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Winning Major League Baseball’s Triple Crown is arguably the noblest distinction an offensive player can receive. To hit dominantly for both power and average is a tremendous feat and even if someone manages that, a good bit of luck is still necessary to provide the base runners necessary to bat runs in. As prevalent as offense was throughout the steroid era, it still never happened. In fact, the feat is so rare that it was last accomplished by the Boston Red Sox’ Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. That season, the Yaz hit .326 with 44 home runs and 121 runs batted in. But we are now past the halfway point of the 2010 campaign and there are presently four different players still in the running for this most illustrious of baseball awards.

The first and most likely candidate to keep up the consistency needed to win the Triple Crown is Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera. The four time All-Star first baseman is currently second in the majors in batting average, hitting .349, and considering he is a career .314 hitter it is definitely within his capabilities to maintain such a high mark. At the moment he is also second in the American League in home runs with 24 and leading the AL in RBI at 88. Prior to this season the once wild-partying Cabrera entered treatment for alcoholism and followed up with a promise that he has so far delivered on to be more focused this year. The Tigers are currently three games back in the AL Central division and with lead-off man Austin Jackson hitting well over .300 there should be ample opportunity for Cabrera to drive home runs. If he doesn’t fall off the wagon down the stretch either personally or professionally then Miguel Cabrera is by far the most probable contender to become MLB’s first Triple Crown winner in over forty years.

The next best candidate for putting together the fabled trifecta is outfielder Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers. After a disappointing 2009 season in which he only played in 89 games due to injury, Hamilton has returned to the top form that landed him the number one overall draft spot back in 1999. He is currently leading all the majors with a stout .357 batting average and has hit a whopping .432 since June 1. He is also only one home run behind Cabrera at 23 and still within reach of him with 74 RBI. The Rangers as a team have also been playing at a very high level and with Ian Kinsler and Vladamir Guerrero hitting in front of him Hamilton should have ample opportunity to bring runners home. The biggest obstacle for Josh Hamilton this season will be remaining healthy. He had a long, well-documented trip through the hell of drug addiction earlier in life, and while this is only his fourth year in the majors his body is surely aged beyond its 29 years. Kids, smoking crack and shooting junk are basically the opposite of drinking milk: they do a body bad. However, Hamilton has all the skills and desire to be a legitimate candidate and if his body can hold up and the Rangers as a team can keep producing then he definitely has a reasonable shot at Triple Crown glory.

One person who seems to be perpetually in the running for the Triple Crown is St. Louis Cardinal’s first baseman Albert Pujols. The greatest hitter of his generation and one of the handful of players in the argument for greatest hitter of all time, there is a reason why Pujols’ nickname is The Machine. Never has a “power” hitter made such consistent contact with the ball and even though he is only hitting .300 currently, with a career .330 average it would not be surprising to see that number rise dramatically over the second half of the season. He is second in the NL in RBI with 70 and only two home runs back from the leader at 23. This three-time MVP has the best swing in the game, and with the Cardinals battling the upstart Reds don’t be surprised to see Albert Pujols go on a serious tear down the stretch.

The last player who still has a decent shot at the Triple Crown is the definite dark horse, Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto. Largely unknown outside those closely following the game early this year, Votto’s name became much more familiar after his near-snub for the All-Star Game. He barely made it in on the Final Fan Vote and deservedly so; the guy has been absolutely crushing it this year. He has played a big part in turning the cellar dwelling Reds into legitimate contenders for the NL Central Division with his National League-leading 25 home runs and .318 batting average, currently tied for second. His previous career highs for a season are only 25 home runs and 84 RBI, but as this is only his third full season in the Majors it’s not surprising that he will easily smash both of those. To compete for the Triple Crown will largely depend on the Reds’ ability to maintain competitive and continue getting runners on base for Votto to drive home. While surely the biggest underdog of the bunch, Joey Votto’s play thus far has struck fear into pitchers across the league and certainly makes him a worthwhile candidate in the Triple Crown race.

The season is barely more than halfway through and it is unlikely that any of these sluggers will keep up the pace needed to lead all three of the traditionally most important offensive statistics in baseball, but it is remarkable that there are still even this many players with a reasonable shot. It has been almost half a century since someone was able to maintain the consistency necessary to win the Triple Crown, and it seems much more likely that this season will go down in the history books for pitching, rather than batting, records. There have already been five no-hitters and two perfect games thrown in 2010, and many people are already eagerly naming this the “year of the pitcher.”

However, this dominance may in fact help our four candidates in their bid for history. With pitchers throwing the way they have been, batting statistics have dropped across the league. This means that if just one player can continue performing at this super-high level he will have a much easier time actually staying on top in multiple categories. Of course, there is still a lot of baseball to be played and it is impossible to say for certain that at the end of the year any one of these men is going to make history, or even still be close. But this is the most justifiable Triple Crown contenders this late into the season that MLB has seen in quite some time. And just maybe one of them will have what it takes to be crowned a baseball king. – Brett Phelps is a regular writer for The Golden Sombrero who splits most of his time between the Land of Enchantment and the Biggest Little City in the World and contributes weekly to You Been Blinded. Known in other circles as Slo-Mo and Captain Buck Nasty, he is a wandering gypsy and amateur conspiracy theorist. He likes skiing, getting thrown out of sporting events, and long walks on the beach. He hates being in handcuffs, as this is usually a sign he will spend the night in jail. Any questions, comments, concerns, love or hate mail can be sent to him at brettsta04@yahoo.com

It was predictable and fitting that Josh Hamilton was among the first Texas Rangers players to befriend team fan Tyler Morris last week.

Morris is the 25-year-old firefighter who survived a spectacular, scary fall during the Rangers' win over visiting Cleveland on July 6.

While attempting to a catch a foul ball, Morris stumbled over a second-deck railing and landed amid startled fans more than 30 feet below.

Medical personnel called it a near miracle that Morris escaped with injuries described as relatively minor. .

While hospitalized, Morris soon got phone calls from Hamilton, who sent the fan an autographed bat and a jersey that Morris wore upon his release two days later.

"Josh has a fan for life in me," Morris told reporters.

Morris isn't alone, of course.

Lots of folks have been pulling for Hamilton to succeed on and off a baseball diamond for many years. At times during that stretch, those fans could only groan as he struck out flamboyantly on both counts.

At age 29, Hamilton has survived behavioral spills many times since becoming the 1999 No. 1 major league draft pick, by Tampa Bay, following a phenomenal prep career at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh.

After years of up-and-down battles against alcohol and drug addiction, Hamilton finally began to reach his baseball potential in 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds. That was two years after he started winning against drug dependencies.

Now in the middle of his third season with the Rangers, Hamilton's possibilities are almost endless as he starts tonight's All-Star Game in the outfield for the American League.

On a team that leads the AL West Division by 4-1/2 games, Hamilton is tied for the league lead in batting average (.346), tied for second in home runs (22) and is fourth in runs batted in (64).

While the odds are heavily against it, the opportunity is there for Hamilton become the majors' first Triple Crown winner since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

Dating to 1887, there have been only 15 Triple Crown winners. The list includes Ted Williams, who did it twice, Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Rogers Hornsby (twice).

Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron never did it. Neither did Stan Musial, Ken Griffey Jr., Joe DiMaggio or Mike Schmidt.

Hamilton told reporters recently he's fantasized about the Triple Crown but only to a certain extent.

"Going to the World Series is a lot more important to me," he said. "But you have to believe someone will win one again somewhere down the line. Just because it hasn't happened in almost 50 years doesn't mean it can't be done anymore. You have to stay out of slumps, obviously. You need some luck and no injuries, too. I have confidence I can do those things, but what I really want is a championship."

Along with Seattle and Washington, the Rangers are one of three active teams that have never have reached a World Series.

In fact, the Rangers have won only one postseason game at all and have reached the playoffs only three times, the last time in 1999.

When you add in the 11 seasons (1961-71) the franchise spent in Washington as the Senators, the team has gone longer without winning a playoff series than the majors have without a Triple crown winner.

"No one deserves a championship more than our fans and this team," Hamilton said.

For a team technically in bankruptcy, the Rangers' front office is trying its best to keep the World Series dream a reality.

Lefty ace Cliff Lee was acquired last week from the Seattle Mariners, and slugger Vladimir Guerrero was brought in during the offseason to add more pop to an offense that already included standouts Michael Young, Cruz and Ian Kinsler in addition to Hamilton.

Although the final four games before the All-Star break were deflating losses to Baltimore, the acquisition of Lee will make the Rangers (50-38) a prohibitive favorite to win the West and possibly challenge the New York Yankees, Boston and Tampa as the AL's overall winningest team.

"We have this great opportunity in front of us," Hamilton said. "It's up to us to make the most of it now."

For Rangers fans, even for Morris, a World Series experience would be the best gift of all.

(Contact Caulton Tudor at caulton.tudor(at)newsobserver.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

columnMust credit The News and Observer of Raleigh, N.C.