The Triple - The Holy Grail Of Baseball-1-2-3

For years, people have been clamoring for the Home Run. And that's great. What can be better than socking one out of the park and having up to 4 gents with the same logoed garments simultaneously chasing each other around the bases? I'll tell you. It's the Triple. Often taken for granted, this is probably the hardest offensive stat to acheive. In fact, this year, our beloved Mets are 4th in the majors (at this stage of the game) in the three-bagger. Now, why do triples appeal to me? You need to hit the ball right on the mark. You need to have judgement. You need speed. OH, and luck plays a role too. How many times have you seen a ball hit to the corner field and the player winds up with a single? Other times, he is bounding to third. The key is to Hustle! Of course, there are other variables too, the speed at the ball being hit, the carom, and the judgement of the fielder.

Click the link in the title of this blog post and it will bring you to the active triple leaders. Interestingly a bunch of them are on the Mets or have played for the Mets. (yes, this includes Ruben Sierra who was signed by the Mets, but never even donned a Mets Uni). Jose Offerman, Carlos Beltran, Julio Franco, Michael Tucker, Fernando Vina and Jose Vizcaino. This list is through 2005 and "my boy" Jose Reyes http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/reyesjo01.shtml came into the year with 23 triples in his first three years and as of this writing, has a major league-leading 16 three baggers to bring his career total to 39.

Can Jose encroach Sam Crawfords' record of 309? http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stats/historical/player_stats.jsp?statType=1&timeFrame=3&timeSubFrame2=0&sortByStat=3B&baseballScope=mlb&timeSubFrame=0Let's See, Let's hope. Let's pray. (for you folks who get humor about skating, I just performed a "Triple Lets"

On that note, I will bid you all adieu and thanks for bearing with me. There's a song on the radio now that is apropos to this blog...Now everyone sing, "Once, Twice, THREE Times a.....Triple."

I think you get my obsession with the triple.