On
July 17, 1990, the Minnesota Twins accomplish something that had never been
done before as they turn not one, but two triple plays in a game at Fenway
Park. The triple plays occurred in the fourth and eighth innings and were
nearly identical; in both instances, Twins third baseman Gary Gaetti stepped on
third base on a ground ball, threw the ball to second baseman Al Newman, who
then threw the ball to first baseman Kent Hrbek.
There
had been over 600 occurrences of the rare triple play, but never had more than
one happened in the same game. It was a moot point though, as the Red Sox beat
the Twins anyway, 1-0. The next day, the Twins tied an American League record
by recording six double plays, but again lost to the Sox, 5-4. The Red Sox also
turned three double plays that game making for the most double plays ever turned in a
single game, nine.
The
six double plays tied a record the Twins already owned. Three years earlier in
1977 playing against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Twins turned six double plays
in a 10-inning game.
In 2006 the Twins turned another great triple play, against
the Seattle Mariners, with the bases loaded and no outs, Juan Rincon gets Kenji
Johjima to ground into a 4-5-6-3 triple play to end the inning.
In the history of the Twins organization the Minnesota ball
club has turned 11 triple plays on defense, and hit into seven.
No comments:
Post a Comment