Throughout their illustrious history, the Cincinnati Reds have doled out uniforms to many a human, and many of those have gone on to run 270 feet successfully after putting a ball in play.
Bumpus Jones, Josh A. Smith, and Lefty Houtz all managed that feat. So, too, did Frank Berkelbach and spoonerism legend Buck Fausett, with each of Lem Cross, King Lear, and Raisel Iglesias matching them in that glory. Socks Seybold! Matt Batts! Topsy Hartsel! Frenchy Bordagaray!
That’s an important, yet incomplete list of players throughout the course of Cincinnati Reds history who managed to hit exactly one triple while wearing the jersey.
Many more of their brethren, however, have failed in their attempts at triple glory. As the game has changed to a three-true-outcome plan, and as ballparks have continued to shrink the field of play, there’s absolutely a bit of recency bias baked into the following list, one that details the players who have logged the most plate appearances in Cincinnati Reds history without ever once bonking a triple, lucking into a triple, gettin’ lucky with a Little League triple, or getting drunk on a bet and ending up on third base sans error.
That list is right here:
*only because they didn’t want to
Unsurprisingly, it’s a list that includes some of the longest-tenured starting pitchers of the pre-DH days, as well as many a lumbering catcher. Of course, it also features a player who started as the team’s shortstop most every day on a rare ‘winning’ team, as well as the team’s record free agent signing, one who you’ll recall was signed as a second-baseman. Record-breaking contract, record-breaking tenure!
