I don’t know how Furcal performed his unassisted triple-play but I did one in high school during gym class.
There were based loaded and I was playing left field. A guy hit what normally would have dropped into short left center for a hit. I was a fast sprinter at the time, so I raced in and caught it.
The base runners never expected it to be caught so they were merrily running the bases. I trotted over to second base forcing out the guy who ran from 2nd to 3rd. The guy who ran from 1st to 2nd was standing there looking at me, I tagged him for the third out.
My gym teacher’s jaw dropped, shook his head and kept muttering “I don’t believe it.”
What sucked was the fact that I wasn’t in the popular clique at school so none of the jocks in the class said a word about it -
a complete non-event. If one of those guys did it - it would probably still be lore at my high school.
Those are the breaks.
Oh yeah, I read somewhere that some guy on the Washington Senators had an unassisted triple-play and it happened pretty much like mine.
Well, except it wasn’t a fumble. If the ball had hit the ground, the play would have been dead and the Steelers would have lost possession of the ball and probably lost the game. Had the play just been a fumble recovery for a touchdown, it wouldn’t have been nearly as memorable. Essentially, Pittsburgh was a few inches from losing the game.
But yeah, essentially, it was a lucky bounce. But let’s face it, sometimes the lucky bounces are what make some of the most memorable sporting moments.
A game in 1968 in the old AFL (US Football). The Oakland Raiders scored in every possible way against the Denver Broncos before the Broncos ran a play from scrimmage.
Oakland received kickoff and drives for a touchdown.
Oakland kicks the extra point
Oakland kicks off. Floyd Little of the Broncos grabs the ball in the end zone and starts to take it out to about the two. He realizes he’s not going to go very far, so he steps back in the end zone and touches the ball down. Oops. That’s a safety.
Denver has to kick the ball. Oakland receives and is finally stopped short of the goal. So they kick a field goal.
Other feats:
“Iron Man” Joe McGinnity pitching both halves of a double header.
NY Jets having to play four games in Oakland in two years.
NY Mets going from last place on September 1 to the World Series.
Thanks for the bitter reminder of a bad Colts memory.
Peyton Manning tried an end of the half score also in a similar manner. He dropped back to pass at the end of the half, faked a spike of the ball to end the play, but then pulled up on it. Then things got weird. Time ran out and Manning acted like the whistle blew and he was just running of the field for the end of the half, but then halfway to the end zone he runs in for an apparent score. I think a whistle really did blow, to end the half, but it was inadvertent and should not have been blown because Manning never killed the play. Anyway, they compromised and gave the Colts one play to kick a FG. Very odd. I don't think that was the right call by the refs, but it was allowed.
Hey, I hated the Steelers growing up but lucky or not, the IR is one of the most memorable and significant plays in NFL history. If Harris drops or doesn't catch that ball, Steelers lose, they don't go on to win the first SB and they don't go on to be the first four time SB champions. That catch allowed them to go on to become the dominant franchise of the 1970's in the same way The Catch in the end zone by the 49ers against the Cowboys allowed them to go on to be the dominant franchise in the 1980s. Of course it was a little lucky. All these things involve some luck. You don't turn an unassisted triple play without luck.
A few years back, I forget when, Notre Dame took the lead over Michigan State in a football game before the game even started. The Irish kicked off and a Spartan caught the ball just outside the end zone. He immediately took a small step back into the end zone and took a knee. Safety for Notre Dame, the scoreboard said 2-0 with 15:00 left in the first quarter.