[Ads-l] Antedating of "Triple Crown" (Horse Racing)

[Ben Zimmer]

As for baseball's "triple crown," here's an early use for home runs, RBI,
and total bases:

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Jacksonville (Fla.) Journal, May 31, 1930, p. 6, col. 8
RUTH'S TRIPLE CROWN
Babe Ruth's home run barrage boosted him into the lead in three batting
fields. He leads in runs with 41, in total bases with 98 and in favorite
field, home runs, with 14.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/jacksonville-journal-triple-crown/192928599/
---

And here's the now-typical use for batting average, home runs, and RBI:

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Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Evening News, Feb. 23, 1935, p. 11, col. 4
First, of course, there is Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse, who has played 1,504
consecutive American League games and last season achieved the remarkable
feat of winning the Triple crown, batting, home runs and, runs driven in.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/wilkes-barre-times-leader-the-evening-n/192926667/
---

--bgz

On Sun, Mar 8, 2026 at 9:32 AM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest citation for the horse racing
> term "Triple Crown" is dated 1946.  That surprisingly late date is due to
> the fact that the horse racing term does not have a separate entry in the
> OED, it is subsumed in a "Triple Crown" entry that also covers the pope's
> tiara, the classic British horse races, and even the major tiddlywinks
> tournaments (I wonder who contributed that one).  The baseball trio of home
> runs, runs batted in, and batting average is not even mentioned.
>
> The earliest citation I have found for the Triple Crown of prestigious
> American races for three-year-olds is the following:
>
> 1923 St. Louis Star 5 Apr. 21/2 (Newspapers.com)  Sir Barton was a maiden
> until he won the [Kentucky] Derby in 1919 ... Sir Barton, however, went on
> to win the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico and later won the Belmont Stakes at
> Belmont Park, distinguishing himself as the only "triple crown" winner of
> the American classics.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
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>

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