Nicholas Castellanos drove in a pair of runs to give the Detroit Tigers a 4-3 lead over the Colorado Rockies on Monday. With Detroit miles behind in the playoff race, the runs aren’t all that important.
The hit was, though.
Castellanos laced a triple down the left field line, his 10th of the season.
Nicholas Castellanos is the first #Tigers third baseman with 10 triples in a season since Ossie Vitt had 12 in 1916. pic.twitter.com/pvoURkPsol
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 29, 2017
As the tweet notes, Castellanos is the first Tigers third baseman to accomplish the feat since Ossie Vitt, who played for the Tigers from 1912 to 1918. Vitt had 12 triples in 1916 and 13 more in 1915.
Vitt and Castellanos are now the only two Tigers third basemen with at least 10 triples in a season.
Castellanos is the first Tigers player with double-digit triples since Rajai Davis in 2015, and the first Tigers infielder since Carlos Guillen in 2004. We have to go all the way back to Kirk Gibson in 1984 to find the last Tigers player in a corner position with 10 triples in a season.
Unfortunately, Castellanos won’t be breaking any franchise records.
Sure, he has a chance to tie or pass Vitt, but the overall Tigers record for triples in a season is 26, set by Hall of Famer Sam Crawford in 1914.