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All of a team’s hits are triples

Posted by Andy on June 16, 2009

As compared to yesterday's study about doubles, and as you can imagine, having all your hits go for triples is comparatively rare.

In fact, the post-1954 record is just 2:

  Cnt Date          Tm   Opp GmReslt  PA  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS LOB Batrs
+----+-------------+---+----+-------+---+---+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+-----+
    1 1973-05-05    BAL  CAL L  1-3   34  30  1  2  0  2  0   1  3   0  8   1  0  0   1   0  1  0   6     9 

    2 1972-05-02    SFG  NYM L  2-4   33  28  2  2  0  2  0   2  3   0  5   1  0  1   0   0  2  0   4    11 

    3 1964-04-19    WSA  KCA L  1-5   20  19  1  2  0  2  0   1  0   0  9   0  0  1   0   0  0  0   1    13 

    4 1963-06-23(1) PHI @NYM L  0-5   30  29  0  2  0  2  0   0  0   0  6   1  0  0   0   0  0  0   3    15 

Interesting that all these teams lost, but not by much.

Have 1 hit go for a triple has happened 19 times:

  Cnt Date          Tm   Opp GmReslt  PA  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS LOB Batrs
+----+-------------+---+----+-------+---+---+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+-----+
    1 2004-06-25    ARI @DET L  1-2   29  28  1  1  0  1  0   1  1   0  7   0  0  0   0   0  0  0   1    10 

    2 2002-09-03    BAL  TEX L  1-7   32  28  1  1  0  1  0   1  2   0  9   2  0  0   0   0  0  0   4    12 

    3 1999-08-18    DET  TBD L  0-4   36  28  0  1  0  1  0   0  7   0 10   1  0  0   1   1  1  0   9    10 

    4 1995-09-25    STL @CHC L  0-7   29  27  0  1  0  1  0   0  2   0 13   0  0  0   0   0  0  1   2    15 

    5 1993-08-18    CHW @BOS L  0-5   29  27  0  1  0  1  0   0  2   0  2   0  0  0   0   1  0  0   2     9 

    6 1991-05-29    STL  PIT L  0-6   30  29  0  1  0  1  0   0  1   0  5   0  0  0   1   0  0  0   3    13 

    7 1989-04-23    TOR  TEX L  1-4   31  28  1  1  0  1  0   1  3   0 12   0  0  0   0   0  2  0   3    11 

    8 1988-06-03    MON @PIT L  1-2   30  28  1  1  0  1  0   0  2   0  8   0  0  0   0   0  0  0   2     9 

    9 1987-09-01    KCR  MIL L  0-2   30  28  0  1  0  1  0   0  2   0  9   0  0  0   0   0  0  0   3    11 

   10 1986-09-21    HOU  SDP L  0-5   28  28  0  1  0  1  0   0  0   0  5   0  0  0   0   0  0  0   1    13 

   11 1985-06-02    PHI @SFG L  1-3   34  25  1  1  0  1  0   1  8   0  9   0  1  0   0   0  0  2   6    14 

   12 1982-10-01    PHI  NYM L  0-1   37  30  0  1  0  1  0   0  6   1  7   0  1  0   0   0  0  0   7    13 

   13 1978-06-13    TEX @KCR L  0-5   30  24  0  1  0  1  0   0  6   0  4   0  0  0   0   2  0  1   3     9 

   14 1977-08-12(1) MIL @CLE L  0-2   29  29  0  1  0  1  0   0  0   0  8   0  0  0   1   0  0  0   2    10 

   15 1972-06-23    SFG @SDP L  1-4   32  27  1  1  0  1  0   1  3   0  8   1  0  1   0   0  0  0   4    10 
   16 1972-05-24    PHI @MON L  1-4   30  27  1  1  0  1  0   1  2   0  2   0  0  1   0   0  0  0   2    13 

   17 1971-04-18(1) PIT @NYM L  2-5   32  27  2  1  0  1  0   2  3   1  6   1  0  1   0   0  0  0   3    12 

   18 1970-08-17    KCR @WSA L  0-7   30  28  0  1  0  1  0   0  2   0  6   0  0  0   1   1  0  0   3    14 

   19 1966-05-13    PHI  HOU L  0-1   31  28  0  1  0  1  0   0  3   0  8   0  0  0   0   0  0  0   4     9 

The 1972 Giants are the only team to appear on both of these lists. Weird.

The 2002 game was incredibly odd. Click on the date to see the box score. Aaron Myette was the Rangers' starter but he was replaced by Todd Van Poppel before recording any outs. Van Poppel threw 2 hitless innings, striking out 5 and walking one, before giving way to Joaquin Benoit. All Benoit did was pitch a 7-inning save, and he didn't allow a hit (the triple in question) until the 9th inning. Is that the craziest thing or what?

The story behind what happened in that game can be found here. Basically, Myette was ejected for throwing behind the first batter, so Van Poppel took over.

4 Responses to “All of a team’s hits are triples”

  1. aawillsher Says:

    Isn't that the kind of game where the official scorer has discretion in awarding the win? I'm surprised the win didn't go to Benoit. Seven innings and one run is much more impressive than two innings and no runs.

  2. kingturtle Says:

    *The May 13, 1966 game was a 0-0 tie until Jimmy Wynn's top of the ninth home run, giving the Astros their 1-0 win.
    *The October 1, 1982 game was a 0-0 tie until a top of the 10th Hubie Brooks Sac Fly, giving the Mets their 1-0 win.
    *The June 3, 1988 game was won in the bottom of the ninth by a pinch hit single by Pirate Mike Diaz.

  3. JohnnyTwisto Says:

    Aawillsher, no, because the Rangers took the lead when van Poppel was pitching. If they had gotten the lead when the starter was still in, then it's scorer's discretion because the SP is not eligible for the win.

  4. TheGoof Says:

    If the deciding runs are scored in the first inning, it's silly that a reliever pitching the second and third innings can get a win, but a starter pitching four can't.