Dodgers’ Matt Kemp hits 37th home run, has his eye on a ‘triple’

Against the backdrop of Major League Baseball’s latest move to force a change in the Dodgers’ ownership, Matt Kemp quietly took the field in a half-empty ballpark on his 27th birthday with a chance to do something no National League player has done in 74 years.

Win the triple crown.

Kemp launched his 37th home run in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres at cavernous Petco Park on Friday, moving into a tie for the league lead with Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Kemp’s 119 runs batted in top the league. His average has climbed from .317 to .326 over the last 11 games, moving him to within three points of the league lead.

“I think about it,” Kemp said. “It’s hard not to think about.”

But Kemp said he would not try to force anything.

“I haven’t done it the whole season,” he said. “I’m not going to do it these last five games. I’m not going to change it up.”

The last NL player to win a triple crown was Joe Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals, who did it when Tom Lasorda was 10 years old. Lasorda turned 84 this week.

Carl Yastrzesmki of the Boston Red Sox was the last American League player to do it, in 1967.

With Clayton Kershaw a victory away from possibly securing the NL’s triple crown of pitching (wins, ERA, strikeouts), the Dodgers could become the second team in baseball history to have two triple-crown winners. The only team to have that distinction were the 1934 New York Yankees, who had Lou Gehrig and Lefty Gomez.

Kemp’s ranking near the top of a wide range of hitting categories — he leads the NL in runs (109) and is second in steals (40) — is why General Manager Ned Colletti said the center fielder would “easily” be his pick to win the most valuable player award.

“One of the all-time best,” Colletti said of Kemp’s season.

In fact, Colletti and Manager Don Mattingly had trouble recalling anyone having a year like Kemp’s.

Barry Bonds?

“Barry had some tremendous years, but it didn’t have all the variety,” Colletti said.

Of the four players to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season — Bonds, Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez and Alfonso Soriano — none batted higher than .310.

With three more home runs, Kemp will be part of that exclusive group. Asked about how serious he was near the end of last season when he predicted he would be a 40/40 player this year, he replied, “I believe in myself. I try to set goals and try to reach them. If I get close to my goals, I know it will be pretty successful. But that was just a number I threw out there. I wasn’t really thinking at the time that I said it.”

As much talk as there was about Kemp’s place in history, it was another Dodger who made his way into the record books Friday.

Eugenio Velez was hitless in three at-bats and is 0 for 36 for the season, which establishes a major league record for most at-bats in a hitless season for a non-pitcher.

Velez is 0 for his last 45, dating to last season, which ties the longest hitless streak of all time for a non-pitcher. He shares the mark with Bill Bergen (1909, Brooklyn Superbas), Dave Campbell (1973, three teams) and Craig Counsell (this year, Milwaukee Brewers).

New radio home

The Dodgers have secured a multiyear deal that will make KLAC-AM (570) their flagship station starting next season, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The deal, which will end the team’s four-year run with KABC-AM (790), has been approved by Major League Baseball.

Although the Dodgers are in bankruptcy, they are allowed by the court to conduct “ordinary course of business” unless an objection is raised by a creditor.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

Times staff writer Bill Shaikin contributed to this report.