Win a Free Copy of THT 2017!

Have you heard? The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2017 is now available for sale. You can check out the table of contents and read some excerpts from the book here. When you finish that you can purchase it Amazon in either print or Kindle form.

But wait, there’s more! Because we’re giving folk, and since it’s the beginning of the holiday season and all, we want to give you a chance to win yourself a free copy of the book. So today, tomorrow and Friday, I’ll be running a trivia contest based on one of the articles in the book. The first person to post the correct answer in the comments will win a free physical copy of the book (sorry, no free Kindle version). It’s just that simple!

Today’s question comes from Sarah Wexler’s piece, entitled “The Sultan of Swat Award/Babe Ruth Crown: A Widely Forgotten Trophy.” In it, Sarah tracks down the history of what was (and what may be again soon) a very prestigious award, whose winners literally received a jewel-encrusted crown.

Sliwka takes pride in this methodology because it is so straightforward. Under this weighting system, the home run leader usually took the prize, though there were seasons where exceptionally productive batters prevailed over the leading sluggers. The resulting list of Babe Ruth Crown winners is both illustrious and fascinating, featuring many players who wound up being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and several others who had respectable careers but only a few especially noteworthy seasons.

The first winner of the Sultan of Swat Award was Mickey Mantle, in 1956; he also won a second crown that year: the American League triple crown. Three other men would receive the award the year they won the triple crown: Frank Robinson (1966), Carl Yastrzemski (1967), and Joe Medwick (1937, awarded retroactively in 1968). Jimmie Foxx received the retroactive Babe Ruth Crown for his 1932 season, while he won the Triple Crown in 1933.

In 1964, the MPBPA began awarding a retroactive Sultan of Swat Award in addition to the active player crown. That year, the organization recognized Joe DiMaggio’s 1939 season. The retroactive Sultan of Swat Award was given for specific seasons through 1971, and then became a lifetime achievement award.

In 1967, the title of the prize officially changed from the “Sultan of Swat Award” to the “Babe Ruth Crown” (although the two titles were still used interchangeably by the press for some time). Sliwka explained that while most baseball fans are familiar with “Sultan of Swat” as a nickname for Ruth, the MPBPA felt that having the Babe’s name in the award title was a better way of putting the focus on Ruth himself and on his Maryland upbringing. Babe Ruth’s widow, Claire, presented three awards at the banquet that year—though interestingly, not the Babe Ruth Crown.

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The award was last given out in 1997, but Sarah breaks down who would have won the award from 1998 through today. Thirteen players would have pulled down the award, including five players who would have won it multiple times. So the question before you today, dear reader, is this:

Can you name four of the five players who would have been awarded the Babe Ruth Crown multiple times from 1998-2017?

Note: If you name more than four players, your entry will be automatically invalid.

Good luck!