Neal Ball, SS

The Setup:

In the top of the second inning of the first game of a double header, Cleveland was leading Boston 1–0. The Cleveland starting pitcher, Cy Young, gave up a lead off single to Heinie Wagner. The next batter, Jake Stahl, reached safely on a bunt single putting runners on first and second with no one out. Amby McConnell, the Red Sox second baseman, was the next batter.

The Play:

With the count full on Amby McConnell, Boston started the runners. McConnell’s line drive up the middle was caught by the shortstop, Neal Ball, who was moving towards second to cover the bag. Ball stepped on second for the second out, and continued on to quickly tag out Stahl who didn’t have time to reverse his course.

The Rest of the Story:

For those not accepting Paul Hines’ triple play, 31 years earlier, as being unassisted, this is the first unassisted triple play in Major League Baseball. Neal Ball was not a particularly strong fielder. After being acquired in a trade a couple of months earlier, Ball made 46 errors in 95 games at shortstop for Cleveland. Many years later he described his triple play by saying, “I leaped, and the darn thing hit my glove and stuck.”

Ball was the leadoff batter in the bottom of the inning for Cleveland. Adding to his accomplishments that inning, he hit his first ever homerun in the majors. In fact, it was the only homerun that he hit that season, and the first of only four that he hit in his seven-year career.