The Triple Crown Contenders: Baseball's Greatest Hitters Third Edition

The Triple Crown Contenders is about baseball's greatest hitters. It is a fair and comprehensive comparison of players from all eras. Unlike other "Baseball's Greatest" books, it relies strictly on the numbers, nor does it try to rank pitchers in with hitters. Fifth place in batting average is the same in 1999 as it was in 1888--it means that only four players in the league had a higher batting average. The placement in each Triple Crown category is the sole criteria used to rank the players. It's a fresh, new way of evaluating the careers of baseball's greatest players. TCC points should become part of serious fans' vocabulary within a couple years, and eventually may become an Official Major League Baseball Statistic. The various lists towards the end of the book confirm what most fans already knew about who were the best pure sluggers and who were the best hitters-for-average. Look for a similar book about pitchers next year.

A baseball fan for over thirty years, Robert Minteer decided to take a fresh look at a few of baseball's statistics, in order to have a ranking of baseball's greatest hitters that is strictly by the numbers. The result is The Triple Crown Contenders, which gives equal weight to stats from all of baseball's various eras. He is currently working on a similar book about baseball's pitchers. Born just outside of Pittsburgh, PA, Minteer vaguely remembers a game or two at Forbes Field, and probably saw his boyhood idol, Roberto Clemente, play-without, however, realizing the significance of what he was seeing. Robert Minteer currently resides in Montana and, welcomes comments from readers, and plans to include many of these comments in future editions of The Triple Crown Contenders.