The 20–20–20–20 Club Nobody Knows About
— Membership is rare, exclusive!
Usually I write about politics, sometimes music and occasionally I’ll come up with a human interest story. This article is about a little ball that often travels over 100 miles per hour.
There’s a whole lotta hero-worshiping goin’ on in America, especially when it comes to sports. But since baseball is ‘America’s Pastime’ … let’s dig in and praise four ball players who clearly are not getting the respect they deserve. All four are extremely worthy, but only one is super famous.
Baseball’s Holy Grail is generally regarded as becoming the top homerun hitter. Fans absolutely love seeing the ball cruise over the fence and such hitters become gratifying heroes, especially if they’ve splintered a gamer!
But I think there are other feats of accomplishment far greater and require much more than an ability to near-mechanically knock a ball over the fence — an inside-the-park homerun being among them!
Most baseball fans know the degree of difficulty achieving The Triple Crown — highest batting average, most homeruns and runs-batted-in (RBIs) for a single season. Only 15 players have achieved this distinction. Most folks also know how rare it is for a modern day player to hit over .400 with batting average. Ted Williams was the last such hitter, hitting .406 in 1941.
But an even more rare and truly significant major league baseball accomplishment, is attaining entry into something few fans even know exists: The 20–20–20–20 Club!
Since 1871, 15,213 major league baseball players have played the game. Only four are in this highly exclusive club, enshrined after banging more than 20 HRs, 20 triples and 20 doubles, plus thieving more than 20 stolen bases in a single season. The first to accomplish this was outfielder Frank “Wildfire” Schulte of the Chicago Cubs who notched 21 HRs, 21 3Bs, 30 2Bs and 23 SBs in 1911.
The second club member would go on to became a Hall of Famer, Willie Mays of the 1957 New York Giants. The versatile centerfielder banged 35 HRs, 20 3Bs, 26 2Bs and stole 38 bases. Astonishingly, he ranked only fourth in the National League MVP vote.
In 1962, baseball expanded into multiple leagues. Since then, despite an increase in the number of players, only two—Curtis Granderson of the Detroit Tigers and Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies — have joined the Multi-20s Club. Something must have been in the air in 2007 as those two players pulled it off in the same year.
To show how little valued is the 20–20–20–20 Club, that year Rollins was awarded the National League MVP; but Granderson placed only 10th in the American league’s MVP voting (see The Jolly Olive’s YouTube video referenced below).
All baseball fans know about the game’s greatest homerun hitters, the triple crown winners and those who’ve hit over .400. But hardly anyone knows about The 20–20–20–20 Club, who is a member or what was required to join the club. Today, you are among a privileged baseball few who do know!
More to think about.
Triples Are Hard to Get!
It’s easy once you’ve hit a homerun. You flip your bat, tip your hat and triumphantly trot the bases to the sound of adoring fans. But stretching a double into a triple or a single into a double or stealing a base (especially when they know you’re gonna take it) is quite another matter. Why? Because you could instantly get thrown out by the greatest arms in the game — not everybody achieves their extra-base objective!
A review on the stats of triples in a single season is interesting. Below, is a list of the Top 100 Single Season Triple Hitters. Notice the year to which these players achieved this difficult feat — almost all triples record-setters were from the ole-timer playing days! Perhaps this is due to changing ballparks and better ball gloves available to help tag out a runner. Also, maybe throwing arms have improved due to new techniques for strength conditioning.
But, for the modern day ball player, triples are rare. Too many players come up short in their effort to hit for the cycle (HR, 3B, 2B and 1B) because they can’t nail down the damn triple. Perhaps every ball park should feature a Triples Corner because the only thing more exciting than hitting or seeing a triple — or inside-the-park homer (the throw and the slide at the end) — is edging out a bunt double!
It’s unlikely the major league triples record will ever be broken. Owen “Chief” Wilson, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, holds the most triples in a season record, having stretched 36 three-baggers in 1912.
In terms of most triples in a career, Hall of Famer Sam Crawford, with 309, holds the lock on a baseball record that’ll never be broken. The Career Trippplet Club is very exclusive. Only seven players in history have nabbed 200 or more triples. Crawford played 19 seasons finishing with a career batting average of .309 while clouting 2,961 hits 458 doubles, 309 triples and 97 homeruns to go with 1,523 RBIs and 357 stolen bases. Back in his day, the competition was stiff as Crawford never was selected MVP!
