Lawrence Hesterfer (June 9, 1878 – September 22, 1943) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played in with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. Born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Bloomfield, New Jersey Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 53,105. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District. History The initial patent for the land that w ...

. He is the only player known to have hit into a

triple play In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five per season. Th ...

in his first major league at bat. Facing the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, Hesterfer came to bat with the bases loaded and no outs. The triple play was a sharp line drive grabbed by the shortstop,

Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...

, for the first out; he stepped on second base for the second out and threw to first to complete the triple play."THE ONE-GAME CAREER OF LARRY HESTERFER"

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

Baseball Records Committee, February 2013. Accessed August 15, 2016. "Bill says that according to his research disclosed, Hesterfer is (1) the only player in history to hit into a triple play in his very first major league at-bat, and (2) the only one-game major leaguer ever to hit into a triple play."

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1878 births 1943 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers New York Giants (NL) players Baseball players from Newark, New Jersey Newark Colts players Newark Sailors players Sportspeople from Bloomfield, New Jersey Baseball players from Essex County, New Jersey Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1870s-stub