#EdgarHOF - Day 7

Triple plays are the two dollar bills of MLB; extant, but rare enough that when you see one, you are definitely allowed to make a big deal about it to your non-baseball or non-numismatological acquaintances. It is baseball’s super moon. There are only 709 triple plays on record in the SABR triple plays database; 2016, with 7, was an up year from 2015 (4), and 2013, which only had one triple play. The Mariners own one triple play in 2015 (a Trumbo - Brad Miller - Zunino exchange against the Blue Jays), but before that you have to go back to 2010 (I will spare you the names involved in that one, but one sounds like Moan Zwiggins), and before that you have to roll back to 1995. In fact, of the 11 (!) triple plays in Mariners history, only two take place post-2000. There was one in the inaugural 1977 season, four in the 80s, and four in the 90s. Of those four that take place in the 90s, two of them involved Edgar.

Edgar is usually regarded as a defensive liability, something we will examine later in this series. Yet he was instrumental in turning both of these triple plays. Here’s the first, from 06/01/91, as Edgar snares a hot grounder and initiates the triple play.

This play held the Rangers to their one-run lead; the Mariners would later win this game, 12-8. Edgar went 3-for-6 with a double.

The second of Edgar’s triple plays came against the Blue Jays on 09/10/1991, just three months later (and here a shoutout to Domingo Ramos is in order, the other Mariner who has participated in two triple plays in team history, both in 1986, and who might be getting an article written about him every day if he had been able to bat within three counties of the Mendoza Line):

The Mariners would wind up winning this game, as well, a 5-4 nailbiter where Edgar went two-for-three with a game-tying two-run home run off of Todd Stottlemyre. It turns out that when you essentially rob your opponent of a half-inning of play in one fell swoop, that makes it easier to win games. In both of these games, Edgar helped out his team not only with his bat but with his glove, something for which he doesn’t get enough credit. In the videos above, Edgar shows quick feet, excellent reaction time, and a strong and accurate arm. He may not have been Gold Glove-caliber, but nor was he a disaster at the hot corner.