Registering three outs on the same play with the help of all of your teammates is hard enough. Registering three outs all by yourself is a near impossibility.
An unassisted triple play happens when one defensive player makes three outs in one play, all by himself. It usually happens when a liner is hit to an infielder, who then doubles up one baserunner and tags out another for the third out to end the inning.
Since Cleveland Naps shortstop Neal Ball turned the first unassisted triple play in 1909 by snagging a line drive, touching second and then tagging out the baserunner, 14 players have pulled this off.
The last guy to do it was Phillies second baseman Eric Bruntlett, who etched his name in the history books in August 2009.
That's a good one also, but if you understand that a line drive could be hit right to an infielder, who catches it and tags out a runner nearby, then it's really only the last out that would be the difficult one. If one or both of the runners was taking off with the pitch (to steal or hit and run), then it could be a long distance back to the base. And a fielder near second base just might have that triple play possibility. Also, if the last runner is caught in a run down and the fielders are throwing the ball back and forth to close that net tighter, then one of them will tag out the runner. Sometimes, three infielders are involved in those and each has the ball in hand at some point. So the ball could be in the hands of the same fielder who caught the ball and tagged out the first runner with an opportunity to register that final out. Likely? Not at all. Possible? Yes.