Right Off the Bat

The Hat Trick

March 8, 2011 2:14 am

It’s no big deal for a pitcher to strike out three batters in succession in baseball. However, to get three batsmen out in three successive deliveries in cricket is, and it’s called a hat trick. It occurs about as often as a solar eclipse, and it’s always an occasion for mad celebrations—not least from the commentators if you happen to be watching it on TV. Below is one such example, from the redoubtable Harbhajan Singh—the first Indian ever to take a hat trick in a Test Match. The commentator, by the way, is Tony Greig, who can be, ahem, a little excitable at times.

Now the question for all you baseball aficionados out there is: Has anyone in Major League Baseball ever got three batters out in three consecutive balls without anyone reaching first base? Remember: no balls, no strikes; just hit, out; hit, out; hit, out.