Bill Wambsganss, All by Himself

Bill Wambsganss, All by Himself (1920)

Brooklyn had runners on first and second in the fifth inning of Game 5 when reliever Clarence Mitchell lined one toward second. Bill Wambsganss caught it, stepped on the bag to double off Pete Kilduff, and tagged Otto Miller coming from first. It is still the only unassisted triple play in World Series history. The same afternoon brought the first Series grand slam, by Elmer Smith, and the first Series homer by a pitcher, Jim Bagby. Brooklyn outhit Cleveland 13 to 12 and lost 8-1.

Old Pete's Long Walk (1926)

A century ago today, Game 7 reached the bottom of the seventh with St. Louis up 3-2, the bases loaded and two out. Rogers Hornsby waved in 39-year-old Pete Alexander, who had thrown a complete game the day before. Tony Lazzeri hit a long drive down the left-field line that curved foul, then struck out. Alexander did not allow a hit the rest of the way, and the Cardinals had their first modern World Series title.

Brooks Takes the Carpet (1970)

Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium hosted the first World Series game ever played on artificial turf, and Brooks Robinson treated it like his living room. With the game tied in the sixth, Lee May hit a hard grounder down the third-base line. Robinson backhanded it deep in foul ground, spun, and threw May out on one hop. An inning later his homer broke the tie in a 4-3 Baltimore win. By the end of the Series he was the MVP, and the vacuum-cleaner nickname stuck for good.

Garcia, Garcia, Garcia (2021)

In Game 3 of the ALDS in Chicago, the White Sox were one loss from elimination and trailed Houston 5-3 in the third with two on and two out. Houston pulled starter Luis Garcia for reliever Yimi Garcia to face Leury Garcia. Leury drove a three-run homer to center for a 6-5 lead, and Chicago won 12-6. Two of the three were L. Garcias, so the official scorers earned their pay that night.