This Week In Yankees Baseball: Mantle, Gehrig and Alex Rodriguez?

In the glorious history of the New York Yankees, it has rarely taken 59 years for anything to be repeated. But that is exactly how long it has been since the Yankees have had a Triple Crown winner.

True Yankee fans can rattle off the details without hesitation. The great Mickey Mantle batted .353 with 52 home runs and 130 RBI in 1956. Mickey joined the only other Yankee to accomplish the feat. That was Lou Gehrig, who won the Triple Crown in 1934. Lefty Gomez did win the pitching Triple Crown that measures wins, strikeouts and ERA twice. [related category]

So after the spectacular night Alex Rodriguez had against the Rays on Friday, what are the realistic chances of A-Rod making it happen again?

Now, first off, let´s put everything into perspective. Rodriguez is not, and will never be, in the same stratosphere as The Mick and The Iron Horse. It doesn´t matter if he hits 100 home runs this year.

But let´s move beyond the tiresome A-Rod controversies, and take a look to see if he has a legitimate chance of becoming the third Yankee to get it done. Through Friday´s game, his numbers stood at .344 with four home runs and 11 RBI. That left him in 16th place in batting average, second place in home runs, and second place in RBI in the American League. And his .344 would have won the American League batting title in 2014.

Now, you have to admit that a run at the crown would electrify the season, both for the Yankees and for Major League Baseball. But what has to happen for him to make a legitimate run?

First, of course, he has to stay healthy. And then he has to battle Father Time. He has to produce at this same rate for the entire season.

Then he needs Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner to have excellent years, so that he can get the RBI. And just as important, he needs Mark Teixeira to have a big year to provide protection behind him. Of course, the odds are against him. After all, there have only been two Yankees and 17 players total to win the Triple Crown in MLB history.

Obviously, it is so early in the season. But think about this. If Rodriguez is in contention as the season winds down, that would mean that Ellsbury, Gardner and Teixeira are probably having big years, as well. And that would also indicate that the Yankees will most likely be in the thick of the pennant race.

Triple Crown or not, that´s something we haven´t seen in awhile.

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