In today’s episode of “Baseball Shorts,” we pay attention to the double squeeze. A rare form of offense that was mainly used by the 1913 Philadelphia Athletics.
We all know what a squeeze play is: With a runner on third, the batter is laying down a bunt with the expectation to be thrown out at first base and thus creating an opportunity for the runner from third to score.
A double squeeze is a similar play with runners on third and second in which the runner on second starts to run as soon as the pitcher has started his windup in order to gain terrain before the batter drops the bunt.
According to Peter Morris’ “A Game of Inches,” the play originates from the 1890s. It was used in the Pacific Coast League in the early 1900s and it was used in the Bigs for the first time in 1905, when the Chicago Cubs used it against the Brooklyn Superbas (later Dodgers).
As written in the prologue, the 1913 Philadelphia Athletics had mastered this kind of offense with Jack Barry as the bunter. But by 1933, this kind of offense wasn’t used anymore.
Here is a nice example of one of the rarest plays in baseball:
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