(I'm putting this up without delay, because MLB will probably force it off YouTube, even though it's just 53 seconds long -- and the play itself is the first 15 seconds. Watch it while you can. [UPDATE 08/24/2009 (noon): Well, as you can see, MLB has once again interfered with the dissemination of what makes baseball great, and demonstrated that it puts its royalties ahead of your ability to view even a few seconds of baseball history. The video can no longer be embedded; to watch it at the MLB site, click here.])
It's happened only once before in the ninth inning -- in 1927. And only 17 times in all of baseball's 130-year history. Andy McCarthy was there with his seven-year-old son, and explains how it was so special this time.
(H/T: Steven Hayward, No Left Turns.)
It almost happened in 1950. Granny Hamner, Whiz Kids Shortstop, went to his left, speared a line shot hit by Ted Kluszewski, stepped on second and . . . .
ReplyDeletemissed tagging Grady Hatton as he turned to run back to first. Hamner to Eddie Waitkus to complete the triple play.
There have been, I think, only two unassisted triple plays that ended games. Even though our son is a Mets fan, I'm impressed.
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