Indians 2B Cabrera throws away ball from triple play
CLEVELAND -- Asdrubal Cabrera was so excited to make history that he threw it away.
Cleveland's young second baseman turned the 14th unassisted triple play in major league history Monday night in the second game of a doubleheader against Toronto -- then flipped the ball to fans behind the Indians' dugout.
"He came off the field and tossed the ball into the stands," explained Indians first base coach Luis Rivera, serving as the 22-year-old Cabrera's interpreter. "Right as he did, he cried out, 'Oh, no!'"
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It was the only mistake the sure-handed Venezuelan made in the fifth inning of the Indians' 3-0 loss in 10 innings to the Blue Jays.
Indians starter Cliff Lee gave up consecutive singles to Kevin Mench and Marco Scutaro to open the inning. The runners took off on a 1-0 pitch and Lyle Overbay hit a line drive up the middle. Cabrera moved to his right, grabbed the ball with a backhanded dive and held up his glove to show umpire Alfonso Marquez he'd made the catch. At that point, the runners had no chance.
Cabrera scrambled to his feet and took a couple of steps to touch second and retire Mench, who was already standing at third base.
Cabrera then reached out to tag Scutaro, who had run past the bag. History made, Cabrera broke into a smile as he ran off the field with the game still scoreless.
"As soon as I saw the runners take off and it was a line drive, I knew I had a chance at a triple play," Cabrera said.
Having won the game, Overbay didn't mind gaining a place in the history books.
"I was trying to speed up the game," Toronto's first baseman joked. "I get to go down in history. They can't take that away from me.
"It's not smart to hit a line drive on a hit-and-run. Only bad things can happen."
Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki made the last unassisted triple play in the majors, on April 29, 2007, against Atlanta. Oakland second baseman Randy Velarde last turned the last one in the AL, on May 29, 2000, against the Yankees.
Cabrera's gem was the record third unassisted triple play by a Cleveland fielder.
Indians shortstop Neal Ball made the first one in history, in 1909. Cleveland second baseman Bill Wambsganss turned the only one in the World Series, in 1920 during a Game 5 win over Brooklyn.
The Indians also have been on the other side three times. The last player to pull an unassisted triple play against them -- Ron Hansen, in 1968 for Washington -- is now an advance scout for Philadelphia and was at Progressive Field to see Cabrera's feat.
"First one I've ever seen from the stands," said the 70-year-old Hansen, who as the Senators' shortstop caught a line drive off the bat of Joe Azcue, doubled off Dave Nelson and tagged Russ Snyder on July 30, 1968.
Hansen said he sent both the ball he caught and his glove to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He also praised Cabrera.
"That kid is a real good fielder and has a great future," Hansen said of Cabrera, who hit a two-run homer and turned two nifty double plays playing shortstop in Cleveland's 3-0 win in the first game.
"On a play like that, it's just reaction and he reacted right."
Hansen, the 1960 AL Rookie of the Year with Baltimore, played in 1,384 big league games over 15 seasons, but cherishes his big play at old Cleveland Stadium the most.
"I get asked about it all the time," Hansen said. "They didn't have one for 41 years before me and then another 22 after I did it. It's that rare."