Baseball History: Walter Carlisle Turns Unassisted Triple Play

The rarest play in baseball history may well be the unassisted triple play. On this day in 1911, former Red Sox outfielder Walter Carlisle became the only outfielder in organized baseball to pull off the feat.

More often than not, Walter Carlisle would have been a forgotten player in the annuls of baseball history. He made only three appearances in the majors, with only 11 plate appearances to his name. Carlisle had a hit and a walk, and even stole a base, but also struck out four times. That would be the extend of the 26 year old’s major league experience.

However, Carlisle continued to play until 1923 in the minors. It was actually during his minor league career that Carlisle earned his place in baseball history, when he was playing for the Vernon Tigers in the Pacific Coast League. In the sixth inning of the Tigers game against the Los Angeles Angels, Roy Akin hit a shallow line drive to center, where Carlisle made a diving catch for the first out.

Then the fun truly began. A former circus acrobat, Carlisle quickly bounced to his feet. As the runners on first and second had taken off with the pitch, Carlisle ran to second for the second out. He then sprinted to first, tagging the base to record an unassisted triple play.

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With that play, Carlisle became the first, and thus far only, outfielder in organized baseball to perform that feat. As there have only been 15 unassisted triple plays in major league history, this is certainly a rare enough feat in its own right. But for an outfielder, Carlisle’s natural athleticism came through to carve out his place in history.

Interestingly enough, that was not the only unassisted triple play that Akin was a part of. Under a year later, on May 9, Akin was playing third when the opposing team put on a bunt and run with runners on second and third. The bunt was popped up to Akin, who stepped on third and tagged the runner approaching from second. He became the first third baseman to perform an unassisted triple play, giving him a bit of solace.

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Walter Carlisle made sure he would not be forgotten on this day in 1911. He became the only outfielder in organized baseball to record an unassisted triple play.