Johnny Neun, 1B

The Setup:

Detroit was hosting Cleveland in this pitchers’ duel with Cleveland trailing 1-0 in the top of the ninth inning. Rip Collins, the starting pitcher, was still in the game, and he walked the pinch-hitter, Glenn Myatt, on four pitches to start the ninth. The next batter Charlie Jamieson bunted to the right side of the infield. Collins misplayed the bunt and Jamieson reached first on what was ruled a hit with Myatt advancing to second. Homer Summa came to the plate with the tying run on second.

The Play:

After fouling off two bunt attempts, Homer Summa swung away. With the runners going, he hit a line drive that first baseman Johnny Neun caught. Neun tagged out Jamieson trying to return to first base. The shortstop, Jackie Tavener, called for Neun to throw him the ball, but Neun ignored him and ran to second, tagging the base before Myatt could return.

The Rest of the Story:

Johnny Neun and Jackie Tavener had breakfast together that morning. Neun having read a newspaper account of Jimmy Cooney’s unassisted triple play from the day before asked Tavener when he thought the next one would occur. Tavener guessed in about ten years. One wonders if Neun would have just thrown the ball to Tavener at second for the third out if he hadn’t just read about Cooney’s triple play. Years later, Detroit pitcher, Eddie Wells, claimed that Neun yelled out, “I’m running into the Hall of Fame” as he completed his triple play. Of course, the Hall of Fame didn’t exist in 1927, so it’s doubtful that is true, but it does represent the mindset and apparent intentions that Neun had for completing the play himself.

Glenn Wright’s triple play made two years earlier also occurred in the ninth inning, but Neun’s was the first one which was a game-ending play.

Neun was not an everyday player in any of his six seasons in the majors. He played in the field in only 53 games in 1927, although he did produce a .324 batting average that year.