Ty Cobb's 1907 Triple Crown

Lore & Background

Cobb is credited with setting 90 MLB records. He won more batting titles than any other player, with 12. He hit .300 in a record 23 consecutive seasons and .400 in three different seasons. He holds the career record for stealing home (54 times) and for stealing second, third, and home in succession (4 times). His combined total of 4,065 runs scored and runs batted in (after adjusting for home runs) is the highest ever produced by any major league player. He also ranks first in games played by an outfielder (2,934).

In Their Own Story

The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across Bennett Park as Ty Cobb stepped into the batter's box for the final at-bat of the season. The air was thick with anticipation, the crowd murmuring in hushed reverence. With a crack that echoed off the wooden bleachers, Cobb sent a line drive screaming toward right field. As the ball soared over the fence, sealing his Triple Crown, the stadium erupted into a roar that seemed to shake the very foundations of Detroit.

Reader's Guide

Cobb led the Tigers to three consecutive American League pennants in 1907, 1908, and 1909. In 1907, he finished the season with a league-leading .350 batting average, 212 hits, 49 steals, and 119 RBI. He stole second, third, and home in a single game in 1907, a feat he accomplished four times in his career, still an MLB record.

Did You Know?

• Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, receiving 222 out of 226 votes (98.2%).
• He hit a home run off Rube Waddell in the ninth inning on September 30, 1907, to tie a game that went 17 innings and helped clinch the Tigers' first pennant.
• Cobb's .366 or .367 career batting average ranked as the highest-ever recorded up until 2024, when MLB added Negro Leagues players to official historical statistics.