Bus Leagues Baseball

A couple days ago, I noticed that Clinton’s Ian Gac was leading the Midwest League in batting average (still is), homeruns and runs batted in, and wondered out loud if any player has ever won that league’s Triple Crown.  An article on MiLB.com talked about Moe Hill, who was the first to take all three titles in 1974, and another source mentioned Joey Meyer in 1984, but I wasn’t sure if those were correct, or if they were the only two.

Seeking confirmation, I emailed the Midwest League offices.  Today, they sent the following reply:

Joseph “Joey” Meyer, Beloit, 1984, .320 Batting Average, 30 Home Runs, 102 Runs Batted In….is the last MWL player to win the Triple Crown.  Only one other, in 1974, Elmore “Moe” Hill, Wisconsin Rapids, .339 Batting Average, 32 Home Runs, 113 Runs Batted In.

I remember Meyer from his 1988 Topps Future Stars baseball card.  He was awesome in the minor league, crushing a ton of homeruns (120 in four seasons in A, AA, and AAA), but only put up 18 in two major league seasons with the Brewers.  Hill’s career was odd - he clearly had the ability to advance to AA, AAA or the major leagues, but for some reason spent eight years playing in A ball for the Wisconsin Rapids Twins.

So there you have it: if Gac-Man manages to hang on and win the Triple Crown this year, he would be only the third player in Midwest League history to do so.