Most Triples in a Season with Zero Home Runs

The triple is, in my opinion, one of the more exciting plays in baseball. It doesn't happen very often and usually combines a maximum of hectic movement by the defense on the field with a runner going all out. Of course, so does a Prince Fielder inside-the-park home run, but what is that besides a lethal aberration?

This sort of brings up a good point, however. Players that hit a lot of triples might luck out into making one an inside-the-park home run regardless of their actual power. Players today also might hit the sweet spot of the bat and combine it with a quirky ballpark to knock one over the wall. Coupling smaller ballparks and less triples (I suppose they're likely linked already) means that it's harder for someone to rack up triples without at least one home run.

On the other extreme, back in the deadball era, triples were much more prevalent. Anyone who has read about the 1903 World Series knows that overflow crowds on the field led to a bizarre ground rule triple rule, leading to seventeen triples in that series alone. This was the exception, not the norm, but consider that from 1876 to 1919 hitters in the National League rapped out 25,974 triples in 50,342 games. By contrast, you have to go all the way back to 1949 to equal that number for hitters in the NL: since then there have been 25,855 triples in 109,694 games. In the same periods, 10,387 home runs were hit in the first era versus 93,524 in the second. Put another way, the "break-even point" (roughly equal for all seasons before and after) for triples in NL history was 1930; for home runs, the break-even point was 1975. For games played, it's 1958 so that's kind of quirky, right between the triples and home runs seasons, but I digress.

In any case, it'd presumably be a lot easier for a hitter in the deadball era to get a bunch of triples without any home runs. That's why I've broken down this record into two lists: pre-1920 and post-1920.

Most Triples in a Season with Zero Home Runs from 1876-1919

Rank	Name	Season	Triples
1	"Wee" Willie Keeler	1897	19
	Bill Kuehne	1885	19
3	Eddie Collins	1916	17
	John Coleman	1886	17
5	Kitty Bransfield	1901	16
6	Edd Roush	1916	15
	Dan McGann	1902	15
	Bill Phillips	1886	15
9	Frank Shugart	1892	14
	Sadie Houck	1884	14
11	Lee Magee	1918	13
	Doug Baird	1917	13
	Sam Crawford	1916	13
	Matty McIntyre	1908	13
	Joe Kelley	1904	13
	Jack Crooks	1891	13
	Pop Smith	1885	13
18	17 tied with		12

Most Triples in a Season with Zero Home Runs, 1920-2007

Rank	Name	Season	Triples
1	Rabbit Maranville	1922	15
2	Lance Johnson	1993	14
	Lloyd Waner	1935	14
4	Lance Johnson	1991	13
	Rodney Scott	1980	13
	Luke Appling	1940	13
	Willie Kamm	1927	13
	Charlie Grimm	1922	13
9	Earl McNeely	1926	12
	Heinie Groh	1920	12
11	Marvell Wynne	1984	11
	Larry Bowa	1979	11
	Roger Metzger	1971	11
	Doc Cramer	1937	11
	Billy Rogell	1933	11
	Jackie Tavener	1925	11
17	Greg Gross	1975	10
	Don Kessinger	1975	10
	Roger Metzger	1974	10
	Nellie Fox	1952	10
	Rabbit Maranville	1929	10
	Willie Kamm	1926	10
	Stuffy McInnis	1921	10

A lot of players on the second list played in the 1920's, but I'm kind of surprised by the number of hitters in the years after that. I guess the 1970's were a short-lived revival of the homer-less triples hitter.