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 Unassisted Triple Play Photo Gallery
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Another Edition Of Baseball Oddities: Whitey Herzog’s Unusual Triple Play!

Here’s something that caught my eye that happened on this date in 1960, 59 years ago.

A’s outfielder, Whitey Herzog (the same Whitey Herzog who became a Hall-of-Fame manager for the Cardinals) hit into a triple play. It happened in the A’s 8-3 loss to the Senators.

OK…that’s interesting…triple plays are pretty rare. But there’s something about this one that is really unusual. Read on to find out what it is…

Herzog’s line drive is snagged on the mound by pitcher Pedro Ramos, who tosses it to first baseman Julio Becquer to double up the runner, and then the third out of the play is made by relaying the ball to shortstop Jose Valdivielso, getting the runner returning to second base.

The three outs mark the first (and, as far as I know, the only) all-Cuban triple killing in major league history!

Here’s some interesting info about triple plays:

• There have been 719 triple plays since 1876, an average of 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 raritiy: 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. If you want to read details about it, here’s a link to a write-up I did a couple years ago.
• The unassisted triple play is the rarest type of triple play, and one of the rarest events of any kind in baseball. There have only been 15 unassisted triple plays, making this feat even rarer than a perfect game.
• The most recent unassisted triple play occurred on August 23, 2009, by second baseman Eric Bruntlett of the Philadelphia Phillies, in a game against the New York Mets. This was only the second game-ending unassisted triple play in history, the first one having occurred in 1927.
• The only unassisted triple play in World Series history occurred in the 1920 World Series between the Indians and the Brooklyn Robins, executed by Indian third baseman, Bill Wambsganss.

Here is 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 

Photo Credits: All from Google search

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