I was ruminating last night about Asdrubal Cabrera’s unassisted triple play last year. I like any triple play (I think the Tribe has had one in each of the last 3 seasons) but unassisted is just wow.
I think inside the park homeruns are spectacular as well. They may even be more exciting than the unassisted triple play because they last longer and require both great timing and thinking as well as great speed (or some funny errors, which is also fun).
Of course, everyone loves a no-hitter and the illustrious perfect game. But those do not give the instant gratification of the above plays. Still, those equate to nine innings of heart pounding baseball.
What are some of your favorite feats in sports? Any sport will do.
I can’t access videos at work - can anyone succintly describe how an unassisted triple play works? I have a basic understanding of the rules of baseball and I’m struggling to see how this is possible with even half-competent base runners.
In the same vein, is it possible to achieve an inside-the-park homer without an error by the fielding side?
Classic UTP. Runners on first and second. Batter hits a line drive to 2nd baseman or shortstop(either will work), runners moving. Fielder catches ball, steps on 2nd base and tags runner coming from 1st.
Runners on first and second. Managers call for a hit and run(that means that the runners start running before the hit. A line drive is hit directly to the second baseman. He catches the ball(the batter is out), tags the runner from first(second out) and touches second base(the runner who left second before the catch is out).
An eight-ender in curling. I haven’t been a part of or even seen one in my limited play to date, but I’ve been in a couple of situations where it was a live possibility as late as the skip rocks and it was quite exciting. (To curlers, anyway.)
In today’s smaller parks, it generally requires some type of misplay by the defense. If the misplay is scored as a fielding error, then there is no inside-the-park home run. However, some misplays (fielder falling down while chasing a ball, losing a ball to sun or wind, two guys letting a ball roll between them) are generally not scored as errors, and inside-the-park home runs result from these.
Parks are smaller, but I’d posit that all the goofy quirks cancel that out somewhat, what with padded walls and brick and chainlink and angles and that god damned flagpole.
In honor of the NHL playoffs starting up and the NCAA hockey championships just ending I’ll nominate the last-minute game-tying goal with the goalie pulled. The combination of the extra attacker, the time running down, and the constant risk of the game-sealing empty-net goal makes the tension incredibly high.
The coolest thing about an unassisted triple play is how quick it is. You’ve got an offense in a great situation, a pitch, and 3 seconds later the SS or 2B is trotting off the field while everyone else still has a “WTF?” look on their face. Then, pandemonium
Better yet: BU actually scored twice in the last 42 seconds with their goalie pulled to send the game into OT. Where they won on a deflection shot. No question about the tension involved in defending an empty net.
But I’ll go with a full-field-length kickoff return for a TD, with a few broken tackles. Maybe a bunch of laterals and the marching band blocking the end zone.
For baseball season, I’ll pick a 1-run game in the ninth, two out, two strikes, a good batter fouling off half a dozen fastballs from a top closer, and suddenly whiffing on a changeup.
Keeping it with baseball, hitting for the cycle (a single, double, triple, and homerun in one game) is pretty nifty. Orlando Hudson just did it last night.
I read the Wiki article on hitting for the cycle a while back, and it listed the “Homerun Cycle.” I think it’s happened in college a few times. Basically, it’s hitting a solo homerun, a two-run homerun, a three-run homerun, and a grand slam in one game. Pretty amazing!
Lots of baseball faves already listed. I’ll add the straight steal of home, and scoring from second on a sacrifice. I’ve somehow managed to see both of these pulled off by the Mets against the Yankees at Shea Stadium: Roger Cedeno in 2002, and in one of my all-time favorite NFW moments in sports, a Korean “rookie” relief pitcher in his second at-bat ever, scoring from second on a sac bunt by Jose Reyes in 2005. After smashing a double off the deepest CF wall off of Randy Johnson. (He was even a lefty!)
Football: the end-to-end end zone interception returned for a touchdown. You’d think this would be impossibly rare, but I pretty much only watch NFL football during the playoffs, often only for the Super Bowl, and I’ve managed to see this one just a few months ago on TV.
Basketball: the end-to-end full-court shot (thrown from under one basket and sinking it in the other one). NO FREAKIN’ WAY MAN!1!! But I’ve seen a couple of YouTube and other sports highlight reel clips of this, usually in the context of a high school game for some reason.
Hockey: Another sport I rarely watch, but I know I’ve seen teams score while short-handed (on the wrong end of a power play). I wonder what the record for the (negative) power play differential on a goal scoring play is? 5-on-3 seems quite possible… 5-on-2??? No way! And has there ever even been an X-on-1 power play?!!
Soccer: I know the goalie can get pulled from the net in a desperation play, but has a goalie ever scored the winning goal?
Here’s a baseball question. Given baseball’s long history, “has it ever happened that…” questions typically get an answer of “yes”. Yesterday I saw a three-base error committed by (alas) my hometown Mets, when the right fielder dropped a fly ball on the warning track and the speedy runner got all the way to third base on the miscue.
Has there ever been a FOUR base error in MLB (not counting Little League, or any softball games where I might have been playing the outfield, not that such a thing ever happened, so let’s stop talking about ridiculous hypothetical situations like that already)? A miscue that resulted in an inside-the-parker?
Fenway is a perfect example of this. Despite the “cozy” dimensions, there have been many inside-the-park homeruns accomplished there, especially in LF where there is a ladder located on the wall. And the CF triangle has been the cause of many misplays resulting in triples and ITP homers.
Ever since I saw Bill Buckner complete one in his last year playing (the only ballplayer ever to do so in a wheelchair), it definitely diminished the accomplishment in my eyes.
Jose Luis Chilavert has scored something like 30 goals in his career, probably a couple were game winners. He used to take PKs and free kicks though, not what you’re thinking of. I know a couple years back Brad Friedel scored a game tying goal off a corner kick. I don’t think they ever really push the keeper up when it’s tied so scoring a winning goal would be extremely rare from the run of play.
Can’t happen… in hockey the fewest players allowed is 3. Any additional penalties don’t begin until one of the previous ones has expired. So, the theoretical max difference would be 6-on-3 (pulled goalie and two penalties on the other team). I’ve never heard of it happening…
I’ll up the ante a little on this. I love big returns, but when it’s a big, fat D-Lineman it reaches a new level of entertainment for me. It’s exciting, but it’s also unpredictable and potentially comical. Bumblin’, stumblin’…fat man runnin’!
I saw Atlanta get a 6-on-3 a couple of years ago against the Flyers while trailing by 2 goals. It lasted all of 5 seconds; that’s how long it took the Thrashers to score.
My favourite is definitely the game-winning goal in hockey playoff overtime. That one shot that wins the game, or the series.
2002 BU Alumnus.