It was pretty cool to watch - and Yabu got the maximum efficiency out of one pitch.

It scares me to say this, but I can remember the 1980 Triple Play very clearly. Guy Sularz, Joe Pettini, and Rich Murray... where did my youth go to?

I think that's the only time I've ever seen a straight triple play around the horn like that.

It also led to Yabu finishing with 3 IP on just 16 pitches.

And in his next PA, Kouzmanoff just grounded into a double play with 2 on and no outs. Yikes.

The name escapes me right now, but there was a long-time Minor League prospect who finally got to the show with the Mariners a few years ago. In his one major league game, he struck out, hit into a triple play, and hit into a double play. And I believe he was the DH. That has to be a candidate for the worst Major League career performance ever for a hitter.

EDIT: It was Ron Wright.

The name escapes me right now, but there was a long-time Minor League prospect who finally got to the show with the Mariners a few years ago. In his one major league game, he struck out, hit into a triple play, and hit into a double play. And I believe he was the DH. That has to be a candidate for the worst Major League career performance ever for a hitter.

Ron Wright was his name. I think he had come up through the Pittsburgh organization.

I think that's the only time I've ever seen a straight triple play around the horn like that.

The night the Twins turned two triple plays against the Red Sox, both were of the around the horn variety.

The following night, the Twins turned six double plays against the Red Sox (a record for a 9-inning game, I believe).

Naturally, Boston won both games.

Naturally, Boston won both games.

The Twins pitchers were putting an awful lot of men on base, after all.

What year was that?

What year was that?

July 1990

And in his next PA, Kouzmanoff just grounded into a double play with 2 on and no outs. Yikes.

And in the third, he grounded into a single play. The GP cycle!

Are the Padres required to play one inordinately long game per week? When you add the extra inning games they play, they might have 5 or 6 more games than any other team by the end of the season.

8.5

are we not doing our nightly Diamondbacks updates anymore?

Imagine that. :)

Hilarious.

I was at this game tonight. I had never seen anything like a 5-4-3 triple play before. They don't get the same pub as the unassisted triple plays, but I think they look a lot cooler when they happen.

The Phillies turned an around the horn triple play last year, in a game against the Reds. It really saved Hamels' bacon, as he went on to turn in one of the best starts of his career, a 15-K complete game, giving up just one run.

Re: Ron Wright. He was a Braves farmhand who went to Pittsburgh with Jason Schmidt in the Denny Neagle trade. Wright was an impressive power hitter in the minors, at least in appearance. He hit massive home runs when he got into one, including one at the old Durham Athletic Park that from an eyeball guess is the longest one I've seen hit anywhere. He did something to his back and that was that for a slugger with a big violent swing.

Are the Padres required to play one inordinately long game per week? When you add the extra inning games they play, they might have 5 or 6 more games than any other team by the end of the season.

They figure they won't be playing post-season games this year, so they'd better get those extra innings in during the season.

There was a brief thread on a NYT article on Wright last year - his downfall was actually a leg issue, albeit one caused by a surgery on his back.
That dude hit moon shots.

The around the horn triple play is indeed an exciting play. I've seen only one. It was an A's vs O's game in the early 70s. Gene Tenace hit a sharp grounder to Brooks Robinson who stepped on the bag, threw to Grich at second who relayed to <don't remember> at first for the triple play. (Maybe Boog Powell?). The A's won the game despite the rally killing triple play. I'll wait for one of you retro sheet hounds to demonstrate how my memory is mushier than Joe Morgan's.

8.5

Repeat after me: The Padres are done. They are not making the playoffs. This current core of Padres has not won anything and never will. They're cooked. Close the book. Move on.

Oh, all right.

7/7/1973 AL Baltimore Orioles vs AL Oakland Athletics Memorial Stadium
Top 4 Inning Score V-H 3 - 1 PLAY SEQUENCE: 5*-4*-3* Source: Retrosheet Event Files; SN Box Scores
Event: 5(2)4(1)3/GTP # Men On: 2 [ 1-2 ] BAL vs OAK
Batter: Gene Tenace First Deron Johnson Second Reggie Jackson Third
Batter: 3 F 1 Runner 1: 2 F 2 Runner 2: 1 F 3 Runner 3: 0
Out# Type Loc: Out# Type Loc: Out# Type Loc: Out# Type Loc:
{Out Type: D=Doubled-Off F=Forced G=Gloved T=Tagged X=Strike-Out; Out Loc: Retrosheet Field
Gene Tenace (OAK) is the batter with a ?-? count. He hits a ground ball to the 3B (Brooks Robinson) who steps on the bag to putout the runner
from second, Reggie Jackson (OUT 1)
3B throws to the 2B (Bobby Grich) to putsout the runner from first, Deron Johnson (OUT 2)
2B throws to the 1B (Enos Cabell) who retires the batter, Gene Tenace (OUT 3)

Enos Cabell?

Gonzo and Kouz should get assists for being two of the slowest players in the majors.

Naturally, Boston won both games.

from what I remember teams that hit into a triple play usually have a winning record in those games.

It's true. Teams are 108-96 when they ground into a triple play, since 1956.

I guess to be in a triple play position, you need to be hitting the ball fairly well.

How is this for weird trivia?

I have never seen a triple play, either live or on TV. However, I have seen two perfect games (Mike Witt's perfecto against the Rangers in '84 in person, Kenny Rogers' perfecto against the Angels in '94 on TV). Those are also the only two no-no's I've ever seen.

Between that and my magical affinity for being nowhere near balls hit into the stands (approx. 100 games attended, no balls gotten, no balls landing within 25 feet), I'm not sure whether to feel cursed or inordinately lucky.

It scares me to say this, but I can remember the 1980 Triple Play very clearly. Guy Sularz, Joe Pettini, and Rich Murray... where did my youth go to?

I was going to inquire about the suckiness of the '80 Giants with that deadly trio in the IF but I see that it was Oct 3, so anything goes.

Between that and my magical affinity for being nowhere near balls hit into the stands (approx. 100 games attended, no balls gotten, no balls landing within 25 feet), I'm not sure whether to feel cursed or inordinately lucky.
In the first game I ever went to, circa '58, a foul ball was snagged by a guy about 8 seats to the right in the row I was in. I got to touch the ball but the guy wanted it back. The only other closer ball since then was when my then young son needed to go to the bathroom and the foul ball hit his seat, right next to mine. The people who got the ball gave it to him when we came back.

Oh, and I was in Boston when the Phillies won their only world series.

I guess to be in a triple play position, you need to be hitting the ball fairly well.

Yes, but the double triple-play game was a 1-0 victory.

Most triple plays happen so fast they're over before anyone realizes what happened (look for a replay of Cabrera's unassisted triple play on mlb.com for an example). The only one I saw live (FLA @ MON, July 28, 2002, Vlad smoking a liner right at Mike Lowell with two runners attempting a double steal), I would bet three quarters of the crowd had no idea what happened.

The fun thing on an around-the-horn TP is that you can actually see it develop. They're not that much harder to turn than most 5-4-3 double plays, however most third basemen will not attempt to step on the bag in such a situation unless they are literally standing over it. Their reflexes have been honed over they years to go immediately for the force out at second, not to look for the bag and try to wipe out an extra baserunner.

In the first game I ever went to, circa '58, a foul ball was snagged by a guy about 8 seats to the right in the row I was in. I got to touch the ball but the guy wanted it back. The only other closer ball since then was when my then young son needed to go to the bathroom and the foul ball hit his seat, right next to mine. The people who got the ball gave it to him when we came back.

When I was a kid, I caught foul balls at two consecutive games on an East Coast road trip. I can't remember the first one that well. It was in Shea--maybe it is a figment of my imagination. The second was at an Orioles game, and Fred Lynn hit it. I didn't "catch it" catch it, it was rolling around.

Then at my first hockey game, Jeremy Roenick tossed me a puck and then got a hat trick against the Penguins.

The only other closer ball since then was when my then young son needed to go to the bathroom and the foul ball hit his seat, right next to mine.

Did you try to catch it?

Most triple plays happen so fast they're over before anyone realizes what happened

I don't totally trust my memory on this, but I remember watching a Phillies-Reds game on TV where Tommy Herr was playing 2nd base for the Phillies. The Reds had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs, both runners ran with the pitch and the batter hit a line drive straight at Herr, who was rushing to cover 2nd on the steal. It was a sure unassisted triple play, except it hit the umpire before it got to Herr. The cameraman showed Herr standing ther in disbelief, but no one else seemed to notice what had happened. The announcers said nothing, and there was no reaction from the fans that I could see.