Holy Big Cat, Batman!

With my project deadline approaching so fast — I promise I’ll tell you more about it soon — I wasn’t planning to leap into an extensive Ask Joe question.

But then one came along that I couldn’t resist:

Thanks Spence. Did I mention that I have a deadline in FIVE WEEKS? This isn’t the best time for a deep dive Riddler question straight out of the old 1960s Batman TV show.

But, yeah, I am incapable of turning down a Riddler challenge.*

First, let’s figure out the four players in the Hall who have won the Career Triple Crown.

We’ll start by eliminating some obvious candidates. We already know that guys who won the Triple Crown — Ted Williams, Miggy Cabrera, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, Lou Gehrig and so on — are not eligible.

Willie Mays never won an RBI title. Isn’t that nuts? He finished second twice, most notably in 1962 when he drove in 141 but was beaten out by Tommy Davis’ wild 153 RBI season.

Stan Musial never won a home run title. The closest he came was his famous 1948 season, when he finished one home run shy of the Triple Crown. Ralph Kiner beat him out.

Honus Wagner never won a home run title. Cap Anson never won a home run title. Mel Ott never won a batting title. Larry Walker never won an RBI title. Eddie Collins, crazily, never won any of the three, and neither did Shoeless Joe Jackson. Frank Thomas won a batting title, but never won a home run or RBI title.

OK, so the four Hall of Famers who won the career triple crown are:

• Henry Aaron. Two batting titles, four home run titles, four RBI titles.

• Babe Ruth. One batting title, 12 home run titles, five RBI titles. He finished second to Goose Goslin in the 1924 RBI race, costing him his shot at the Triple Crown.

• Tris Speaker. One batting title, one home run title, one RBI title — in three different seasons.

• Joe DiMaggio: Two batting titles, two home run titles, two RBI titles.

Now, the three who are not in the Hall, because, I assume, steroids?

• Barry Bonds. You know what’s funny about Bonds? He won the home run and RBI title BEFORE we all assume he started really getting into PEDs. But he didn’t start winning batting titles (he won two of them) until after he bulked up.

• Alex Rodriguez. One batting title, five home run titles, two RBI titles.

• MannyBManny. Manny Ramirez won one batting title, one home run title, and one crazy RBI title when he drove in 165 for Cleveland in 1999. He finished third in the MVP balloting, even though RBI were pretty much everything in MVP voting back in the 1990s. Heck, Juan Gonzalez won TWO MVP titles based entirely on RBI.

Before we get to the one who did it and has never been talked about as a Hall of Fame candidate, I must say this:

Me: “Riddler, you missed a trick!”

Riddler: Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo! What do you mean, Batman?

Me: Well, you said there were only eight players who won the career triple crown without winning a season Triple Crown.

Riddler: That’s right, Batman. Crazy eight! Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Me: Wrong!

Riddler: Impossible! I counted them myself!

Me: Well, Riddler, maybe that was your problem. Maybe you should have used a machine to do your math.

Robin (after a pause): Holy La Maquina, Batman!

Me: That’s right, Robin. The Riddler missed Albert Pujols, who won a batting title in 2003, two home run titles (2009 and 2010), and one RBI title (also 2010).

Penguin: Whah, whah, whah, confound it, Riddler, how could you have missed Albert Pujols?

Riddler: Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo! That’s not fair! He’s not Hall of Fame eligible, yet.

Me: He still counts, Riddler, something that your riddled mind will always miss! As for the answer to your riddle, the player who has won all three triple crown norms but is never talked about for the Hall of Fame is none other than … Andrés Galarraga!

Riddler: Noooooooo!!

Robin: Holy Big Cat, Batman!

Me: That’s right, Robin. Galarraga won the batting title in 1993, the home run title in 1996, and two RBI titles in 1996 and 1997. He won all three of them in the light Colorado air before the days of the humidor, which explains why he has never really been considered for the Hall of Fame despite raw career numbers that are strikingly similar to those of Jim Rice and Orlando Cepeda.

Joker: I told you he’d get it, Riddler! He’s got Baseball Reference in that infernal Bat Computer.

Me: Of course. It does have “Bat” in the name.

Commissioner Gordon: Another mystery solved by the Caped Crusader!

Me: Not so fast, Commissioner. Because the Riddler missed another trick! Have you figured it out, Robin?

Robin (after pause): Holy Other Big Cat, Batman!

Me: That’s right, Robin! While the Riddler was focused on one Big Cat in Galarraga, he completely overlooked the original Big Cat, Johnny Mize, who won a batting title, three home run titles, and three RBI titles.

Catwoman: Another purrrrfect plan foiled. Always overlooking the cats, aren’t you, Riddler?

Riddler: That’s not fair! I was not the first to overlook Johnny Mize! The Hall of Fame voters overlooked him for the entire decade of the 1980s!

Me: You can think about that in jail, Riddler!

Kathleen’s Corner … or Kathleen’s Korner?

Either way you vote, you still get links!

• Another absurd Rockies stat for you. This time, it’s related to Bo Nix's first pitches.

• NIL has made college athletics messy and complicated, but one big bright spot is the return of EA Sports’ College Football, which will indeed return in 2026.

• This fun story from Andrew Golden of the Washington Post explores the Nationals’ clubhouse book club, started by closer Kyle Finnegan.

• I have to mention women’s hockey, where the Minnesota Frost (great name, btw) just won their second consecutive PWHL title.