The Stew Review: Run Scoring Triple Plays

Stew Thornley is one of the Twins official scorers and a baseball historian. He will occasionally provide insight to the decisions official scorers make. If you have any questions you would like him to address in a future story, you can ask them in this Twins Daily thread. You can also read more from Stew at StewThornley.net.

The Play

In the bottom of the second the Yankees had Matt Holliday at third, Didi Gregorius on second, and Chase Headley on first. Todd Frazier hit a low liner toward short that froze Gregorius, not wanting to take off before making sure the ball wasn’t caught. Cincinnati shortstop Jose Peraza fielded the ball on one hop, ran to second to force Headley, and threw to Joey Votto at first for the double play. But the Reds weren’t done. Gregorius, with his late break from second, got hung up between the bases. Votto threw to Eugenio Suarez, the third baseman, who tossed to Peraza. Gregorius was called out for running out of the baseline trying to avoid Suarez.

Since the final out of the inning was not a force, Holliday’s run counted since he had crossed the plate before the final out.

Home Sweet Home

Jacob Pomrenke of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) keeps the SABR Triple Play database and reports that the last run-scoring triple play was May 27, 2006 at the beloved Metrodome.

The Mariners, down 8-4 to the Twins in that game, loaded the bases in the eighth. Juan Rincon relieved Jesse Crain and, on his first pitch, got Kenji Johjima to hit a grounder to second. As Richie Sexson scored from third and Carl Everett went from second to third, Luis Castillo tagged out Adrian Beltre, the runner from first, and threw to Justin Morneau to retire Johjima. Morneau then threw across the diamond as Everett had rounded third too far. Tony Batista took Morneau’s throw and tagged out Everett coming back to the bag for a triple play.

The Quiz

Here’s the quiz regarding these plays:

1. Were the batters charged with a grounded into double play (GIDP)?

2. Were the batters credited with a run batted in (RBI)?

A runner is charged with a GIDP for grounding into a force or reverse-force double play. We all know that a batter cannot be credited with an RBI on a GIDP. In these cases, because of the add-on out that occurred after a force double play, the batters are not charged with a GIDP.

Since the batters were not charged with GIDPs, do they get an RBI? Also no. This was the decision by Elias Sports Bureau, which is empowered by Major League Baseball to interpret the rules. At Yankee Stadium, an Elias representative was in the press box and was able to consult with Billy Altman, the official scorer. Elias has been consistent in this interpretation through the years; in the 2006 game at the Metrodome, Johjima also did not get an RBI.

The Counter Example

Can a batter ever get an RBI when he hits into a run-scoring triple play? John Labombarda of Elias Sports Bureau was able to come up with at least one example of such:

On June 3, 1977 the Kansas City Royals, trailing the Baltimore Orioles 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth, loaded the bases when John Wathan flied out. Al Cowens scored from third and Dave Nelson went from second to third. I’m not sure exactly how Fred Patek, who was on first, was put out after right-fielder Pat Kelly threw the ball in, but as this was happening, Nelson bolted for home, only to be run down for a game-ending triple play. Wathan received a sacrifice fly and RBI.

A Triple Play Database kept by SABR members Steve Boren, Herm Krabbenhoft, and Jim Smith shows 22 run-scoring triple plays in the history of the major leagues. For rarity, this puts in about on a par with perfect games. And, once in a while, it involves a decision by the official scorer.

Meanwhile, please keep the questions and comments coming on this forum: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/26198-official-scoring-questions-for-stew