unassisted triple plays and other baseball rarities

From Mark Bergin in World...

Earlier this month, Cleveland Indians second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera dove right to snare a line drive, stepped on second base, and tagged the Toronto Blue Jays' Marco Scutaro to join one of the most exclusive clubs in Major League Baseball history. Cabrera became just the 14th player ever to complete an unassisted triple play.

In a delightful bit of baseball magic, one of the other 13 players to accomplish the feat was on hand to witness the play. Ron Hansen turned the solo trick against Cleveland in 1968 as a member of the Washington Senators. Incidentally, six of the 14 occurrences have involved the Indians.

Though the play is simple enough to perform, the precise conditions required render it one of baseball's most unlikely events. Here's a look at how unassisted triple plays compare to other individual diamond anomalies:

Unassisted triple plays: 14, Last achieved by Asdrubal Cabrera, 2008
The cycle in natural order: 14, Gary Matthews Jr., 2006
Four home runs in a game: 15, Carlos Delgado, 2003
Perfect game: 17, Randy Johnson, 2004
Stealing second, third and home: 48, Eric Young, 1996
Inside-the-park grand slam: 223, Randy Winn, 1999
No-hitter: 255, Clay Buchholz, 2007