EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 Tonight on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, Rafael Furcal pulled an unassisted triple play in the 5th inning against the Cardinals. Its only the 11th time in MLB history that an unassisted triple play has been accomplished, and the first time in Braves history.
Zetterberg is God Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 That's some skill right there. Some skill and a little luck.
Spaceman Spiff Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 Hey Al - was Morandini's the last one?
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 11, 2003 Author Report Posted August 11, 2003 The last one was pulled by Randy Velarde, I believe while he was with the A's.
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 11, 2003 Author Report Posted August 11, 2003 Here's the complete list, courtesy of Total Baseball Neal Ball Bill Wambsganss George Burns Ernie Padgett Glenn Wright Jimmy Cooney Johnny Neun Ron Hansen Mickey Morandini John Valentin Randy Velarde Rafael Furcal Interesting to note that 6 of the 11 happened in the '20s. Wambsganss' occured in a World Series game. Only one occured between 1927 and 1968.
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 11, 2003 Author Report Posted August 11, 2003 Smoltz vs. Pujols coming up, with Pujols' hitting streak on the line.
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 11, 2003 Author Report Posted August 11, 2003 HOME RUN!! Pujols extends his streak to 24 games.
Guest Choken One Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 24. Does he have a shot at DiMaggio?
razazteca Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 That's some skill right there. Some skill and a little luck. Some skill and ALL luck.....considering all the errors Fucal has had this year.
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 11, 2003 Author Report Posted August 11, 2003 Long way off yet. But according to baseball-reference.com, the most similar player to Pujols at 22 was....Joe Dimaggio.
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 11, 2003 Author Report Posted August 11, 2003 That's some skill right there. Some skill and a little luck. Some skill and ALL luck.....considering all the errors Fucal has had this year. All luck, but not because of Furcal's fielding percentage. Honestly I don't know how good Furcal is of a fielder, but errors aren't an accurate measure of ability. Unless we're talking about Butch Hobson.
Guest Choken One Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 If he has 24...he needs 32 to tie DiMaggio... They play more then 32 games this season I am sure....
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 11, 2003 Author Report Posted August 11, 2003 Great game. That's why I love baseball.
Guest Choken One Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 September 12th. If Pujols ties DiMaggio...He'll do it in Houston which should be VERY interesting as seeing it's the last series between the two teams in Houston...and likely Playoff implications will be all over that bitch...
chirs3 Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 Question from a non-baseball fan: I know what a triple play is. But what's an unassisted triple play?
phoenixrising Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 Question from a non-baseball fan: I know what a triple play is. But what's an unassisted triple play? An unassisted triple play means the player made all three of the outs himself without any assistance from the other fielders. I didn't see Furcal tonight (damn I knew I should have watched) but an example is Bill Wambsganss triple play in the 1920 World Series - caught a line drive (he played second base), tagged the base to put the runner on second out, then tagged the runner that was running toward second.
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 11, 2003 Author Report Posted August 11, 2003 That's how Furcal's happened. The hit and run was on. Just check out ESPNNews. They'll show it over and over.
Bruiser Chong Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 I was watching the game and just happened to change it for 30 seconds and MISSED the play. Bad timing on my part. I was more upset that the Braves blew it in the 8th, since I was hoping for a Cards loss. Seems like the Braves always lose when I'm pulling for them.
bob_barron Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 I was watching the game and just happened to change it for 30 seconds and MISSED the play. Bad timing on my part. I was more upset that the Braves blew it in the 8th, since I was hoping for a Cards loss. Seems like the Braves always lose when I'm pulling for them. Never root for the Braves again. Thank you
Guest BobbyWhioux Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 It takes some skill, a lot of luck, and a specific set of circumstances. There must be 0 outs in the inning (duh) There must be at least 2 runners on base. They pretty much have to be in "force" position. They have to be running on contact (at least the back runner does, especially if they AREN'T all in force position). The player turning the Unassisted Triple Play virtually has to be a Shortstop or a Second Basemen (a Center Fielder might have a chance at it too, if he's playing shallow enough) And, finally, you need the batter to hit a line drive hard enough to bait the runners into running on contact, but soft and low enough that the player who is to turn the triple play can catch it (or, in the case of the center fielder, a blooper that he just manages to run up on and catch in time). And said hit needs to be close to up the middle, so that the player can catch the ball, step on second, and tag the back runner all while going in one direction. And ALL that's just to get the "easy" variety of the Unassisted Triple Play (example: Furcal's today). There are other ways to get an unassisted triple play, but they are even more convoluted and they almost would take a conscious effort by the batting team to deliberately hit/run into one. With all the things that have to go right for it to happen, it's little surprise that it's so rare an occurence; even rarer than a perfect game (there's been, what, 16 of those?)
Vern Gagne Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 I was telling my dad the Braves most have a long series winning streak. Than Perez, and Pujos hit homeruns.
Bruiser Chong Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 I was watching the game and just happened to change it for 30 seconds and MISSED the play. Bad timing on my part. I was more upset that the Braves blew it in the 8th, since I was hoping for a Cards loss. Seems like the Braves always lose when I'm pulling for them. Never root for the Braves again. Thank you When it comes to the Astros and Cards, I'll root for whoever is against them.
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 11, 2003 Author Report Posted August 11, 2003 Some more triple play trivia for ya. EVERY triple play in history has involved the fielder catching a line drive, and then stepping on second and tagging the runner from first. Seven have occured via the shortstop. Three are by second basemen, and two are first basemen. No other positions have featured an unassisted triple play.
Guest The Grand Pubah of 1620 Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 Tonight on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, Rafael Furcal pulled an unassisted triple play in the 5th inning against the Cardinals. Its only the 11th time in MLB history that an unassisted triple play has been accomplished, and the first time in Braves history. It was actually the 12th time when Furcal pulled it off. It was a sweet play and I hate baseball.
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 11, 2003 Author Report Posted August 11, 2003 Yes. It's considered 11 times when you don't count the World Series one.
Guest The Grand Pubah of 1620 Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 Well why wouldn't you consider that one?
Vern Gagne Posted August 11, 2003 Report Posted August 11, 2003 Al was probably just counting the regular season.
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted August 12, 2003 Author Report Posted August 12, 2003 Oh it counts. I'm just explaining why announcers refer to it that way. Its like how postseason stats don't count in career totals.
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