Triple (baseball)
In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay (see error) nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice. A triple is sometimes called a "three-bagger" or "three-base hit".[1] For statistical and scorekeeping purposes it is denoted by 3B.[2][3]
Triples have become somewhat rare in Major League Baseball. It often requires a ball hit to a distant part of the field, or the ball taking an unusual bounce in the outfield. It also usually requires that the batter hit the ball solidly, and be a speedy runner. It also often requires that the batter's team have a good strategic reason for wanting the batter on third base, as a double will already put the batter in scoring position and there will often be little strategic advantage to taking the risk of trying to stretch a double into a triple. (The inside-the-park home run is much rarer than a triple). The trend for modern ballparks is to have smaller outfields (often increasing the number of home runs); it has ensured that the career and season triples leaders mostly consist of those who played early in Major League Baseball history, generally in the dead-ball era.
A walk-off triple (one that ends a game) occurs very infrequently. For example, the 2016 MLB season saw only three walk-off triples, excluding one play that was actually a triple plus an error.[4]
Triples leaders, Major League Baseball
| Play | Career length | Number of triples |
|---|---|---|
| Sam Crawford | 1899–1917 | 309 |
| Ty Cobb | 1905–1928 | 295 |
| Honus Wagner | 1897–1917 | 252 |
| Jake Beckley | 1888–1907 | 243 |
| Roger Connor | 1880–1897 | 233 |
| Tris Speaker | 1907–1928 | 222 |
| Fred Clarke | 1894–1915 | 220 |
| Dan Brouthers | 1879–1904 | 205 |
| Joe Kelley | 1891–1908 | 194 |
| Paul Waner | 1926–1945 | 191 |
Season
| Player | Year | Number of triples |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Wilson | 1912 | 36 |
| Dave Orr | 1886 | 31 |
| Heinie Reitz | 1894 | 31 |
| Perry Werden | 1893 | 29 |
| Harry Davis | 1897 | 28 |
| Jimmy Williams | 1899 | 28 |
| George Davis | 1893 | 27 |
| Sam Thompson | 1894 | 27 |
| Sam Crawford | 1914 | 26 |
| Kiki Cuyler | 1925 | 26 |
| Joe Jackson | 1912 | 26 |
| John Reilly | 1890 | 26 |
| George Treadway | 1894 | 26 |
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
- List of Major League Baseball triples records
- List of Major League Baseball single-season triples leaders
References
- ^ "Triple (3B)". MLB.com. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
- ^ "Dexter Fowler". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
- ^ McMahon, Rob, ed. (2009). USA Today Baseball Scorebook. Sterling Innovation. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-4027-6245-1.
- ^ Miller, Sam (November 29, 2016). "The mystery of the walk-off triple". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
External links
- List of career triples leaders, Baseball-Reference.com
- List of single-season triples leaders, Baseball-Reference.com
