STL All Sports

Once there was a ballplayer who made a triple play, but the record books have neglected to list the glory of that moment. It was the most amusing triple play ever made.

It happened years ago when Larry McLean was a famous major-league catcher. In those days, Larry McLean was also a fast-stepping playboy. One afternoon, he showed up for a game, looking quite woozy and ragged, after a big night of merrymaking. It developed into a close game, and after a few innings of crouching behind the plate, under the hot sun, poor Larry McLean was in a daze, playing purely by instinct. Came a late inning, and the shaky and woozy Larry McLean let a pitch dribble out of his mitt. Hastily throwing off his mask, he pounced on the ball, and whirled just in time to see an enemy runner trying to come home from third. Larry McLean dashed fQrthe plate to cut off the runner, and he arrived at home plate at the same time the umpire did, as did his pitcher who had raced in from the mound to cover the unprotected home plate. Seeing everything in a haze, catcher Larry McLean saw three men closing in on home plate, so without stopping to choose, the big catcher, with the ball gripped in his big fist, tagged the runner, the umpire, and his own pitcher.

"I don't know who the runner is," he shouted, "but I made a triple play, and one of you guys is out!"