Unassisted triple play

In baseball, an unassisted triple play occurs when a defensive player makes three putouts by himself in one continuous play. It is one of the rarest individual feats in baseball, even more so than a perfect game. "Ordinary" (assisted) triple plays are fairly rare in their own right.

Related Topics:
Baseball - Perfect game - Triple play

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The circumstances must be just right in order for an unassisted triple play even to be possible. There must be no outs in the inning. There must be at least two runners on base (usually only two) and they must be running with the pitch, as in a hit and run. All but one unassisted triple play have taken this form: the defender catches a line drive (one out), steps on a base to double off one runner (two outs), and tags another runner on his way to the next base (three outs). Sometimes the order of the last two is switched. Because the fielder usually has to be between the two runners, most of these plays have been accomplished by second basemen and shortstops, but two were completed by first basemen who were able to reach second base before the returning baserunner, and one by a third baseman.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The feat has only occurred 12 times in modern Major League Baseball history and once in the 19th century. (Compare that to perfect games: 19 modern, two 19th-century).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The unassisted triple play and the perfect game are comparable in terms of rarity, but a perfect game requires an extraordinary effort along with a fair amount of luck. An unassisted triple play is essentially always a matter of luck: the right circumstances, combined with the relatively simple effort of merely catching the ball and running the right direction with it. Regardless, to baseball purists, there is a certain "neatness" to the fact that in the long history of the World Series, the only triple play was of the unassisted variety, and the only no-hitter was of the perfect variety.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~