Triple plays are pretty rare occurrences in the baseball world. It’s not only because they’re difficult to pull off (they are obviously quite challenging). Instead, it’s also because they require the perfect sequence of events, at exactly the right time, with the exact right ball placement and defensive positioning … and then the players have to actually pull it off.
Yet somehow, the White Sox have already accomplished this feat twice in the 2016. Earlier this year, they managed a flukey, crazy one against the Rangers, and then yesterday they busted out another against the Astros:
Your browser does not support iframes.
Unsure about just how rare a single triple play is (let alone two in a season)? Consider that, in 2015, there were just four total triple plays made – one each by the Mariners, Astros, Pirates and Rockies. That amounts to just 0.13 triple plays per team, each of which played 162 games.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot of this is luck, and their first triple play this year was aided by some terrible Rangers baserunning … but it’s pretty extraordinary that it’s happened to the same team twice in a season. And there’s still a long way to go!