One of the rarest of rare feats in Major League Baseball is the unassisted triple play.  Only 12 Major League players have accomplished the feat.

One of them was 2nd baseman Mickey Morandini who accomplished the feat for the Philadelphia Phillies near the end of the 1992 baseball season, on  September 20 against the NL East Division winning Pittsburgh Pirates.

It was in the 6th inning of a 13 inning game with runners on 1st and 2nd base that Morandini speared a line drive off of the bat of 3rd baseman Jeff King.  Morandini then stepped on 2nd base doubling up centerfielder Andy Van Slyke and tagged out leftfielder Barry Bonds who was running from 1st base.  The Pirates won the extra-inning game by a 3-2 score but Morandini’s feat was a highlight in an otherwise disastrous 1992 last place finish by the Phillies.

John Thorn records in his book, “Treasures of The Baseball Hall of Fame” that Morandini donated his uniform of the game to the Hall of Fame.  However, noone knows the whereabouts of the ball with which the triple play was recorded.  Morandini tossed the ball to the mound after the play which ended the inning.  In the next inning, a Phils hitter fouled it off. 

Perhaps, someday the elusive ball will turn up with a price tag.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 7th, 2006 at 7:46 pm and is filed under All Time Baseball Highlights
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