Posted on 08/11/2003 6:13:42 AM PDT by mhking
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Atlanta Braves shortstop Rafael Furcal turned the 12th unassisted triple play in major league history Sunday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.
With runners on first and second in the fifth inning, Furcal made a leaping grab of pitcher Woody Williams' liner. The runners were going on a 1-1 pitch, and Furcal stepped on second base to double up Mike Matheny before tagging out Orlando Palmeiro as he made a futile attempt to scamper back to first.
It was the first unassisted triple play in the majors since Oakland second baseman Randy Velarde did it against the New York Yankees on May 29, 2000. It was also the first in Atlanta history -- Ernie Padgett of the Boston Braves turned one on Oct. 6, 1923.
One of the 12 unassisted triple plays in the modern era (since 1900) came in the 1920 World Series, when Indians second baseman Bill Wambsganss did it in the fifth inning of Game 5 against Brooklyn.
The Cardinals have hit into two unassisted triple plays. On May 7, 1925, Pittsburgh shortstop Glenn Wright caught Jim Bottomley's ninth-inning line drive, stepped on second to retire Jimmy Cooney and tagged Rogers Hornsby coming from first to end the game.
The Cardinals have hit into two triple plays this season, also doing it April 10 at Colorado.
Matheny singled to start the fifth, and Palmeiro reached when pitcher Horacio Ramirez threw late to second on his sacrifice bunt. Williams tried to bunt earlier in the at-bat, but the .260-hitting pitcher was allowed to swing away.
Just damn.
If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
Agreed, the leaping catch was the hardest part. With the hit-and-run on, the runner from second had already rounded third, so that was an easy second out. When Furcal stepped on second for the second out, the runner from first was, maybe, two steps from second. Furcal had a running start, while the runner from first had to stop and attempt to run back. While extremely rare, this was probably the easiest unassisted triple play ever.
Blown save?? With the Cards taking 2 out of 3 from them...
GO PUJOLS!!!!!
not sure about that - actually, they've all been pretty easy. Shortstop or second baseman catches a liner, the two runners are dead ducks - just tag them or the base. I think maybe one of the UTPs occured when a center fielder caught a short fly, then he just ran to second and first putting out the runners who were far around the bases by this time.
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