Old man triples
Twins manager Paul Molitor jokingly debated Friday whether Torii Hunter is still capable of hitting a triple as he nears 40. "Oh, I'm sure it's in there somewhere," he said. "He might need something [crazy] going on in the outfield, though."
Molitor should know — only six players in major league history hit more triples than Molitor after their 40th birthday. Even Molitor's 3,000th hit, at age 40, was a triple. The top 10 players in triples after their 40th birthday include six Hall of Famers and a seventh who would be if he were eligible:
Honus Wagner36
Sam Rice32
Pete Rose18
Steve Finley15
Luke Appling11
Ty Cobb11
Paul Molitor9
Omar Vizquel9
Jake Daubert9
Nap Lajoie9
The wheels fell off
By failing to hit a triple, Hunter finished with a single, double and homer for the 19th time in his career, and 12th time with the Twins; he also has two games with a single, double and triple but no homer. But that trails the Twins' all-time leader in cycle near-misses: Kirby Puckett. The most three-quarter cycles in Twins history (with completed cycles):
Kirby Puckett (1)25
Tony Oliva (0)19
Joe Mauer (0) 18
Rod Carew (1)14
Torii Hunter (0)14
Michael Cuddyer (1)12
Kent Hrbek (0)12
Justin Morneau (0)10