June 2nd, 2017 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka If you’re a fan of the great game of baseball, and let’s face it, you probably wouldn’t be here if you weren’t, you undoubtedly enjoy witnessing great plays; whether it be an exciting hit or a great catch or throw, or whatever it might be.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that I am as die-hard of a Dodger fan as there can be, but with former St. Louis Cardinal and current Angel of Anaheim Albert Pujols sitting on 599 career home runs, I have been watching every one of his at-bats on his road to becoming only the ninth player in MLB history to hit 600 home runs. In fact, as I noted a couple of weeks ago, there is a very good chance that Pujols will be the last player to ever hit 600 or more home runs in our – well, at least my – lifetime.
On Thursday night, the 37-year-old Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic did not hit number 600. But because of my obsession to witness this historical event as it happens live and in real time – albeit on TV – I did get to witness something that I have also never seen before live and in real time before in my lifetime. I witnessed an absolutely perfectly executed 5-4-3 triple play.
(Image courtesy of MLB.com)
The extremely rare feat, the first for the Minnesota Twins since May 27, 2006, occurred in the bottom half of the fourth inning when Angels first baseman Jefry Marte hit an easy one-hopper to Twins third baseman Miguel Sano who stepped on third base to nail Pujols, fired over to Twins second baseman Brian Dozier to nail Yunel Escobar, who fired over to Twins first baseman Joe Mauer to nail Marte … and it wasn’t even close.
As I said, I am a huge Dodger fan and certainly didn’t have a dog in the race between the Angels and Twins, and I was only watching in anticipation of witnessing history by the future Hall of Famer. But I have to admit that I was pretty excited to have witnessed an entirely unexpected and different piece of baseball history instead.
Man, I LOVE this game!
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Sano gleefully predicted to all that would listen that he would turn a triple play later in the night. And sure enough, just a few hours later, the Twins turned their first triple play in over a decade, as rookie left-hander Adalberto Mejia got the Angels’ Jefry Marte to ground into a 5-4-3 triple play that was started by Sano in a 4-2 win at Angel Stadium.
“I kept thinking about it and saying it,” Sano said through translator Carlos Font. “I came in early today and practiced fielding ground balls down the line and touching the bag and throwing it to second. Once the situation came, I kept saying, ‘Mejia, give me the right pitch.’ And he did it.”
Man, I LOVE this game!
Would I be wrong in assuming that the ball was hit very hard and got to third base, rather quickly, or that Marte may be slow of foot?
Nonetheless it must’ve been nice to watch.
You can… I don’t know… maybe watch the video?
The way he fielded the ball, and the position he was in, it couldn’t have taken much longer than a typical 5-4-3 DP.
I saw the video, It looked exactly like a double play. Amazing we don’t see it happen more often.
Just consider all the conditions that would have to be met:
Ball has to be fielded very close to 3B, probably within a step. It has to be soft enough to allow the 3b to get there at just the right time, hard enough that he can get to work as soon as he gets there. It would help, of course, if they’re in a defense that puts him close to 3B to start with.
Here’s the real kicker: There has to be runners on first and second with 0 outs.