If you turn a super-rare triple play in a spring training game that wasn't televised, did it really happen?
During the Cleveland Indians' 5-4 Cactus League loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez and second baseman Jason Kipnis teamed up to pull off a rare 5-5-4 triple play that was brilliant (by all accounts) in execution and left the Arizona crowd - not to mention just about everyone in uniform on both sides - stunned and confused.
According to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, the Brewers had the bases loaded in the sixth inning when Ramirez allowed Travis Shaw's line drive to bounce in front of him as he charged in from third base. Ramirez then picked up the ball, tagged Stephen Vogt - who was hung up between third and home - for out No. 1, ran back to touch third for a force out (No. 2), and finally completed the trifecta by tossing to Kipnis at second to force Jonathan Villar for the triple play.
Even if it did come in a spring game, what Ramirez and Kipnis pulled off turned out to be a rare and stunning feat on the diamond.
Per SABR's Triple Play Database, only six of the 715 triple plays turned in MLB's regular-season history (since 1876) have been of the 5-5-4 variety. The last time it happened was on Aug. 17, 1950, when Owen Friend and Snuffy Stirnweiss of the St. Louis Browns did it at Sportsman's Park - against none other than the Indians.
Just like when the Browns pulled off their 5-5-4, Sunday's game was not televised, meaning no video footage of the moment exists. So without the benefit of instant replay, those who either saw the play happen or participated in it were simply left to scratch their heads in disbelief.
"It was a play like I've never seen before," Vogt told Bastian. "None of us knew what the heck to do. I kind of polled people in the dugout - people that have been in this game for 50, 60 years. Nobody had ever seen anything like it before."
"There were outs everywhere," added Indians skipper Terry Francona.
Cleveland's last official triple play was turned on July 1, 2014 against the Dodgers, a 7-2-4 replay-aided trifecta that was also completed by Kipnis.
