A Baseball Question

[gh]

I'll slide this into a track board with the excuse that the guy in question must've been able to run about 5.6 for 100y.

Wha?

In the paper this morning they had a list of all the unassisted triple plays in major league history (since there was one yesterday). Two of them were made by first-basemen. Can anybody posit a scenario where that makes sense?

[Guest]

Re: A Baseball Question

I find it hard to believe, but I did verify this info with the Baseball Almanac.
The scenario had to be men on 1st and 2nd.
The player caught a line drive, tagged first, then ran and touched 2nd before the guy got back to the base.
Both of these instances happened in the 1920's.


http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats8.shtml

[Guest]

Re: A Baseball Question

Wasn't the guy on second a 6' 5" high jumper in high school?

[dj]

Re: A Baseball Question

Unassisted triple plays usually occur when the runners are moving with the pitch.

What probably happens here is that both runners are going. Second baseman moves to cover second base. Batter hits a line drive or a bloop that the first baseman catches. First baseman tags out the runner, who is caught between the first baseman and second base. First baseman continues to second, where he gets the force out.

If the first baseman caught the fly/liner, then tagged first base, he would certainly have throw to second, eliminating the unassisted TP.