Walter Carlisle
Walter Carlisle was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox during the 1908 season. Carlisle was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He was born in Yorkshire, England.
In a three-game career, Carlisle was a.100 hitter with one stolen base and no home runs.
While playing in the Pacific Coast League for the Vernon Tigers, Carlisle executed an unassisted triple play against Los Angeles Angels. With the score tied at 3–3 in the sixth inning, and runners on first and second bases, Carlisle made a diving catch of a short fly batted by Roy Akin; stepped on second to retire Charlie Moore, and tagged George Metzger coming from first. The Tigers won the game, 5–4. With his heroic feat, Carlisle entered the record books as the only outfielder ever to make an unassisted triple play in professional baseball. According to The Sporting News, he had at one point been a circus acrobat, which may have helped account for the bit of extra athleticism he showed in making the tumbling play.
Curiously, in the following season Akin pulled off his own unassisted triple play, albeit as an infielder.
Carlisle died in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 63.
