Ernie Padgett, SS

The Setup:

It was the last day of the regular season and Boston was hosting Philadelphia in a doubleheader. Boston was in seventh place, two games ahead of the eighth place Phillies. The Braves won the first game 5-4 in 14 innings, clinching seventh place. On a brutally cold and getting late in the afternoon, the teams agreed to make the second game, which would be meaniningless in the standings, a five-inning game.

In the fourth inning, the Braves held a 4-1 lead. Joe Batchelder, who was making the only start of his career gave up a leadoff single to Cotton Tierney. Cliff Lee followed with a base hit, moving Tierney to second and bringing up Walter Holke, who had played for the Braves the previous season.

The Play:

Walter Holke hit a low line drive headed for leftfield. Ernie Padgett, the shortstop, caught the line drive inches above the ground. Padgett stepped on second, easily retiring Tierney who had taken off for third, and in just a few steps ran down Lee for the third out.

The Rest of the Story:

Ernie Padgett was called up to the Braves at the end of September that season. He made his Major League debut on October 3^rd and was playing in only his fourth game in the majors. The following year he became the Braves starting third baseman, the only season of his five-year career in which he was a starter. His unspectacular career after his triple play resulted in a career WAR of 0.8, which is tied for the lowest (with Eric Bruntlett) of all of the players who have turned unassisted triple plays.

The base umpire for that game was Barry McCormick. He is one of seven umpires who has been on the field for two unassisted triple plays. McCormick was also on the field for Jimmy Cooney’s unassisted triple play. Of those seven umpires, he is the only one who made the out calls of the triple plays twice.