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On the ball: signatures of the last 4 players to pull off the Unassisted Triple Play: John Valentin, Randy Velarde, Rafael Furcal and Troy Tulowitzski.






Jimmy Cooney
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Triple Play Glove and Ball

There have been only thirteen unassisted triple plays in the almost 140-year history of baseball. An unassisted triple play occurs when there are no outs in an inning and one player in the field, by himself, is responsible for making all three outs -- without throwing the ball to one of his teammates. The rarest play in baseball, all thirteen have signed the pictured baseball.

Amazingly, the pictured baseball was signed by all thirteen players who pulled off this extremely rare feat. Here are the names of each player, and the year they accomplished it:

Neal Ball (1909)
Bill Wambsganss (1920 World Series)
George Burns (1923)
Ernie Padgett (1923)
Glenn Wright (1925)
Jimmy Cooney (1927)
Johnny Neun (1927)
Ron Hansen (1968)
Mickey Morandini (1992)
John Valentin (1994)
Randy Velarde (2000)
Rafael Furcal (2003)
Troy Tulowitzki (2007)

Rafael Furcal pulled off his Unassisted Triple Play in 2003. He signed my Unassisted Triple Play ball for me on the field at Dodger Stadium in 2004.


The latest player to accomplish the feat is Colorado Rockie shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki. Here's a short video of him signing the ball for me at Dodger Stadium on August 17, 2007.

 
Jimmy Cooney verifies that he used this glove when making his unassisted triple play.