Triple play

Description

A triple play, abbreviated TP, occurs when all three outs in the inning are recorded on the same play. Triple plays are rare occurrences in Major League Baseball. For example, in the 2000s, there were only 35 triple plays in MLB: 5 in 2000, 2 in 2001, 6 in 2002, 2 in 2003, 3 in 2004, 1 in 2005, 5 in 2006, 4 in 2007, 2 in 2008 and 5 in 2009.

Contrary to most double plays, which usually occur on ground balls, triple plays are most often the results of line drives that are caught while runners have left their base, either as a result of a hit-and-run play, a double steal or a spectacular catch on a ball that runners assumed would fall to the ground. In fact, many triple plays are the result of base-running mistakes.

A triple play can also be the result of a ground ball: for example, with no one out and runners on first and second, the batter hits a ground ball to the third baseman playing near the bag; he steps on the base for the first out, throws to the second baseman for the second out, and the second baseman in turns relays to first base for the third out. It sounds simple enough, but it is extremely rare in reality, because the third baseman rarely plays close enough to the bag in such a situation to touch it and throw to second in one motion; if the ball is hit sharply enough, he will throw to second base to start a sure-fire double play rather than try heroically to cut off the lead runner.

Even more rare is the unassisted triple play, where a single defensive player records all three outs. There have only been 15 such triple plays in the regular season in MLB history, one of which took place in the World Series (by second baseman Bill Wambsganss of the Cleveland Indians in Game 5 of the 1920 World Series on October 10, 1920 (Boxscore)). The last unassisted triple play in the Major Leagues was pulled off by second baseman Eric Bruntlett of the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies on August 23 against the New York Mets.

Rarest of all is the unassisted triple play by an outfielder, performed only once in professional baseball history, by Walter Carlisle.

It is possible for a team to score on a triple play, but that is also phenomenally rare. It occurred on July 25, 2017, when the New York Yankees' Todd Frazier grounded into a triple play with the bases loaded; the final out was recorded in a rundown between second and third base, but not before the runner from third base had crossed the plate. The run was allowed to stand because the final out was not recorded on a force out.

The Minnesota Twins are the only team to have turned two triple plays in one game. This occured on July 17, 1990 (Boxscore) against the Boston Red Sox in a 1-0 win by the Red Sox. The triple plays took place in the 4th and 8th innings.

A 2000 article from Baseball Digest indicates that in 1978, a triple play occurred without contact between bat and ball[1]: the batter struck out, and then the runners on both second base and third base were caught off their bases. A similar triple play occurred on September 3rd, 2002.[2]

Unassisted Triple Plays in the Major Leagues

Player	Position	Date	League	Team	Opponent	Batter	Inning	Notes
Neal Ball	SS	July 19, 1909	AL	Cleveland Naps	Boston Red Sox	Amby McConnell	2nd
Bill Wambsganss	2B	October 10, 1920	AL	Cleveland Indians	Brooklyn Robins	Clarence Mitchell	5th	World Series Game 5
George Burns	1B	September 14, 1923	AL	Boston Red Sox	Cleveland Indians	Frank Brower	2nd
Ernie Padgett	SS	October 6, 1923	NL	Boston Braves	Philadelphia Phillies	Walter Holke	4th
Glenn Wright	SS	May 7, 1925	NL	Pittsburgh Pirates	St. Louis Cardinals	Jim Bottomley	9th
Jimmy Cooney Jr.	SS	May 30, 1927	NL	Chicago Cubs	Pittsburgh Pirates	Paul Waner	4th
Johnny Neun	1B	May 31, 1927	AL	Detroit Tigers	Cleveland Indians	Homer Summa	9th	Game-ending play
Ron Hansen	SS	July 30, 1968	AL	Washington Senators	Cleveland Indians	Joe Azcue	1st
Mickey Morandini	2B	September 20, 1992	NL	Philadelphia Phillies	Pittsburgh Pirates	Jeff King	6th
John Valentin	SS	July 8, 1994	AL	Boston Red Sox	Seattle Mariners	Marc Newfield	6th
Randy Velarde	2B	May 29, 2000	AL	Oakland Athletics	New York Yankees	Shane Spencer	6th
Rafael Furcal	SS	August 10, 2003	NL	Atlanta Braves	St. Louis Cardinals	Woody Williams	5th
Troy Tulowitzki	SS	April 29, 2007	NL	Colorado Rockies	Atlanta Braves	Chipper Jones	7th
Asdrubal Cabrera	2B	May 12, 2008	AL	Cleveland Indians	Toronto Blue Jays	Lyle Overbay	5th
Eric Bruntlett	2B	August 23, 2009	NL	Philadelphia Phillies	New York Mets	Jeff Francoeur	9th	Game-ending play

Triple Plays in the major leagues

Retrosheet maintains a complete data base of every triple play that has been turned in a major league games, with all available details, compiled by Chuck Rosciam and Frank Hamilton. The table can be found here:

• Retrosheet.org's list of major league triple plays
• SABR's Triple Play Database

Further Reading

• Michael Clair: "The wildest triple play ever? Probably! Talk about a heads-up play", mlb.com, September 7, 2022. [3]
• Ed Eagle and Manny Randhawa: "A look back at every unassisted triple play", mlb.com, January 1, 2022. [4]
• James A. "Snuffy" Smith, Jr., Stephen D. Boren and Herm Krabbenhoft: "Instant Relief: First-Batter Triple Plays", Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Vol. 52 Number 1 (Spring 2023), pp. 14-24.

Related Sites

• SABR's Triple Play Database
• List of all unassisted triple plays, from Baseball Almanac [5]