With September warming up in the bullpen, the surreal will soon flirt with reality. Paul Goldschmidt could accomplish something that hasn’t been done since the Great Depression.
Over the generations, most famous baseball marks has been matched — Roger Maris' and Hank Aaron's, Lou Gehrig’s and Lou Brock’s — but not one National League player has won the Triple Crown since 1937.
That season, the Cardinals’ Joe Medwick won the renowned crown, leading the league in batting average (.374), home runs (31) and RBIs (154).
Eighty-five seasons since, no one pulled it off, not Stan Musial or Willie Mays or Aaron. Not Larry Walker or Barry Bonds or Albert Pujols.
But entering Sunday’s game, the Cardinals’ Goldschmidt was first in the NL in batting average (.338), second in home runs (33, two behind Kyle Schwarber’s 35) and tied for first in RBIs (105).
This is a big deal. And baseball fans have been following this story seemingly from Cuba to Cuba, the tiny Missouri town where Joe Medwick III lives.
So, I had to ask him.
Does he want Goldschmidt to be the first NL Triple Crown winner since his grandpa?
“Yes,” Medwick III, 60, said by phone Sunday. “I think with the season that he's had, and from what I understand, he's a wonderful person, very down to earth, so if he should happen to win the title, he would be very gracious. If it happens, I don’t think we could have a better guy to do it. Maybe I’ll meet him someday and shake his hand.”
He said “we” because he’s a Cards fan. From his Crawford County town — where the population is near Pujols’ career hit total — he generally follows the team on KMOX radio because his satellite service doesn’t get the games on TV. In a way, it’s fitting — just as fans of Joe Medwick followed his 1937 Triple Crown chase on radio, Joe Medwick III does the same for Goldschmidt’s.
Down in Tampa, Florida, Lisa Medwick-Levy caught the Cards in person this summer against the Rays. Her husband, however, is a Red Sox fan. His hero was Carl Yastrzemski, who won the American League Triple Crown in 1967 (a feat matched only once since — in 2012 by Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera).
Lisa has lovely, sun-soaked memories of her grandfather. She would play catch with the great Cardinal in the front yard. He would sometimes bring her Bazooka bubble gum. At spring training, she’d sit beside him in the box seats, while little kids nervously approached the Hall of Famer for an autograph. Her grandfather passed away in 1975 — he had been at Lisa’s home for dinner the night before.
“I think he’s kind of the forgotten hero, to be honest with you,” Medwick-Levy, 58, said by phone. “To have a record that's lasted that long? You hear about Stan Musial — Uncle Stan to us — and you hear about those other players, but it’s kind of like he’s the forgotten one. So I like to hear that some people remember him — it always makes my heart warm.”
On one hand, even though Medwick won the Triple Crown and is in Cooperstown, he just doesn’t seem to get all the recognition he deserves. On the other hand, whenever an NL player has dallied with the idea of a Triple Crown, Medwick received special recognition.
Such is the case this season. And of all the teams, the guy who could finally win the NL Triple Crown is actually on the Cardinals.
“I think that records are made to be broken,” Medwick-Levy said. “And I think if he plays that hard and gets those numbers, then I think he deserves it. I mean, how can you not be happy for the guy?”
It’s interesting that she used the word “record.” Because that’s the thing about Medwick’s Triple Crown mark. It’s not like someone is eclipsing him, such as when the Cardinals’ Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs to break Maris’ record of 61. If Goldschmidt wins it, he’s simply earning the same achievement Medwick did — and would be the first to do it since Medwick did.
But of course, if Goldschmidt gets it, it will feel like Medwick's "run" is over.
But the fact that Medwick’s feat has not been matched for decades (and decades and decades) only magnifies how remarkable it really was. In that same 1937 season, the year he won the MVP, Medwick also led the league in runs (111), hits (237) and doubles (56).
And he’s forever a champion — he had a .954 OPS in the 1934 World Series, which the Cards won in seven games.
Only 14 Cardinals ever accumulated more WAR (wins above replacement) than Joseph Michael Medwick. With the exception of Curt Flood (10th, with a 42.3 WAR), all players ahead of Medwick have had their number retired — or likely will.
“You know, the older I've gotten, the more important it's become to me,” said Medwick III, who has three daughters and no son to carry on the name. “In the near future, Albert Pujols’ number will be retired and put on the wall. Yadier Molina’s number will be retired and put on the wall. And I think Adam Wainwright's number will be retired and put on the wall. And as good as those ballplayers are, none of them will hold a baseball record as long as Grandpa has. And his number is not retired and on the wall. And I think I there's a little bitterness in my heart towards the Cardinal organization ...
“My feelings are my feelings, but Grandpa's numbers are his numbers.”
It’s a tricky argument — of the Cardinals close behind Medwick in WAR, be it Harry Brecheen, Jim Edmonds, Ray Lankford or Keith Hernandez, the only player with his number retired is Red Schoendienst, who was a manager and coach for decades after retirement. Medwick, unfortunately, seems to be the cutoff.
But as Goldschmidt continues to hit, each thwack will be a reminder of how great he is — and how great Medwick was.
