Dodgers turn first 2-5-4-3 triple play since 1882

Before Sunday, it had been 140 years since anyone turned the type of bizarre triple play the Los Angeles Dodgers turned against the San  Diego Padres in the ninth inning of a 5-4 win.

With the logistics involved, it'll probably take another 140 years for anyone to do it again.

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For those keeping score at home, that's a 2-5-4-3 triple play that went 360 feet around the basepaths for only the fifth such triple play since 1876. That's rare enough, but  according to this list compiled by SABR, all four other instances occurred in the 19th century. The last major league 2-5-4-3 triple play occurred in a Sept. 13, 1882 game between the Cincinnati Red Stockings and Louisville Colonels.

With the relative bounty of 2-5-4-3 triple plays in the deadball era, one wonders if the ballplayers involved were still unclear on the rules of baseball. (As a nod to Old Hoss Radbourn, we'll also acknowledged it's possible they were exceedingly drunk.)

Sunday's triple play, however, was the product of a special set of circumstances that started when San Diego's Jesus Guzman squared around to bunt with runners on first and second.  Javy Guerra's pitch came high and inside, deflecting off Guzman's bat to an area in front of the plate. Though Guzman and the two baserunners thought the play was foul, catcher A.J. Ellis picked up the ball and started the 270 feet of throws for the rare triple play.

It was the Dodgers first triple play of any kind since June 13, 1998 and its controversial nature led to Bud Black's ejection after the Padres manager argued the ruling.

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