Triple Milestones - 2004
By Bill Gilbert
Offensive production in the major leagues increased again in 2004 for the
second straight year but still remains below the recent peak in every category
in 2000. Twelve players achieved the Triple Milestones of a .300 batting
average, 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in, up from 8 in 2003. However, only
2 players made it in both 2003 and 2004, Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez.
All significant offensive categories were up from 2003 as illustrated in
the following table:
Year Runs/Game HR/Game BAVG OBA SLG OPS
---- --------- ------- ---- ---- ---- ---
1996 10.07 2.19 .270 .340 .427 .767
1997 9.53 2.05 .267 .337 .419 .756
1998 9.58 2.08 .266 .335 .420 .755
1999 10.17 2.28 .271 .345 .434 .779
2000 10.28 2.34 .271 .345 .437 .782
2001 9.55 2.25 .264 .332 .427 .759
2002 9.24 2.09 .261 .331 .417 .748
2003 9.46 2.14 .264 .332 .422 .754
2004 9.63 2.25 .266 .335 .428 .763
For the second year in a row, no players hit 50 home runs. A total of 9
players hit 40 home runs in 2004, compared to 10 last year. The 30 home run
level was reached by 37 players in 2003, well below the peak of 47 in 2000.
A useful indicator for tracking offense is the number of players who hit
for both power and average by achieving a .300 batting average, 30 home runs and
100 runs batted in. A record 26 players reached all three milestones in 2000,
but that figure dropped to 21 in 2001, 12 in 2002 and 8 in 2003 before
increasing to 12 in 2004. Four of the players are in the American League, all
Dominicans, and eight in the National League including Albert Pujols who became
the only player to do it in his first 4 seasons. Four players, David Ortiz,
Adrian Beltre, Scott Rolen and Bobby Abreu recorded triple milestones for the
first time.
Following is a listing of players who achieved triple milestones
in 2004:
Player Times BAVG-HR-RBI Comments
American
Manny Ramirez 8 .308-43-130 Sixth straight year.
Vladimir Guerrero 6 .337-39-126 Back again after missing out in 2003.
Miguel Tejada 2 .311-34-150 Better than MVP year in 2002.
David Ortiz 1 .301-41-139 Emerging superstar.
National
Barry Bonds 9 .362-45-101 Only Ruth and Gehrig have more.
Albert Pujols 4 .331-46-123 On track to be one of all-time greats.
Lance Berkman 2 .316-30-106 Made it in 2001.
Jim Edmonds 2 .301-42-111 Also made it in 2001.
Aramis Ramirez 2 .318-36-103 Another from class of 2001.
Bobby Abreu 1 .301-30-105 Came close before.
Adrian Beltre 1 .334-48-121 Classic breakout season.
Scott Rolen 1 .314-34-124 First .300 season.
Six players achieved triple milestones in 2003 but fell short
in 2004:
Player Times BAVG-HR-RBI BAVG-HR-RBI
In Past 2003 2004 Comments
American
Gary Sheffield 6 .330-39-132 .290-36-121 BAVG slipped.
Carlos Delgado 2 .302-42-145 .269-32- 99 Slow start.
Vernon Wells 1 .317-33-117 .272-23- 67 Not even close.
Javy Lopez 1 .328-43-109 .316-23- 86 Short on homers.
Aubrey Huff 1 .311-34-107 .297-29-104 Came close.
National
Todd Helton 5 .358-33-117 .347-32- 96 Breaks string of 5.
Three other players barely missed in 2004. It would have been the first time
for all three.
2004
Travis Hafner .311-28-109 Injured last 3 weeks.
Carlos Lee .305-31- 99 Almost made it with strong finish.
Hideki Matsui .298-31-108 BAVG dipped at end.
A longer list contains the names of players, active in 2004, who have had
multiple .300-30-100 seasons in the past but have not done it in the last three
years. Most are fading veterans but some are still productive players but not
at the same level they were in their peak years.
Last
.300-30-100 .300-30-100
Player Seasons Season 2004 Comments
Frank Thomas 7 2000 .271-18 -49 Missed 88 games.
Mike Piazza 6 2000 .266-20- 54 Two straight bad years.
Jeff Bagwell 5 2000 .266-27- 89 Continuing decline.
Chipper Jones 5 2001 .248-30- 96 Lowest BAVG in career.
Juan Gonzalez 5 2001 .276- 5- 17 Played 33 games.
Larry Walker 4 2001 .298-17- 47 Missed 80 games.
Ken Griffey, Jr. 3 1997 .253-20- 60 Missed 79 games.
Vinny Castilla 3 1998 .271-35-131 Back at Coors.
Andres Galarraga 3 1998 .300- 1- 2 Now at 399 homers.
Sammy Sosa 3 2001 .253-35- 80 Decline continues.
Rafael Palmeiro 2 1999 .258-23- 88 String of 9 38 HR over.
Moises Alou 2 2000 .293-39-106 New career high in HR.
Brian Giles 2 2000 .284-23- 94 Hurt by home park.
Luis Gonzalez 2 2001 .259-17- 48 Injury curtailed
season.
Phil Nevin 2 2001 .289-26-105 Hurt by home park.
Fred McGriff 2 2001 .181- 2- 7 Finished with 493 HR.
In his 1988 Baseball Abstract, Bill James referred to triple milestone
seasons as "Hall of Fame Seasons". This is because all of the eligible players
with 5 or more triple milestone seasons have been elected to the Hall of Fame.
This correlation may not hold in the future since triple milestone seasons are
much easier to achieve now than in the past. Among active players, Bonds has 9,
Ramirez has 8, Thomas has 7, Piazza, Sheffield and Guerrero have 6 and Bagwell,
Juan Gonzalez, Chipper Jones, Alex Rodriguez and Todd Helton have 5.
In 2003, only one minor league player, Kyle Nichols, achieved triple
milestones. In 2004, 10 minor leaguers made it, a difficult feat in a 140-game
season. Four of these players finished the season in the major leagues.
Player Team (Level) Organization Age BAVG-HR-RBI
Joe Dillon Carolina(AA) Florida 28 .342- 9- 31
Albuquerque(AAA) .325-30- 86
.329-39-117
Jon Benick Hickory(LoA) Pittsburgh 25 .328-32-104
Andy Phillips Trenton(AA) New York (A) 25 .357- 4- 16
Columbus(AAA) .318-26- 85
New York AL .250- 1- 2
.320-31-103
Ian Stewart Asheville(LoA) Colorado 19 .319-30-101
Dallas McPherson Arkansas(AA) Anaheim 23 .321-20- 69
Salt Lake(AAA) .313-20- 57
Anaheim AL .225- 3- 6
.310-43-132
Andy Tracy Colo. Springs Colorado 30 .315-33-120
Colorado NL .188- 0- 1
.310-33-121
Jason Dubois Iowa(AAA) Chicago (N) 25 .314-31- 99
Chicago NL .217- 1- 5
.309-32-104
Brian Dopirak Lansing(LoA) Chicago (N) 20 .307-39-120
Kevin Witt Memphis(AAA) St. Louis 28 .306-36-107
Brad Eldred Lynchburg(HiA) Pittsburgh 23 .310-21- 77
Altoona(AA) .279-17- 60
.301-38-137
In 2003, two college players had triple milestone seasons. However, there
were none in 2004.
Pitchers also strive for triple milestones - 20 wins, 200 strikeouts and
an ERA under 3.00. Esteban Loaiza came out of nowhere to achieve triple
milestones in 2003 (21-9, 207, 2.90) but didn't come close in 2004. Johan
Santana (20-6, 265, 2.61) came on strong in the second half for his first triple
milestone season in 2004.