From a Triple Play to Shohei | Hall of Fame Connections Episode 4
In this episode of the Hall of Fame Connections series, we draw the line from the sport’s first unassisted triple play with baseball’s newest two-way player. How?
Cleveland shortstop Neal Ball made what at the time was considered the first unassisted triple play in the major league history on July 19, 1909, versus the Boston Red Sox. One of his teammates that day was Cleveland star pitcher Addie Joss.
From 1909 to 1911, Neal Ball was a teammate of Addie Joss who died suddenly in 1911 from tubercular meningitis. Cleveland hosted an early version of the All Star Game against the rest of the American League, with proceeds going to Joss’s family. Cleveland outfielder Jack Graney played in the Joss Memorial Game that day. Graney would go on to be the first batter to ever face Babe Ruth as a pitcher for the Red Sox in his major league debut, July 11, 1914.
Ruth was both a pitcher and an outfielder for the Red Sox in 1918-1919, the last famous two-way player. In 1918, Ruth was 13-7 in 19 starts and played 72 games in the OF/1B, batting .300 with 11 HRs. In 1919 he went 9-5 in 15 starts on the mound and played 111 games in the OF, batting .322 and hitting 29 homers. Babe Ruth later toured Japan in exhibition games.
Babe Ruth barnstormed Japan in 1934, facing 17-year-old pitcher Eiji Sawamura, who struck out Ruth on three pitches. Sawamura’s impact on Japanese baseball was so profound that in 1947 they named their version of the Cy Young after him.
Future MLB star Kenta Maeda won the Sawamura Award as the NPB's best pitcher in both 2010 and 2015 and was the youngest pitcher in Japanese baseball history to achieve the pitching Triple Crown. Shohei Ohtani was also among the three finalists in 2015 and he would hit a home run off of Kenta Maeda during the season. Ohtani is the closest thing professional baseball has seen to a true two-way player in many decades. He is most often compared to Ruth as a two-way phenomenon.
Artifacts from this and all Hall of Fame Connections episodes are waiting to be discovered at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, where all your favorite baseball memories live. The Museum preserves history, honors excellence and connects generations. Beyond the iconic Hall of Fame Plaque Gallery are exhibits that tell the story of baseball’s impact on our lives, and our country’s history. The Museum exhibits draw from a collection of 40,000 lovingly preserved artifacts and more than 3 million library items to bring your stories and lesser-known tales to life.
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