The Main Event

  • July 25, 1930 – Philadelphia beats Cleveland 14-1 at League Park, pulling off a triple steal – home, third base, and second base – in the first inning. Just for fun, they did it again in the fourth — the only game in MLB history with two triple steals. Lefty Grove was the beneficiary of the thievery and threw a complete game for the win.

On July 25, 1930, the Philadelphia Athletics did something that no team had ever done before and, more than nine decades later, no team has done since. In a lopsided 14-1 win over the Cleveland Indians at League Park, the defending World Series champion A’s executed not one but two triple steals in the same game — a feat so rare that most lifelong baseball fans have never even heard the term “double triple steal.” It remains one of the strangest and most delightful oddities in the long history of the Philadelphia Athletics franchise.

Setting the Scene

The Athletics arrived in Cleveland riding high, sitting atop the American League with a commanding lead over the field. Lefty Grove took the mound for Philadelphia that afternoon opposite Cleveland starter Pete Jablonowski (who would later change his name to Pete Appleton). Grove was in the midst of one of the greatest pitching seasons in baseball history and made quick work of the Indians lineup, tossing a complete game while his teammates turned the basepaths into pure theater. What started as a routine ballgame quickly became a showcase for one of the boldest displays of baserunning ever seen on a major league diamond.

A Perfect Storm in the First Inning

The first triple steal came with two outs in the top of the first inning. Jablonowski had walked his way into trouble, loading the bases with Al Simmons on third, Bing Miller on second, and Dib Williams on first. With Jimmy Dykes at the plate, all three runners took off at once. Simmons dashed home ahead of the throw, while Miller and Williams advanced to third and second respectively, completing a clean triple steal and giving the Athletics an early 3-0 lead. It was a stunning display of coordinated aggression, especially for a team that had absolutely nothing to do with stolen bases as part of its offensive identity.

If the first triple steal felt like a fluke, the fourth inning erased any doubt that Philadelphia was simply seizing every opportunity Cleveland handed them. With the bases loaded again — Mickey Cochrane on third, Simmons now on second, and Jimmie Foxx on first — and Bing Miller at bat, the Athletics pulled off the exact same trick. Cochrane broke for home as Cleveland reliever Milt Shoffner was in his windup and scored easily, while Simmons and Foxx moved up a base apiece. Moments later, Miller drove an inside-the-park home run to cap a six-run inning and push the Athletics’ lead to 10-0. Two triple steals in the same season would be impressive, let alone in a single game, by the same team, remains unmatched in major league history.

The Players Behind the Steals

What makes this story even more remarkable is who was doing the stealing. Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane, and Jimmie Foxx were three of the greatest hitters of their era and all eventually landed in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but none of them were known as burners on the basepaths. This was a Philadelphia Athletics team built on raw power and airtight pitching, not speed. In fact, the 1930 Athletics stole only 48 bases the entire season, the second-lowest total in the American League. The seven stolen bases they racked up in this single game against Cleveland accounted for roughly fifteen percent of their entire season total. Simmons himself was involved in both triple steals, first scoring from third and later advancing from second to third, making him the common thread connecting both plays.

Had This Ever Happened Before, or Since?

Individual triple steals, while uncommon, had occurred in baseball before 1930 and have happened occasionally in the decades since. What sets July 25, 1930 apart is the sheer improbability of a team pulling off two separate triple steals in the same nine-inning game. Baseball historians and researchers who have combed through decades of box scores and play-by-play records have found no other instance of a team repeating the feat in a single contest, either before or after that afternoon in Cleveland. It stands as one of those true “it’ll never happen again” moments that baseball occasionally produces.

The Strange Legacy of Catcher Joe Sprinz

One of the most colorful footnotes to this game belongs to Cleveland’s catcher that day, Joe Sprinz, who was on the receiving end of both triple steals. Sprinz went on to have a modest big-league career, but he became an unlikely footnote in baseball trivia years later for a bizarre off-field stunt. In 1939, while playing for the San Francisco Seals, Sprinz attempted to catch a baseball dropped from a blimp hovering roughly a thousand feet above a ballpark. The ball struck his glove with such force that it drove his hand into his face, breaking his jaw in multiple places and knocking him unconscious. Sprinz later insisted the popular version of the story, which claimed the stunt happened during his Cleveland playing days, was simply wrong, and he corrected the record decades afterward in a newspaper interview, wryly noting that whatever people had heard, he never actually caught the ball.

A Rare Piece of Baseball History

The Philadelphia Athletics went on to capture their second consecutive American League pennant and their second straight World Series title that fall, cementing their place among the greatest teams of the era. Yet amid a roster stacked with legendary power hitters and a dominant pitching staff, it is this one wild afternoon in Cleveland, built entirely on daring baserunning rather than home runs, that continues to capture the imagination of baseball historians. The double triple steal of July 25, 1930 endures as a reminder that even the most unlikely records can belong to the most unlikely teams.

Philadelphia Baseball Events for July 25

  • July 25, 1921 – Traded Irish Meusel to the New York Giants for Butch Henline, Curt Walker, and cash. Meusel played three-plus seasons with the Phillies and hit .308/.343/.449 in 481 games and in six seasons with the Giants hit 70 home runs with a slash line of .314/.352/.477. Meanwhile, Henline hit .304 in 576 games over six seasons with the Phillies and Walker hit .311 in 333 games with the Phillies following the trade.
  • July 25, 1924 – George Harper hits an inside-the-park grand slam at Baker Bowl to seal a 10-4 win over Chicago.
  • July 25, 1948 – In the opener of a doubleheader in Cincinnati, Richie Ashburn grounds into a double play — his only GIDP of the year, a team record for fewest by a regular player in a season.
  • July 25, 1950 – The Phils sweep a doubleheader from Chicago, taking first place in the league and holding it the rest of the season as the “Whiz Kids” start their run toward the pennant.
  • July 25, 1980 – Mike Schmidt hits two homers in game one of a doubleheader vs. Los Angeles, setting a new team record with 261 career home runs, passing Del Ennis.
  • July 25, 1999 – Acquired pitcher Scott Aldred from Tampa Bay as the PTBNL in a trade that sent Marty Barnett to the Rays. Aldred made 52 relief appearances with the Phillies in 1999 and 2000 with a 4.61 ERA.
  • July 25, 2006 – Ryan Madson throws four wild pitches in the third inning versus Arizona, tying a major-league record; Phillies lose 6-5 in 11 innings.
  • July 25, 2015 – In his last start before being traded, Cole Hamels throws a no-hitter at Wrigley Field, striking out 13. Dexter Fowler, who walked twice, is the only Cub to reach base.

ICYMI

Philadelphia Baseball Birthdays for July 25

  • Red Holt (born 1894) – Also known as James Emmett Madison Holt, a first baseman, played 25 games for the Athletics in 1925.
  • Joe Zapustas (born 1907) – Outfielder, played two games for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1933; the first (and still only) MLB player born in Latvia.
  • LeGrant Scott (born 1910) – In his only season in the majors, Scott, hit .280 in 76 games with the Phillies.
  • Torey Lovullo (born 1965) – An infielder who finished his playing career with the 1999 Phillies and went on to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks for 10 seasons, beating the Phillies in the NLCS to win the National League pennant in 2023.
  • Billy Wagner (born 1971) – A Hall of Famer, who recorded 59 saves with the 2004 and 2005 Phillies. Pitched most of his career with the Houston Astros.
  • Darick Hall (born 1995) – A first baseman/designated hitter who hit 10 home runs in 59 games with the 2022 and 2023 Phillies.

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