As Major League Baseball leaves behind the dog days of August for the final playoff push of September, many eyes will be on the NL Central race.

I'm not talking about the heated divisional chase between Cincinnati and St. Louis. No, there is this small matter of a Triple Crown chase between the teams' first basemen, the Cardinals' Albert Pujols and the Reds' Joey Votto.

This season, it is possible that either could claim this mythic prize with a second-place team. Certainly, the Most Valuable Player award hangs in the balance.

No one player has led the National League in batting average, home runs and runs batted in since Joe "Ducky" Medwick turned the trick in 1937. That alone proves how difficult it is for a player to combine great bat control with power.

There have been only four to do it in the National League in the modern era, beginning in 1901. Rogers Hornsby did it twice. There have been nine AL Triple Crown winners, with Ted Williams also having done it two times.

Frank Robinson and Carl Yastrzemski pulled off the treble in back-to-back seasons, 1966 and 1967, respectively. They were the last AL players to pull off this difficult feat.

Early on, Detroit's Miguel Cabrera and Texas' Josh Hamilton were in the Triple Crown conversation. But Hamilton owns too much of a lead in the batting race, while Toronto's Jose Bautista is crushing the home run race.

So, we are left with this tantalizing battle between Pujols, long thought to be the best pure hitter in baseball, and Votto.

Coming into Saturday, Pujols led the National League in home runs (35) and RBIs (94), while hitting .320. Votto owns the batting title lead (.327), while smashing 31 homers with 91 runs driven in.

It helps both players' cause that, as league-leading numbers go, the top batting average is relatively low. The one wild card in the Triple Crown chase has been the emergence of Colorado's Carlos Gonzales, who is hitting .320 with 26 bombs and 84 driven in.

A Triple Crown would be a worthy crown to the Prince Albert legacy, one that has seen the Cards' slugger already win three Most Valuable Player awards. Meanwhile, simply being in the chase with Pujols has already vaulted the talented 26-year-old Votto onto the national scene.

Perfect No. 2

Placido Polanco is one of my favorite players. The former Detroit second baseman, now playing third for Philadelphia, is the best second-place hitter in baseball.

Polanco, a lifetime .304 hitter, has been bothered a bit by injuries this season.

But when he is in the lineup, the Phillies win at a .620 clip.

To appreciate Polanco means watching him on a daily basis. The veteran hitter rarely strikes out, moves runners over — or in — and keep rallies alive. He's an artist with a bat in his hands.

Polanco did it again Friday night in San Diego, driving home the winning run for the Phillies in extra innings by slapping a sharp grounder through the hole at second base.

I'd seen it many times before. The Tigers miss him.

martyr@sltrib.com