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More triples than…

Posted by Andy on November 20, 2009

Of the four types of hit in baseball, triples are by far the rarest. In 2009, there were 949 triples out of 43,524 total hits (2.18%). I went back and calculated historical values for some past years:

1999: 931/45,327 (2.05%)
1989: 868/36,293 (2.39%)
1979: 1,066/37,911 (2.81%)
1969: 849/32,581 (2.61%)
1959: 591/21,636 (2.73%)
1949: 761/22,168 (3.43%)
1939: 916/23,371 (3.92%)
1929: 1,166/24,642 (4.73%)
1919: 1,048/19,624 (5.34%)
1909: 1,002/19,655 (5.10%)

As you can see, triples used to be more than twice as common as they are today. Although many factors are involved, the single-biggest is the much smaller size of ballparks today as compared to back then. These days, outfielders cover a lot less territory and many balls that could have once gone for hits are either caught or go over the fence for homers. A typical triple requires a certain amount of open space on the field where the ball can get to a position in fair territory that's somewhat far away from all of the fielders. That's a lot rarer these days than it used to be.

Anyway, once upon a time, there were lots of guys who had more triples than doubles in a season.

Here are players from the 40-year period 1901-1940 who had more triples in a season than doubles, ranked by triples:

Rk Player 3B 2B Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H HR RBI
1 Chief Wilson 36 19 1912 28 PIT NL 152 643 583 80 175 11 95
2 Sam Crawford 26 22 1914 34 DET AL 157 674 582 74 183 8 104
3 Tom Long 25 21 1915 25 STL NL 140 556 507 61 149 2 61
4 Sam Crawford 25 23 1903 23 DET AL 137 602 550 88 184 4 89
5 Jake Daubert 22 15 1922 38 CIN NL 156 700 610 114 205 12 66
6 Tommy Leach 22 14 1902 24 PIT NL 135 576 514 97 143 6 85
7 Sam Crawford 22 18 1902 22 CIN NL 140 609 555 92 185 3 78
8 Vic Saier 21 15 1913 22 CHC NL 149 600 519 94 150 14 92
9 Bill Keister 21 20 1901 29 BLA AL 115 472 442 78 145 2 93
10 Les Mann 19 12 1915 22 CHI FL 135 516 470 74 144 4 58
11 Joe Cassidy 19 12 1904 21 WSH AL 152 616 581 63 140 1 33
12 Mike Mitchell 18 16 1910 30 CIN NL 156 668 583 79 167 5 88
13 Hans Lobert 18 17 1908 26 CIN NL 155 650 570 71 167 4 63
14 Elmer Flick 18 15 1907 31 CLE AL 147 637 549 80 166 3 58
15 Eddie Collins 17 14 1916 29 CHW AL 155 673 545 87 168 0 52
16 Braggo Roth 17 10 1915 22 TOT AL 109 450 384 67 103 7 55
17 Jim Kelly 17 12 1915 31 PBS FL 148 576 524 68 154 4 50
18 Ray Chapman 17 14 1915 24 CLE AL 154 669 570 101 154 3 67
19 Tommy Leach 17 16 1903 25 PIT NL 127 561 507 97 151 7 87
20 Sam Mertes 17 16 1901 28 CHW AL 137 623 545 94 151 5 98
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/19/2009.

Notice too that all of these players had more triples than homers.

Now here is the same list compiled from the 40 most recent seasons (1970-2009):

Rk Player 3B 2B Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H HR RBI
1 Lance Johnson 14 11 1994 30 CHW AL 106 443 412 56 114 3 54
2 Deion Sanders 14 6 1992 24 ATL NL 97 325 303 54 92 8 28
3 Roger Metzger 14 11 1973 25 HOU NL 154 637 580 67 145 1 35
4 Larry Bowa 13 11 1972 26 PHI NL 152 633 579 67 145 1 31
5 Craig Reynolds 12 10 1981 28 HOU NL 87 354 323 43 84 4 31
6 Luis Alicea 11 9 1992 26 STL NL 85 302 265 26 65 2 32
7 David Hulse 10 9 1993 25 TEX AL 114 441 407 71 118 1 29
8 Jorge Orta 10 9 1973 22 CHW AL 128 469 425 46 113 6 40
9 Luis Polonia 9 7 1990 26 TOT AL 120 436 403 52 135 2 35
10 Roger Metzger 9 7 1975 27 HOU NL 127 510 450 54 102 2 26
11 Andres Torres 8 6 2009 31 SFG NL 75 170 152 30 41 6 23
12 Roger Metzger 8 7 1979 31 SFG NL 94 288 259 24 65 0 31
13 Scott Bullett 7 5 1995 26 CHC NL 104 164 150 19 41 3 22
14 Alex Diaz 7 5 1994 25 MIL AL 79 203 187 17 47 1 17
15 Alex Cole 7 4 1992 26 TOT ML 105 334 302 44 77 0 15
16 Mike Felder 7 5 1987 25 MIL AL 108 328 289 48 77 2 31
17 Luis Salazar 7 4 1980 24 SDP NL 44 183 169 28 57 1 25
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/19/2009.

As might be expect, these guys have much lower totals for extra-base hits and played in many fewer games than their counterparts from about 70 years earlier.

Here are the career leaders (1901-present) for most triples with a fewer number of doubles:

Rk Player 3B 2B To From Age G PA AB R H HR RBI
1 Tom Long 49 47 1911 1917 21-27 418 1612 1489 148 401 6 140
2 Jim Kelly 22 15 1914 1918 30-34 215 786 714 91 212 4 57
3 Frank Shugart 12 9 1901 1901 34-34 107 455 415 62 104 2 47
4 Merlin Kopp 11 9 1915 1919 23-27 187 743 630 96 146 1 30
5 Carlos Bernier 8 7 1953 1953 26-26 105 366 310 48 66 3 31
6 Fern Bell 8 5 1939 1940 26-27 89 313 265 44 75 2 35
7 Stu Clarke 8 5 1929 1930 23-24 61 215 187 22 51 2 23
8 Jack McCandless 8 6 1914 1915 23-24 128 495 437 52 95 5 35
9 Patrick Newnam 8 7 1910 1911 29-30 123 500 446 56 95 2 31
10 Carmen Hill 7 3 1915 1930 19-34 148 298 277 18 53 0 28
11 George Twombly 7 1 1914 1919 22-27 150 479 417 35 88 0 33
12 Dutch Sterrett 7 4 1912 1913 22-23 87 289 265 30 67 1 35
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/19/2009.

As it turns out, #3 Frank Shugart is a bogus entry because most of his career came before 1901 and he finished with 79 career triples and 110 career doubles.

Among active players, the only guys with more triples than doubles are as follows:

Rk Player 3B 2B To From Age G PA AB R H HR RBI
1 Michael Saunders 3 1 2009 2009 22-22 46 129 122 13 27 0 4
2 Brent Clevlen 2 1 2006 2008 22-24 55 80 73 15 17 3 7
3 Joel Guzman 2 1 2006 2007 21-22 24 62 56 7 13 0 7
4 Ramon Nivar 2 1 2003 2005 23-25 42 133 121 13 27 0 12
5 Doug Brocail 1 0 1992 2009 25-42 637 85 69 9 12 0 1
6 Wilkin Ramirez 1 0 2009 2009 23-23 15 13 11 6 4 1 3
7 Jonathan Van Ever 1 0 2008 2009 28-29 18 31 28 1 8 1 8
8 Nathan Haynes 1 0 2007 2008 27-28 60 95 89 13 22 0 4
9 Jason Perry 1 0 2008 2008 27-27 4 17 17 0 2 0 1
10 Robinson Tejeda 1 0 2005 2008 23-26 88 32 25 1 2 0 0
11 Chris Roberson 1 0 2006 2007 26-27 85 72 69 15 16 0 2
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/19/2009.

Slim pickings there, folks. And before anybody asks, B-R.com lists guys as active until they officially announce their retirement.

Among players with more career triples than homers, the leaders 1901-present include many of the greatest players of the early 20th century:

Rk Player 3B HR To From Age G PA AB R H 2B RBI
1 Ty Cobb 295 117 1905 1928 18-41 3035 13072 11434 2246 4189 724 1937
2 Sam Crawford 287 89 1901 1917 21-37 2385 10037 9054 1298 2821 440 1446
3 Tris Speaker 222 117 1907 1928 19-40 2789 11988 10195 1882 3514 792 1529
4 Honus Wagner 210 78 1901 1917 27-43 2298 9640 8507 1414 2766 506 1375
5 Paul Waner 191 113 1926 1945 23-42 2549 10762 9459 1627 3152 605 1309
6 Eddie Collins 187 47 1906 1930 19-43 2826 12037 9949 1821 3315 438 1300
7 Sam Rice 184 34 1915 1934 25-44 2404 10246 9269 1514 2987 498 1078
8 Edd Roush 182 68 1913 1931 20-38 1967 8156 7363 1099 2376 339 981
9 Ed Konetchy 182 74 1907 1921 21-35 2085 8664 7649 972 2150 344 992
10 Rabbit Maranville 177 28 1912 1935 20-43 2670 11256 10078 1255 2605 380 884
11 Zack Wheat 172 132 1909 1927 21-39 2410 9996 9106 1289 2884 476 1248
12 Joe Jackson 168 54 1908 1920 18-30 1332 5690 4981 873 1772 307 785
13 Sherry Magee 166 83 1904 1919 19-34 2087 8546 7441 1112 2169 425 1176
14 Jake Daubert 165 56 1910 1924 26-40 2014 8742 7673 1117 2326 250 722
15 Pie Traynor 164 58 1920 1937 21-38 1941 8293 7559 1183 2416 371 1273
16 George Sisler 164 102 1915 1930 22-37 2055 9013 8267 1284 2812 425 1175
17 Tommy Leach 164 57 1901 1918 23-40 1996 8401 7383 1260 1991 255 737
18 Heinie Manush 160 110 1923 1939 21-37 2008 8416 7654 1287 2524 491 1183
19 Harry Hooper 160 75 1909 1925 21-37 2309 10244 8785 1429 2466 389 817
20 Joe Judge 159 71 1915 1934 21-40 2171 9171 7898 1184 2352 433 1034
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/19/2009.

Even the list of leaders among active players is somewhat impressive:

Rk Player 3B HR To From Age G PA AB R H 2B RBI
1 Carl Crawford 92 85 2002 2009 20-27 1081 4726 4392 655 1296 185 502
2 Cristian Guzman 85 60 1999 2009 21-31 1302 5389 5017 679 1362 226 441
3 Juan Pierre 79 13 2000 2009 22-31 1433 6064 5533 804 1663 199 387
4 Jose Reyes 73 63 2003 2009 20-26 791 3651 3353 551 960 162 325
5 Luis Castillo 57 28 1996 2009 20-33 1634 7172 6263 973 1831 190 426
6 Chone Figgins 53 31 2002 2009 24-31 936 4075 3585 596 1045 148 341
7 Dave Roberts 53 23 1999 2008 27-36 832 3090 2707 437 721 95 213
8 Cesar Izturis 31 14 2001 2009 21-29 1017 3818 3552 376 921 149 261
9 Miguel Cairo 30 28 1996 2009 22-35 1227 3734 3361 432 893 166 320
10 Endy Chavez 29 19 2001 2009 23-31 827 2456 2237 289 605 101 190
11 Akinori Iwamura 21 14 2007 2009 28-30 344 1526 1349 201 379 67 104
12 Cory Sullivan 21 10 2005 2009 25-29 419 1201 1063 150 293 49 93
13 Nick Punto 20 12 2001 2009 23-31 736 2530 2216 301 550 93 178
14 Alfredo Amezaga 19 12 2002 2009 24-31 544 1483 1331 167 334 46 106
15 Michael Bourn 19 9 2006 2009 23-26 417 1336 1200 185 314 40 70
16 Jamey Carroll 19 12 2002 2009 28-35 786 2515 2171 369 593 92 174
17 Abraham Nunez 19 18 1997 2008 21-32 1030 2804 2486 286 601 88 209
18 Denard Span 17 14 2008 2009 24-25 238 1087 925 167 282 32 115
19 Erick Aybar 16 9 2006 2009 22-25 348 1182 1084 146 309 47 118
20 Angel Pagan 16 15 2006 2009 24-27 267 829 752 115 211 45 84
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/19/2009.

I'm inclined to guess that Carl Crawford will eventually fall off this list. Generally speaking, he's hit fewer triples in recent seasons while his homers have remained fairly constant. (That's a very rough analysis.) If he loses a little speed in the coming years, which is likely, I'd expect his triples to drop even more. However, I think Juan Pierre is safe 🙂

As a final tidbit, there are six players in baseball history to finish their career with more than 1 triple, and also more triples than singles. Limb McKenry leads the way with 7 career hits that included 4 triples. It was done most recently by Gary Moore of the 1970 Dodgers. Moore had 3 career hits: a single and two triples.

Related posts:

    Jimmy Rollins & 20 triples
    Doubles and Triples by LHB vs RHB
    Worst OPS+ in a season with 15 triples
    Jose Reyes Leads NL in Doubles and Triples through May 29
    Most Triples Through Age 25

This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 7:01 am and is filed under Season Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “More triples than…”

  1. JohnnyTwisto Says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 11:43 am

    One of the things that has always annoyed me about Tim McCarver is his claim that the decline in triples is because modern players don't run hard out of the box. Meanwhile, he never seemed to notice how this conflicts with the fact that Derek Jeter (whom McCarver LOVES) is (was) fast, always runs hard, and still only hits about 3 triples a year.

    All those guys on the pre-1940 list above are actually pre-1923.

  2. Andy Says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 11:46 am

    JT, true, re: 1923--but the search did go up to 1940. It was a totally arbitrary search mainly for demonstration purposes.

    The truth in today's game is that with more runs being scored, 3rd base is a lot less important. Since most runners can score from 2nd or 3rd on the majority of hits, the extra base doesn't mean a ton in a game, especially since each individual run means less when teams average 5 runs than when they average 3. There is less incentive to get to 3rd base.

    I suspect that the average player today DOES run less hard than the average player from 50 or 75 years ago. More significantly, though, I would guess that the average player is also a bit slower, and that throwing arms on outfielders are a little stronger. Plus, outfielders are throwing a shorter distance on average. These all favor fewer triples.

  3. JohnnyTwisto Says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 12:48 pm

    Actually I thought it was interesting that the 1940 list only showed players prior to '23, since that is about the time when home run surpassed the triple as the signature of a big power hitter.

  4. nicolax24 Says:
    November 22nd, 2009 at 1:48 am

    I never actually thought about the possibility of more triples than home runs, I guess in today's game home runs are just way too common. Unless it's a game winning or game tying homerun, I actually prefer to watch a guy leg out a triple.

  5. Andy Says:
    November 22nd, 2009 at 8:11 am

    I agree with you #4, the average triple has become much more exciting than the average home run, thanks to two simple factors: 1) it's rarity and 2) the fact that it involves a player actually running hard for an extended period of time.

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