Bill Wambsganss
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William Adolf Wambsganss (March 19, 1894 - December 8, 1985) was a second baseman in Major League Baseball. From 1914 through 1926, Wambsganss played for the Cleveland Indians (1914-23), Boston Red Sox (1924-25) and Philadelphia Athletics (1926). He batted and threw right handed. He is best remembered for making one of the most spectacular defensive plays in World Series history, an unassisted triple play.
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[edit] Career
In a 13-season career, Wambsganss posted a .259 batting average with seven home runs and 519 RBI in 1492 games played.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Wambsganss was the regular second baseman for the Cleveland Indians during 10 years. A fine fielder throughout his 13-year career overall, he amassed 4,269 assists with 3,420 putouts and turned 605 double plays. He committed only 375 errors in 8,064 chances for a significant .954 fielding percentage.
On October 10, 1920, Wambsganss made history when he turned the only unassisted triple play ever in World Series history, in Game Five against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Batting from the second or eight spot, from 1919-23 Wambsganss averaged 74.2 runs per year, with a high 89 runs in 1922, as he also hit a career-high .295 in 1918 and .290 in 1923, his last season with Cleveland, when he was sent to the Boston Red Sox in the same trade that brought good-hitting first baseman George Burns to the Indians.
In 1924 with Boston Wambsganss hit .275 and collected career-highs in hits (174) and runs (93). After a sub-par season in 1925 he was sold to the Philadelphia Athletics. He finished his major league career with the A's in 1926, batting .352 in 54 games. A year later, he played for Triple-A Kansas City of the American Association.
Bill Wambsganss died in Lakewood, Ohio, at age 91.
[edit] WS historic triple milestone
- In the fifth inning of Game Five of the 1920 World Series played at League Park, Wambsganss caught a line drive batted by Clarence Mitchell, stepped on second base to retire Pete Kilduff, and tagged Otto Miller coming from first base, to complete the first triple play, completely unassisted, in World Series history. Earlier in the game, Wambsganss teammate Elmer Smith hit the first grand slam in the Series off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Burleigh Grimes, in the first inning with none out. The historic blast scored Charlie Jamieson, Wambsganss, Tris Speaker, and Smith. After managing to score a run in the ninth inning, Brooklyn fell to the Indians in an 8–1 loss. Cleveland winning pitcher Jim Bagby also helped himself by hitting a three-run home run in the third. It was the first home run hit by a pitcher in modern World Series history.
[edit] Quotation
- When interviewed in the 1960s by Lawrence Ritter, for his classic oral history, The Glory of Their Times, Wambsganss recalled: "Funny thing, I played in the big leagues for 13 years, 1914 through 1926, and the only thing that anybody seems to remember is that once I made an unassisted triple play in a World Series. Many don't even remember the team I was on, or the position I played, or anything. Just Wambsganss-unassisted triple play! You'd think I was born on the day before and died on the day after" – Retrieved from Old Ball Game.
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources
- Baseball Almanac
- [1] Baseball Library
- [2] Baseball Reference
- [3] The Deadball Era
- [4] Library of the Congress
