Catcher's triple play?
 

I had a friend ask me if a catcher could have an unassisted triple play. I couldn't think how but maybe some of you?

Rita

R2 stealing third, R3 stealing home, BR bunts. Bunt lands right in front of the plate, catcher tags R3 and BR in the blink of an eye. When R2 breaks his leg on the way to third, F2 goes and tags him as well.

Variation.

R2, R3.

R3 stealing home.

Batter swings/misses for strike 3

Catcher tags R3 out, R2, head firmly in a dark smelly place, has followed R3 home and gets tagged out.

Bases loaded. Inside the park apparent home run. Everyone scores, no one touches home. Catcher gets the ball, appeals R1 missing home, appeals R2 missing home, appeals R3 missing home.

ANYTHING is possible...

I had a UATP as pitcher once in rec softball. Bases loaded, ball is dribbled foul up the first base line. Batter took 4 or 5 steps, and seeing it foul turns around walking toward the batters box. Ball rolls fair, I pick it up and tag BR (dumb move, but I was just surprised the ball came back and BR was standing right there.). I look up and R1 (R3 in softball) is trying to score, and I beat him home (remember, this is college rec softball - throwing to my catcher was NOT an option!). For some reason, R2 has rounded third and is halfway to his dugout when I make the 2nd out - so I go tag her.

Wouldn't that be an assist? :D

MMM... ok, fine. Catcher retrieves the batted ball...it bounced ALL the way back from the fence without touching another fielder. :)

Bases loaded. Batter strikes out swinging but catcher misses ball. It rebounds directly off the backstop to the catcher. Pitcher is late to cover so F2 runs to the plate and lunges to tag R3. The ball is kicked out but R3 misses the plate during the slide/collision. R2 sees the plate uncovered when F2 goes for the ball. The dizzy catcher collects the ball and makes it in time to tag R2. After the dust settles, he stands on the plate and appeals that R3 missed the plate which is acknowledged for his third put out.

R2 and R3 and the squeeze in on. Batter pops the ball up down the third base line. F5 stumbles as he comes in so F2 races out to catch it. Third is left uncovered so he continues on running to third figuring he could get credit for a unique double play. To his surprise, he also finds R2 who was running with the pitch with head down standing on third. He tags the base for out two and R2 for out three.

What happened to BR, he wasn't tagged and is standing on 1B. Only two outs have been made.

Think about it.
















Hint: Bases loaded - no outs.

B/R is out on the third strike since the bases were loaded - first base occupied with less than 2 outs, batter cannot advance on uncaught third strike. He is out one and I think the put out goes to the catcher on a strike out.

Dufoos attack. Sorry.

Rays: Usual loss spiced up by historic triple play

Here's a good one. It is pretty well known how to get a triple play without the ball touching a fielder. I am surprised this has happened only once in MLB history, some 200,000 games. That is, a triple play without the ball touching the bat. R1, R3 and batter strikes out. R1 was running with the pitch but was run down by F6. The triple play was completed 2-6-2 as R3 tried to score.

The situation is so common it is surprising it has only happened once.

List of Major League Baseball single-game records: Information from Answers.com

A good list of baseball rare events. There are rare events that take an inning or a whole game to occur. Then there are events that happen with just one pitch. There have been 15 pitches that resulted in an unassisted triple play but only one TP happened without the ball touching the bat. Interestingly, 25 players homered on the first pitch they saw in MLB. But only 7 pitchers surrendered a HR on the first pitch they threw. So, the next time a rookie pitcher makes his debut you'll know what to look for if you want to see history.

One of the rarest pitches you might ever see is ball four of an IBB with the bases loaded. There have been only 6 of them. So, the next time the commercial comes on where the lady says the rarest play in baseball is the unassisted triple play.... she's wrong, it is the "non-batted" triple play.

A catcher pulled off an unassisted triple play in a Harvard/Yale game according to this report:

Catcher Pulls Off Triple Play-Alone
NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED
Published: Saturday, April 19, 1975
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Here's the scene It's the top of the sixth inning. The Crimson freshmen, leading 6-1 are in the field Yale is at bat. Nobody out Men are on first and third. The squeeze is on.

The Yale batter lays down what he hopes will be a bunt instead the ball drops on home plate and lazily begins to roll backwards Catcher Bill Cote grabs it, convinced it is foul and jokingly tags out the Yale who is tearing down from third base.

Not so jokingly, the umpire calls the runner out. Both teams are dazed-- everybody thinks the ball was foul. Everybody but cote.

He dashes nonchalantly down to first base, tagging out the unsuspecting Bulldog he finds there, and then steps on the bag. The batter who laid down the bunt heard round the world is now out too.

Cote has just done the impossible--engineered an unassisted triple play as a catcher.