Take Three
Five, four, three. It’s the most common type of triple play according to SABR (although this particular page hasn’t been updated since August 2009). A play that took seconds was 17 years in the making.
John Valentin’s unassisted triple play on July 8, 1994 was by far rarer than Jed Lowrie, Dustin Pedroia, and Adrian Gonzalez’s effort. The replay of the shortstop’s feat shows that people, including his own teammates, didn’t quite seem to realize that they had witnessed the turning of just the 10th unassisted triple play.
But the flawless coordination around the horn by the trio of infielders to end the top of the fourth was like Vaslav Nijinsky, Fred Astaire, and Bob Fosse on stage.
| Game 121: August 16, 2011 | ||
 Tampa Bay Rays65-56 |
6 |
W: Jeff Niemann (8-4) |
| 2B: Johnny Damon (20) HR: Desmond Jennings (5) | ||
| Boston Red Sox 74-47 |
2 |
L: Erik Bedard (4-8) |
| HR: Jason Varitek (8), Jacoby Ellsbury (22) | ||
