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In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base by hitting the ball and getting to third safely, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay (see error) nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice.

Because a hit only counts as a triple without a fielding error or a fielder's choice, triples have become somewhat rare in Major League Baseball. It often requires a hit to an unoccupied part of the ballpark (as in an opposite-field hit) or the ball taking an unusual bounce in the outfield. It also requires that the batter be able to hit the ball solidly but also that he be able to run quickly. This combination of power and speed is rare, and combined with the trend for modern ballparks to have smaller outfields (to increase the number of home runs hit), it has ensured that the career and season triples leaders mostly consist of players who played earlier in the sport's history.

Triples leaders, Major League Baseball[]

Career[]

  1. Sam Crawford - 309
  2. Ty Cobb - 295
  3. Honus Wagner - 252
  4. Jake Beckley - 243
  5. Roger Connor - 233
  6. Tris Speaker - 222
  7. Fred Clarke - 220
  8. Dan Brouthers - 205
  9. Joe Kelley - 194
  10. Paul Waner - 191

Season[]

The current "modern" record for triples is 23 by Curtis Granderson in 2007. Only three other players have hit as many as 20 triples in a year since 1945, Willie Wilson in 1985, Lance Johnson in 1996 and Christian Guzman in 2000.

See also[]

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