And the Strange Baseball Season Continues

On the day when both the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals won a game, another team (well, one member of the team) pulled off another rarity in baseball. The unassisted Triple Play. In the continuing saga of the New York Mets in freefall, their game with the Philadelphia Phillies ended abruptly in the ninth inning, when Eric Bruntlett pulled off the three outer by himself. In the modern era of baseball, it has happened only 15 times and only twice has the triple play ended the game. On a similar note, I spotted this in my reader, where "immaculate innings" are being tracked. What's an "immaculate inning," you ask? That's when a pitcher strikes out the side on nine pitches. It has happened only 42 times. Three pitchers have done it twice, but none have ever done it three times.

Here's the list of unassisted triple plays.

• Neal Ball (SS) of the Cleveland Naps SS, July 19, 1909 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner.
• Bill Wambsganss (2B) of the Cleveland Indians, October 10, 1920 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner in Game 5 of the 1920 World Series
• George Burns (1B) of the Boston Red Sox, September 14, 1923 - Caught line drive, tagged runner, touched 2nd
• Ernie Padgett (SS) of the Boston Braves, October 6, 1923 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner
• Glenn Wright (SS) of the Pittsburgh Pirates, May 7, 1925 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner.
• Jimmy Cooney (SS) of the Chicago Cubs, May 30, 1927 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner
• Johnny Neun (iB) of the Detroit Tigers, May 31, 1927 - Caught line drive, tagged runner, touched 2nd (Ended game)
• Ron Hansen (SS) of the Washington Senators, July 30, 1968 - 1st Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner
• Mickey Morandini (2B) of the Philadelphia Phillies, September 20, 1992 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner
• John Valentin (SS) of the Boston Red Sox, July 8, 1994 6th Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner
• Randy Velarde (2B) of the Oakland Athletics, May 29, 2000 - Caught line drive, tagged runner, touched 2nd
• Rafael Furcal (SS) of the Atlanta Braves, August 10, 2003 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner.
• Troy Tulowitzki (SS) of the Colorado Rockies, April 29, 2007 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner.
• Asdrúbal Cabrera (2B) of the Cleveland Indians, May 12, 2008 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner.
• Eric Bruntlett (2B) of the Philadelphia Phillies, August 23, 2009 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner (Ended game)