Baseball Trivia Time:

[clydepepper]

One of the small, specialized parts of my Baseball Card collection is at least one card of each player who has hit 4 home runs in a game (17) (of course, I had to add to that group this year...with the most unlikeliest of names to be so added...Scooter?), each pitcher who has pitched a perfect game (23) (there was the flurry of those a few years ago), and one of each player who has performed the defensive version of these single-game superlatives, the unassisted triple-play (15) .

Many of us, I'll bet, can name most, if not all the pitchers and hitters involved, but how many of the slick fielding defenders can you recall?

On the honor system now, no published references.

The last fielder accomplished this feat eight years ago.

[parker1b2]

Mickey Morandini I remember as a kid.

[KCRfan1]

I'll play!

Luis Aparicio, Ozzie Smith, Frank White, Mark Belanger, Ryne Sandberg, Joe Morgan, Phil Rizzuto, Rod Carew

Got them all!

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by KCRfan1

I'll play!

Luis Aparicio, Ozzie Smith, Frank White, Mark Belanger, Ryne Sandberg, Joe Morgan, Phil Rizzuto, Rod Carew

Got them all!

If anyone on this list did it eight years ago, it was in a softball game for seniors.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Ron Hansen did it. So did Troy Tulowitzki. A Red Sox guy did it too, Valentin maybe?

[Cliff Bowman]

Since I can't look it up, I'm sure I will have the spelling incorrect on Bill Wambaganass. I think it was in a World Series but I could be wrong.

[clydepepper]

Peter - very good - you got three - John Valentin


Cliff - we will award full credit for that difficult-to-spell moniker (Wambsganss - yes, I cheated).


The last two to do it have not been mentioned yet and one of them is also still active (along with Tulo)

[Jim65]

I remember Eric Bruntlet did it against the Mets, maybe 2009?

[bravos4evr]

Rafeal Furcal got an unassisted triple play I believe

[clydepepper]

Good work James and Nick. Bruntlett was the last one to accomplish it - in 2009, not 2008.

There are two more that did it this century including that second active player.


Any one who gets any of the ones who turned the trick in the twentieth century deserves a lot of credit.


Hint: one of the others may be easier for this crowd as he is included in the Monster.

- but the rest are pretty darn obsolete.


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[clydepepper]

WOW! No respect for the rarest individual defensive gem (everyone would rather talk about Aaron Judge, etc.)

The remaining active player who has performed an unassisted triple play is:

Asdrubal Cabrera in 2008


The other player who did it this century, but has not been mentioned:

Randy Verlarde in 2000


The player who made the play and is included in 'The Monster' was:

Neal Ball in 1909 (the first recorded instance of this play)


The remaining players whose names are otherwise lost to history are:

George Burns in 1923
Ernie Padgett in 1923
Glenn Wright in 1925
Jimmy Cooney in 1927
Johnny Neun in 1927 (the day after Cooney's)

I find the long gaps in occurances like this (1927-1968) curious to say the least.

There was a similar gap in perfect game (1922-1956) and an 84-year gap between these first two NL perfect games and Jim Bunning's NL gem in 1964.

...and, as far as those much closer time-wise...

The Cooney and then Neun triple plays on consecutive days were the very first two perfect games which were only five days apart in 1880 by Lee Richmond and John Ward and, in 2012, there were three perfect games pitched within 4 months (Humber, Cain & King Felix).


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