Some Things in Sport Are Just Plain Difficult

After Bobby Jones won the four major golf championships of his day in 1930.  They were the U.S. Open, the U.S Amateur and the two counterparts in Britain, their Open and Amateur Championships.  Some sports writer called in the Grand Slam.  That name has stuck even though the tournaments have changed to make up the Grand Slam.  Now it comprises the Masters, U.S. Open, the Open Championship in Britain, and the PGA Championship. 

No one has won the Grand Slam in golf since Jones.  The closest anyone came was in 1953 when Ben Hogan won the first three majors.  Many experts say that Hogan was playing so well that he probably would have won the PGA.  He didn't play in it because the dates overlapped with the Open Championship.  Tiger Woods also came close with his "Tiger Slam” when he won the four majors in a row, but over two years. 

Baseball has the Triple Crown in batting when a player leads his league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.  In the long history of baseball, it has only been done sixteen times.  Only two of the players are not in the Hall of Fame.  Rogers Hornsby and Ted Williams are the only two players to have done it twice.  In remains inexplicable to me why Williams did not win the MVP either of the years he accomplished the feat.  Even more inexplicable is how Mickey Cochrane beat out Lou Gehrig's Triple Crown in 1934. 

Many players have won two of the three parts of the Triple Crown.  Many of those players are in the Hall of Fame or will go into the Hall of Fame along with the 12 men who added a Triple Crown to their resume.  After a fast start, Matt Kemp of the Dodgers has hit a slump.  Josh Hamilton of the Rangers went on a tear recently and currently is leading in all three categories.  They play 162 games to figure out the leaders.  The last player to win the Triple Crown in baseball was Carl Yastrzemski.  He did it in 1967. 

In thoroughbred racing, several countries have their own versions of a Triple Crown.  They are all equally difficult to accomplish.  In the 150 years of racing in Britain, only 15 horses have won their version, the last being Nijinsky in 1970.  Here in our country only one filly has one the National Triple Tiara.  Only eleven horses have won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes in the same year.  As in baseball, several horses have come close, winning the first two races only to fall short.  The last was Affirmed in 1978.

I've been lucky enough to see Ben Hogan play golf and Tiger Woods to come close to winning the Grand Slam.  I've seen winners of the baseball Triple Crown play.  Ted Williams at the end of his career and Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, and Yastremski in their primes.  Anybody my age remembers the flat out speed of Secretariat, the heart of Seattle Slew, and the grace of Affirmed as each of them won the Triple Crown.

Only one golfer has a chance at the Grand Slam this year.  Bubba Watson's next test in that will be the U.S. Open.  Josh Hamilton has a shot at baseball's Triple Crown if he continues at the same pace.  Watson has to go up against some of the best players in the world.  And 600 other players stand ready to take any one of the categories in baseball stats away from Hamilton.

I'll Have Another won the Kentucky Derby coming from behind to beat 19 other horses.  Although the field was smaller, he came from behind again to win the Preakness today.  In both races he ran down Bodemeister.  Now the long grueling mile and a half Belmont remains.  Traditionally the field in the Derby is the largest.  The Preakness is smaller, and the Belmont even smaller.  Regardless, this colt faces a tough challenge.

Watson might win the Grand Slam, but we won't know until The U.S Open if he has a chance.  We won't know about Hamilton until the end of this season in September. Come June 9, at the Belmont, we just might see I'll Have Another in the Winner's Circle.  


The reason some things are so difficult in sport is because when we see someone accomplish the rare and difficult, we get to witness greatness.  If we do, relish the moment.  We might not see it again for a long time.