Triple (baseball)


In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice. A triple is sometimes called a "three-bagger" or "three-base hit". For statistical and scorekeeping purposes it is denoted by 3B.
Triples have become somewhat rare in Major League Baseball. It often requires a ball hit to a distant part of the field, or the ball taking an unusual bounce in the outfield. It also usually requires that the batter hit the ball solidly, and be a speedy runner. It also often requires that the batter's team have a good strategic reason for wanting the batter on third base, as a double will already put the batter in scoring position and there will often be little strategic advantage to taking the risk of trying to stretch a double into a triple.. The trend for modern ballparks is to have smaller outfields ; it has ensured that the career and season triples leaders mostly consist of those who played early in Major League Baseball history, generally in the dead-ball era.
A walk-off triple occurs very infrequently. For example, the 2016 MLB season saw only three walk-off triples, excluding one play that was actually a triple plus an error.

Triples leaders, Major League Baseball

Season

PlayerYearNumber of triples
Chief Wilson191236
Dave Orr188631
Heinie Reitz189431
Perry Werden189329
Harry Davis189728
Jimmy Williams189928
George Davis189327
Sam Thompson189427
Sam Crawford191426
Kiki Cuyler192526
Joe Jackson191226
John Reilly189026
George Treadway189426