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   Unassisted Triple Play Photo Gallery

Unassisted Triple Plays on Back-to-Back Days!

What are the Odds??

“Funny thing, I played in the big leagues for thirteen years and the only thing anybody seems to remember is that once I made an unassisted triple play in the 1920 World Series.” – Bill Wambsganss

I always enjoy reading about baseball’s oddities: perfect games, four home runs in one game, hitting for the natural cycle, and five extra base hits in a game. All of these are comparable in terms of rarity, but all require extraordinary effort and skill. Right up there in rarity is the unassisted triple play. The difference, though, is that the unassisted triple play is more a matter of luck than skill. Troy Tulowitzki, who executed the thirteenth unassisted triple play, modestly said of his feat, “It fell right into my lap.”

There have only been 15 unassisted triple plays in all of baseball history, making it even rarer than perfect games (24). The first one was completed by an obscure Indians player named Neal Ball in 1909. The second one, by Bill Wambsganss in the 1920 World Series, is by far the most famous.

(In the featured photo, we see the participants in the first unassisted triple play: Amby McConnell, Neal Ball, Heine Wagner, and Jake Stahl.)

In the approximately 150 years of major league history, there have been about 240,000 games played. Divide that number by 15, and you realize that an unassisted triple play occurs about once every 16,000 games, or, on average, once every ten years. 

So I was surprised to learn that today is the anniversary of an extremely rare occurrence. On May 31, 1927, 99 years ago yesterday, Johnny Neun of the Tigers completed the seventh unassisted triple play in history. It happened in the ninth inning, preserving the Tigers’ 1-0 win over the Indians. It also marked the only time an unassisted triple play has been recorded as the last three outs in a game. It would be another 42 years before baseball saw another one.

But that’s not what caught my attention. Just the day before, May 30, 1927, the Cubs’ Jimmy Cooney also completed a solo triple killing, the sixth in history! The fourth inning play contributed to the Cubs’ 7-4 victory over the Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader at Forbes Field.

So I ask: What are the odds?? Two instances of a feat that has happened only 15 times in 150 years happened on back-to-back days! I’ll leave it to someone with a statistics background to do the math on this one! Previously, the closest two occurrences of this rare play were in 1923. That year, George Burns of the Red Sox pulled one off on September 14. The next one occurred just three weeks later, on October 6, with Ernie Padget of the Boston Braves.  

The last unassisted triple play occurred almost 17 years ago, on August 23, 2009, by the Phillies’ Eric Bruntlett, so I’d say we’re long overdue for another one! 

Triple Play Fun Facts

• There have been 734 triple plays since 1876, an average of about five per season.
• For a triple play to occur, there must be at least two runners on base and no outs. Only 1.51% of at-bats occur in such a scenario.
• The most likely scenario for a triple play is no outs with runners on first and second, which has been the case for the majority of triple plays, with 5-4-3 triple play being the result. During the 1973 season, third baseman Brooks Robinson started two 5-4-3 triple plays.
• On the other side of the coin, Brooks Robinson is the all-time major league leader for grounding into triple plays, with four in his career.
• On July 17, 1990, the Minnesota Twins became the first (and to date, the only) team in major league history to turn two triple plays in the same game. 
• Here’s a real triple play rarity: On September 30, 1962, Joe Pignatano popped into a 4-3-6 triple play in his last major league appearance. It was also the last game for Sammy Drake and Richie Ashburn, the two runners who were tagged out. Pignatano is the only player to end his career by hitting into a triple play.
• Another oddity: On September 7, 1935, Joe Cronin hit into a “walk-off” triple play, one of only a few in major league history. 
• Whitey Herzog hit into the only All-Cuban triple play in baseball history. You can read about it here.

Here’s the list of the 15 unassisted triple plays in major league history:

1.  Neal Ball, Cleveland Indians, SS, July 9, 1909
2.  Bill Wambsganss, Cleveland Indians, 2B, October 10, 1920
3.  George Burns, Boston Red Sox, 1B, September 14, 1923
4.  Ernie Padgett, SS, Boston Braves, October 6, 1923
5.  Glen Wright, Pittsburgh Pirates, May 7, 1925
6.  Jimmy Cooney, Chicago Cubs, SS, May 30, 1927
7.  Johnny Neun, Detroit Tigers, 1B, May 31, 1927
8.  Ron Hansen, Washington Senators, SS, July 30, 1968
9.  Mickey Morandini, Philadelphia Phillies, 2B, September 20, 1992
10.  John Valentin, Boston Red Sox, SS, July 8, 1994
11.  Randy Velarde, Oakland Athletics, 2B, May 29, 2000
12.  Rafael Furcal, Atlanta Braves, SS, August 10, 2003
13.  Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies, SS, April 29, 2007
14.  Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland Indians, 2B, May 12, 2008
15.  Eric Bruntlett, Philadelphia Phillies, 2B, August 23, 2009.

Gary Livacari 

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