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Unassisted Triple PlayIn 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. Triple plays are fairly rare in their own right. 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 a second runner on his way to the next base (three outs). Sometimes the order of the last two is switched. 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.) MLB unassisted triple plays 19th century - Paul Hines, May 8, 1878, Providence Grays (vs. Boston)
- With runners on second and third, Hines caught a line drive from Jack Burdock that the runners thought was uncatchable. When he caught it, the runners had already both passed third. Hines stepped on third, which by the rules of the day meant both runners were out. To make sure, he threw the ball to Charlie Sweasy at second base. It is still debated whether this was truly an unassisted triple play.
Modern era - Neal Ball, July 19, 1909, Cleveland Indians (vs. Boston)
- In the second inning, shortstop Ball caught Amby McConnell's line drive near second base, touched second to double off Heinie Wagner, and tagged Jake Stahl as he came from first base.
- Johnny Neun, May 31, 1927, Detroit Tigers (vs. Cleveland)
- Remarkably, just the next day, in the ninth inning, first baseman Neun caught Homer Summa's line drive, tagged Charlie Jamieson between first and second and stepped on second base before Glenn Myatt could return.
- Ron Hansen, July 30, 1968, Washington Senators (vs. Cleveland)
- After a 41-year drought, shortstop Hansen, in the first inning, caught Joe Azcue's line drive, stepped on second to double off Dave Nelson, and tagged Russ Snyder approaching from first.
- John Valentin, July 8, 1994, Boston Red Sox (vs. Seattle)
- In the sixth inning, shortstop Valentin caught Marc Newfield's line drive, stepped on second base to retire Mike Blowers, and tagged Keith Mitchell coming from first.
- Rafael Furcal, August 10, 2003, Atlanta Braves (vs. St. Louis)
- In the fifth, shortstop Furcal caught pitcher Woody Williams' liner with the runners moving, stepped on second to retire Mike Matheny and tagged Orlando Palmeiro before he could return to first.
References * Cecil Adams, How is an unassisted triple play accomplished in baseball? The Straight Dope, September 21, 1984.
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