The Final Score

What do Ducky, Lefty and War Admiral have in common?

A. They're the nicknames of the top-three sausage racers at Milwaukee's Miller Park.

B. They are the names of Jim Baumbach's bathtub toys.

C. They are avatars in some weird cyber-reality game that Chicago Norm Jr. spends his time playing instead of trying to find a summer job although he deserves a break today because this is his 20th birthday.

D. All three are fighting for titles tonight in UFC 85.

E. All three won triple crowns in 1937

The correct answer is E, although I haven't double-checked with Jim to rule out Answer B.

In 1937 . . .

+War Admiral won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes

+Ducky Medwick of the Cardinals won the NL batting triple crown (.374, 31 HRs, 137 RBI)

+Lefty Gomez of the Yankees won the AL pitching triple crown with 21 wins, 194 strikeouts and a 2.32 ERA.

Could something like that happen again in 2008?

Big Brown is the odds-on favorite to win the Belmont and Chipper Jones is having a Ted Williams-like offensive season. As for pitching, I guess it's a little to soon to tell if Brandon Webb, Cliff Lee or Edinson Volquez could wind up having a year like the one that Jake Peavey had in 2007.

Enjoy the Belmont Stakes. And then read about it in Sunday's Newsday. We'll have a 24-page special section devoted to coverage of Big Brown's quest for the Triple Crown. Baseball fans aren't being shortchanged, either. A good chunk of tomorrow's regular sports section (also 24 pages) is dedicated to the National Pastime.