he has a real chance of joining Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski as the only Red Sox players to hit for the Triple Crown.
Adrian has benefited from leaving Petco Park, a pitcher friendly park, and coming to Fenway Park, a hitter friendly park. Petco Park has been the 3rd hardest park to get hits in this season, while Fenway Park has been the 5th easiest park to get hits in this year. Gonzalez's swing is made for Fenway Park. He is one of the best hitters in the MLB at hitting the ball the other way and will be able to continue to launch balls on the outer half of the plate over the Green Monster in left field.
Recently Gonzalez has been on a tear. Sox fans are expecting the daily Adrian Gonzalez home run these days. In his last 8 games, he has 7 home runs and he has 5 in his last 4 games. If Gonzalez can hit a home run tonight, he will join Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Dick Stuart, George Scott, and Jose Canseco as the only Red Sox players to hit a home run in five straight games. Gonzalez has 8 home runs in May and needs 5 more homers to tie Jim Rice's team record for the most home runs as a Red Sox in the month of May. Gonzalez also has 19 RBI's in May. He is currently on pace for 44 in May, which would be the team record for the most RBI's in a month.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona said about his slugging first basemen, "He amazes me. He's really good, he's intelligent and he knows what he's doing." Red Sox third basemen Kevin Youkilis said about Gonzalez, “This is the player that we got here for a reason. He was brought over here for a reason. It’s fun to sit back and watch. I get a great look on deck. He’s one hell of a player. It’s definitely a lot of fun to watch him hit balls to left field, right field. He’s a special player and he’s showing why the Red Sox were so adamant in getting him.”
Jose Bautista anyone?
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