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49-724: 1925 In 1925 the Des Moines Boosters of the Western League became the Des Moines Demons . The club from Des Moines, Iowa broke in in fine form, winning the pennant with a 98–70 record, one game ahead of the Denver Bears . The Demons had six representatives on the All-Star team: First baseman Charles Stuvengen collected 229 hits, 18 of which were triples, to complement a .349, which was fifth in

98-477: A Philadelphia Phillies farm club in the Three-I League . Managed by Chuck Kress , they finished second in the first half (38–26) then won the second-half pennant (40–29) before falling to the first-half champion Green Bay Bluejays in the championship three games to one. Cal Emery hit .323 and led the league with 281 total bases, 27 homers and 129 RBI. In 1960, Andy Seminick took over as manager and

147-668: A Western League minor league baseball team based in Des Moines, Iowa , United States that existed from 1908 to 1924. Des Moines fielded teams in the Western League from 1900-1937 and 1947–1958. Hall of Famers George Davis and Red Faber played for the Des Moines Boosters. The Des Moines Boosters won two Western League championships - their first in 1915 under manager Frank Isbell and their second in 1917 under Jack Coffey . Des Moines had first fielded

196-464: A .345 average and 18 homers). 40-year-old player-manager Shano Collins batted .315 with 14 home runs. 1927 Collins tied for the team lead with 11 home runs and hit .331 at age 41 in 1927 but the team fell to third at 82–72. Langford returned and led the league in hitting (.409), triples (28) and steals (31, tied for the lead with Wilbur Swansboro). He was tied for fourth in doubles (47), second in hits (250) and fourth in total bases (377). Joining him on

245-427: A 2.56 ERA had the best ERA in the Western League that year. 1937 In 1937 Des Moines went 32–31 to finish second in the first half then went 25–31 in the second half as the league was crumbling. All-Stars were catcher Bus Payton who hit .276, utility man Walt Menke who hit .293 and southpaw pitcher Art McDougall who went 16–11 with a 4.02 ERA. McDougall led the Western League in complete games (24) and innings (233) and

294-424: A Mid-Western Championship to the Three-I League champion Springfield Senators team by a three games to one margin. The Demons had been led by Moon (an All-Star with a 24–8 record) and Pat Malone (28–13, second in the league in wins and first with 190 strikeouts) on the mound and Wetzel (.352 batting average, 18 home runs, sixth in average and tied for third with 394 total bases) and Griffin (an All-Star again with

343-563: A Triple Crown in a defunct 19th century major league; he led the original American Association in wins, strikeouts, and ERA in 1884 while pitching for the Louisville Colonels . Eighteen of 24 major league pitchers who have won a Triple Crown and are eligible for the Hall of Fame have been inducted. The Triple Crown winners who most recently became eligible for the Hall are Pedro Martínez and Randy Johnson . Both were elected to

392-589: A Western League team in 1900, playing under several monikers before being called the "Boosters." At the time, the league was a Class A league, the highest level of minor league play. The teams that directly preceded the Des Moines Boosters in Western League play were the Des Moines Hawkeyes (1900–1901), Des Moines Midgets (1902), Des Moines Undertakers (1903), Des Moines Prohibitionists (1904), Des Moines Underwriters (1905), Des Moines Champions (1906) and Des Moines Champs (1907) before becoming

441-655: A franchise with four. Along with Hornsby's two, Tip O'Neill won in the now-defunct American Association in 1887 while the team was known as the St. Louis Browns, and Joe Medwick added the Cardinals' fourth in 1937. Eleven of the thirteen eligible players who have batting Triple Crowns have been elected to the Hall of Fame . Baseball journalist Tim Kurkjian believes the Triple Crown has become more difficult to win with

490-456: A pitcher's winning percentage. Sun Dong-yol won the MVP of the season in 1986 with getting annual wins, strikeout, and ERA title. But as mentioned above, The KBO League's pitcher triple crown standard at that time was a winning-rate title, not a strikeout, so it is officially considered that Sun Dong-yeol in 1986 did not achieve the triple crown. Sun Dong-yol's winning percentage in the 1986 season

539-575: A player is two. Rogers Hornsby was the first to accomplish it, winning his first in 1922 and then leading both leagues in 1925 en route to his second Triple Crown, both with the St. Louis Cardinals . Ted Williams later matched this mark, leading both leagues in 1942 and the American League in 1947, both with the Boston Red Sox . The Cardinals have won the most hitting Triple Crowns as

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588-444: Is an uncommon feat to lead all hitters in each of these categories. It has been accomplished 17 times in a major league season, most recently in 2012, by Miguel Cabrera . Cabrera's was the first since 1967, when Carl Yastrzemski accomplished the feat. Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown the year after Frank Robinson did, the only time back-to-back Triple Crowns occurred in baseball history. Hiromitsu Ochiai and Oscar Charleston are

637-460: Is on the northwest corner of Holcomb Avenue and Sixth Street. Prior to Western League Park, the Des Moines clubs played at these locations, as listed in contemporary city directories: Triple crown (baseball) In baseball , a player earns a Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. The term "Triple Crown" generally refers to

686-503: The Hall of Fame player), who hit .267. Asbell tied for fourth with 13 homers. Keyes returned to blast 20 homers (second-best in the league) with 233 total bases, which was fourth best. Van Camp came back with 148 hits (fifth in the league) and tied for the league lead with 14 triples. Turpin led the league in complete games (28) and wins, was second in innings (259), third in ERA and fifth with 124 strikeouts. Julio Bonnetti , who went 14–13 with

735-551: The batting achievement of leading a league in batting average , home runs , and runs batted in (RBI) over the same season. The term "Pitching Triple Crown" refers to the pitching achievement of leading a league in wins , strikeouts , and earned run average (ERA). The term "Triple Crown" is typically used when a player leads one league, such as the American League (AL) or the National League (NL), in

784-418: The "Triple Crown." The term, unless modified, connotes the batting achievement; it is not necessary to refer to it as the "hitting" Triple Crown. The Triple Crown reflects the ability of a hitter to excel in three important ways: to hit safely a high percentage of the time (batting average); to hit the ball long distances (home runs); and to produce when runners are on base, driving them home to score (RBI). It

833-433: The All-Star team were C Joe Sprinz who batted .314, utility man Al Van Camp who hit .309 with 11 home runs and pitcher Fred Ortman who went 21–11. Claude Davenport , who went 21–10, and Ortman tied for second in the league in wins; Davenport was also second in innings worked at 289. 1928 The bottom fell out for Des Moines in 1928 as they finished last in the first half (28–50) and last overall (62–98). The one bright spot

882-467: The All-Star team – Oglesby hit .341 which was 5th in the league to go along with 119 runs, 106 RBI, 200 hits (second-most) and 278 total bases (fifth); Tinning went 24–2 with a league-leading 3.11 ERA and was second in wins and first in winning percentage; Keyes won the Triple crown with a .369 average, 38 homers and 160 RBI, which were 22 more than anyone else. He also led with 401 total bases (111 more than

931-553: The Boosters defeating Ottumwa 10-3.[Des Moines Register , April 15, 1912, p.6] On May 2, 1930, Western League Park and the Des Moines Demons hosted the first night game played under permanent light standards. The ballgame was partially broadcast nationally on NBC. Today, the site contains Des Moines North High School's Grubb Community Stadium. Seventh Street no longer cuts through the area. The high school stadium

980-520: The Demons went 64–74, tied for last in the Three-I. Jerry Reimer hit .331 with 18 home runs and led the league with 179 hits and 294 total bases. Ray Culp went 6–7 and had a 6.59 ERA, not indicative of his future big-league performance. The final year was a poor one. Kress was managing again and Des Moines finished last – by a wide margin, with a pitiful 37–93 record. They were so bad every other team in

1029-439: The Des Moines Boosters (1908–1924). Des Moines won Western league Championships in 1905 and 1906, leading to the championship reference monikers. The Des Moines Demons continued play the Western League, playing in the league from 1925–1937. The Western League did not play in 1938, but resumed in 1938 without a Des Moines franchise. The Des Moines Bruins rejoined the Western League in 1947. The Des Moines Bruins remained in

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1078-555: The Hall of Fame in 2015, each in their first year of eligibility. The most recent major league pitchers to achieve the feat are Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal in 2024. As of 2024, every MLB pitcher who has achieved the Triple Crown has concurrently won the Cy Young Award for that season. The first major league pitcher to achieve the pitching Triple Crown was Tommy Bond , in the NL in 1877. The following year, Paul Hines became

1127-561: The Saints and Cowboys squared off. Davenport beat the Demons three games to one to advance to the finals. Ogorek, who hit .316, again stole the most bases with 38, tied for the hit lead (164, also a 3-way tie) and was tied for second with 108 runs. Hudson hit .318 and led the loop with 94 RBI and Fabian Gaffke hit .311 and was second with 93 RBI, tied for fourth with 163 hits, second with 17 triples, tied for fourth with 15 homers and first with 269 total bases. 1935 The Western League eliminated

1176-597: The Three-I League's final season of existence finished .500 or better. Five pitchers lost in double digits while no one won more than six contests. Dick Haines led the league with a .355 average while future big-leaguer Pat Corrales batted .309. The Demons name has not been used since that time by the Des Moines teams – when organized baseball returned to the city in 1969 the club was called the Iowa Oaks . Des Moines Boosters The Des Moines Boosters were

1225-508: The Western League until it folded in 1958. From 1912–1924 the Des Moines Boosters played home games at Western League Park , also known as Holcomb Avenue Park or just Holcomb Park . The ballpark had a maximum capacity of 12,000 (1930). It was on the northwest corner of Holcomb Avenue (south, home plate) and Seventh Street (east, right field), near the Des Moines River (west, left field). The park opened on April 14, 1912, with

1274-412: The Western League. Outfielder Sam Langford hit .339 with a league leading 160 runs. Outfielder Pug Griffin hit .320 with 23 home runs, catcher Homer Haworth hit .295, pitcher Herm Holshouser posted a record of 19–8 and pitcher Claude Thomas went 19–6. Leo Moon went 22–13 with 127 strikeouts on the season and tied for third in the league in wins and strikeouts. Left off of the All-Star team

1323-587: The accomplishment is not as rare as the batting crown. The Pitching Triple Crown has been accomplished 39 times in the American and National Leagues. The most by one player is three, accomplished by three players. Grover Cleveland Alexander captured his first two in consecutive seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies (1915–1916), and won a third in 1920 with the Chicago Cubs . Alexander is

1372-518: The advent of more hitters who choose to specialize in either hitting for batting average or power. A pitcher who leads the league in wins , strikeouts , and earned run average (ERA) is said to have won the "Pitching Triple Crown." The term was previously defined as leading the league in wins, ERA, and winning percentage. It was used in that older sense to describe the unsuccessful pursuits of that goal by Bobby Shantz in 1952 and Johnny Antonelli in 1954 as well as Sandy Koufax in 1963. Koufax

1421-425: The first division with a 77–71 record and fourth-place finish. Van Camp was fourth in the circuit with a .344 average and fifth with 18 homers. All-Stars were first baseman Jim Oglesby who hit .308 with 100 RBI, outfielder Stan Keyes who hit .340 with 35 HR, 358 total bases and 140 RBI was an All-Star as well. He was 6th in average, first in homers, RBI and total bases, fifth in runs with 123 and he tied for third in

1470-453: The first major leaguer to lead the NL in the three batting categories; he, Heinie Zimmerman , and Miguel Cabrera are the only three players to be AL or NL Triple Crown winners and not reach the Hall of Fame, although Cabrera will not be eligible for induction until 2029. The highest home run total reached by a Crown winner was Mickey Mantle , with 52 in 1956. The highest RBI total belongs to Lou Gehrig , with 165 in 1934. Rogers Hornsby has

1519-412: The highest home run total by an NL winner, 42, from his 1922 season. The NL high for RBI is 154, set by Joe Medwick in 1937. Hugh Duffy 's .440 average in his 1894 Triple Crown season is the highest batting average by any player in major league history. Nap Lajoie , in 1901, set the all-time AL single-season high in batting average with .426. Among the major leaguers who earned the pitching Triple Crown,

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1568-502: The highest season strikeout total, with 313 in 1999. Since 1901, the major league pitcher with the highest season strikeout total in the course of a Triple Crown season is Sandy Koufax, striking out 382 in 1965. Research in 2015 restored the Chicago Cubs' Heinie Zimmerman of 1912 to the list. There is doubt over whether Hugh Duffy 's 1894 RBI totals were the highest. On December 16, 2020, Major League Baseball announced that

1617-599: The league with 18 triples. Pitcher Bud Tinning , who went 16–11 with a 4.39 ERA, was an All-Star as well. 1931 Des Moines duked it out with the Wichita Aviators throughout the 1931 season. The Demons went 39–26 to finish second in the first half, three games behind Wichita, then won 55 of 80 second-half contests to finish six and a half games ahead of the Aviators. In the championship, the Demons won four of six games. All three 1930 All-Stars returned and again made

1666-507: The lowest ERAs belong to Walter Johnson (1.14 in 1913 AL) and Grover Alexander (1.22 in 1915 NL). The highest win total belongs to Charles Radbourn , amassed in 1884, who in that year set a major league single-season record with at least 59 wins. Radbourn struck out 441 batters that season, the highest total for a Triple Crown winner. Walter Johnson holds the highest win total by an AL pitching Triple Crown winner, with 36 in 1913. Among AL pitching Triple Crown winners, Pedro Martínez registered

1715-761: The most for any player. Outside MLB, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Sun Dong-yol each won three pitching triple crowns and are the only players to achievement in three consecutive seasons. Yamamoto achieved this record in the NPB from 2021 to 2023, and Sun Dong-yol achieved it in the KBO League from 1989 to 1991. Other major league pitchers who have won multiple Pitching Triple Crowns include Christy Mathewson (1905 and 1908 New York Giants ), Lefty Grove (1930 and 1931 Philadelphia Athletics ), Lefty Gomez (1934 and 1937 New York Yankees ), and Roger Clemens (1997 and 1998 Toronto Blue Jays ). One pitcher, Guy Hecker , won

1764-476: The most in the circuit. The Demons were affiliated with the St. Louis Browns in 1937. After the Western League collapsed following the 1937 season, Des Moines was without baseball for its longest stretch in the 20th century as the professional game did not return until 1947 with the Des Moines Bruins . In 1959, the Demons name was revived after 21 years of non-usage. The new Des Moines Demons were

1813-420: The next player) and 203 hits. Joining them as All-Stars were outfielder Mike Kreevich who hit .329, and P Jack Knight who went 17–7 with a 3.30 ERA, which ranked second in the league. Jim Grant went 12–11 with a 3.48 ERA, the fifth-best mark, while Johnny Niggeling was 17–12 with a 3.65 ERA. 1932 The 1932 Demons finished third in the first half (36–30) but skidded down to 35–42 in the concluding segment of

1862-516: The only pitcher to win a Pitching Triple Crown with more than one major league team. Walter Johnson won his three Triple Crowns with the original Washington Senators , leading the league in all three categories in 1913, 1918, and 1924. Sandy Koufax was the most recent to capture three Triple Crowns, winning his three within four seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1963, 1965–1966); all of Koufax's crowns led both major leagues,

1911-615: The only players to have won three batting Triple Crowns in any league. Ochiai won in 1982, 1985, and 1986 while competing in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball . Charleston won in 1921 while playing in the Negro National League , and again in 1924 and 1925 while playing in the Eastern Colored League . In the American League and National League, the most batting Triple Crowns won by

1960-525: The records of Negro league baseball from 1920 to 1948 would be designated as major league status. As such, seven different leagues that existed in that time period are now recognized as being on the same level as MLB. Seven batters and four pitchers achieved the Triple Crown in that era. Since the KBO League's strikeout titles began to be officially awarded in the 1993 season, the criteria for KBO League pitchers Triple Crown until 1992 are wins, ERA, and

2009-479: The season between Des Moines and the Muskogee Oilers . 1934 An unusual situation occurred in 1934 when Des Moines, the St. Joseph Saints and Sioux City Cowboys all posted identical 36–23 first-half records and none won the second half (Des Moines was 32–33, behind St. Joseph and ahead of Sioux City). A four-team playoff resulted with Des Moines facing the second-half champion Davenport Blue Sox while

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2058-631: The season. Oglesby made his third All-Star team in a row and finished fifth in the league with 19 triples. Jim hit .385 with nine homers and 86 RBI. 1933 Des Moines won the most games in the Western League in 1933 at 81–47 but finished one and a half games behind the leader in both halves of the season. All-Star outfielder Leo Ogorek, who hit .321, led the league with 60 stolen bases and was fourth with 108 runs scored. Pitcher Al Gizelbach went 18–10, placing him fifth in wins, fourth in winning percentage and third with 203 strikeouts. Roy Hudson, who hit .348 with 16 homers and Mort Cooper , who went 7–5 both split

2107-471: The specified categories. A tie for a lead in any category, such as home runs, is sufficient to be considered the leader in that category. A "Major League Triple Crown" may be said to occur when a player leads all of Major League Baseball in all three categories. The term "Triple Crown" generally refers to the hitting achievement. A hitter who completes a season leading a league in batting average , home runs , and runs batted in (RBI) may be said to have won

2156-426: The split-season format in 1935 and the Demons finished third at 58–55. In the playoffs they were swept in three games by the Saints. Ogorek hit .317 and was among the leaders in outfield fielding percentage (.984, third-best), steals (25, 2 behind the leader), hits (144, third-best) and runs (92, one behind the leader) while August Luther, who hit .306, was third in homers at 15 and second with 14 triples. Claude Passeau

2205-410: Was Van Camp's hitting, as he was fifth in the league with 19 triples, hit .351 and led the club with 15 homers. Three pitchers lost 16 or more games. 1929 The next year brought a slight improvement to 72–86 and 7th place in the 8-team Western League. A player named Circle, whose full name is unknown, hit 26 homers, which was fifth in the Western League. 1930 The 1930 campaign saw Des Moines return to

2254-515: Was first described as having won the Pitching Triple Crown in the current sense after his 1965 season, though the older sense continued to be used. In contrast to the respective batting statistics, the Pitching Triple Crown statistics are more or less complementary (for example, a pitcher who is especially proficient at striking out batters is likely to give up fewer earned runs, and consequently more likely to win games); therefore,

2303-726: Was the most productive hitter in the Triple Crown categories, Dutch Wetzel , who batted .353 and was second in the league with 32 homers. 1926 The Demons repeated as champions in 1926, winning another close race. Their 99–64 record gave them fewer wins than the Oklahoma City Indians , though they finished with two fewer losses and a half-game margin of victory overall. Oklahoma City claimed that other clubs (the Wichita Izzies , Lincoln Links and Tulsa Oilers ) threw games to Des Moines but Western League president Mike Sexton cleared all involved parties. Des Moines lost

2352-453: Was the staff ace at 20–11 and led the Western League in wins, strikeouts (239) and innings hurled (244). 1936 The 1936 edition of the Des Moines Demons went 33–33 to finish fifth in the first half of the revived split-season system. They were 31–31 and third in the second half in the six-team Western League. All-Stars were pitcher Hal Turpin who went 20–10 with a 2.74 ERA, centerfielder Jim Asbell who hit .284 and catcher Hack Wilson (not

2401-544: Was third in wins while teammate Gil Gebo (11–15, 4.63) was fourth in innings (216), games pitched (36) and losses. Henry Martínez hit just .216 but led the team in homers (12, which ranked fifth in the Western League) and steals (28, which was third most). He struck out the most (107 times) as well. Bob Allaire hit 2.84 and was among the leaders in walks (95, tied for second) and runs (94, fourth-most) while leading with 34 steals. Harry Hughes, who hit .303, drew 109 walks,

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