TWIB

I used to love watching This Week in Baseball when I was growing up. I love hearing Mel Allen as he went through the show.

One of the token things I always look for during the season is the batting Triple Crown: lead the league in average, homers and ribbies.

Currently, one player from each league has a shot.

In the AL, Josh Hamilton is tied for second in BA (.333 [only .005 behind leader]), second in round trippers (12 [2 behind]) and first in RBI (53 [10 ahead]).

In the NL, Lance "Men at" Berkman is second in BA (.385 [-.032]), tied for first in homers (16) and first in RBI (46 [+3]).

This is only the second year in The Show for Hamilton, so I don't see him sustaining his pace, although he wasn't that shabby last year. He's a lefty, so he'll definitely get the opportunity against a lot of righties to pad those stats, especially since the Rangers aren't exactly a murderer's row. The main question is, will he get enough plate appearances?

Oddly enough, the top two men in average in the NL are switch-hitters. An article a week or so ago about Chipper Jones mentioned how hard it is for him because he has to practice two different swings. Berkman plays at HomeRun Park, so that'll help him a bit. His stats tell us that he's on pace with his 2002 and 2006 campaigns, which were his best years for average, homers and ribbies. He's more patient at the plate this year and he's an every-day player. The question though, is will his average hold up? He's a career .304 hitter. Those '02 and '06 seasons gave us .331 and .315. Plus, he's got Albert Pujols lying in wait for him. Sir Albert is a lifetime .332 hitter and his average, homers and RBI are all higher than Berkman.

One thing these guys can't control, however, is those RBI. They're kinda danged if they do, danged if they don't if the men in front of them get on base. They're likely to see better pitches with nobody on.

It'll be an exciting race to watch.

To be continued...