“Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.”
—Barry Switzer
Some people were born on third base and thought they hit a triple.
Other people, who thought they hit a triple, were born on first base. Then the runner behind them was intentionally walked. And then the shortstop made a throwing error, advancing the original runner to third base.
And some of these people were not born on first base, per say, but reached on a fielder’s choice when a player made a quick toss to second.
If a runner was born on second while another was on first, he could have advanced to third on a balk. But he probably wouldn’t have thought he hit a triple.
A few people are born as pinch runners, but rarely after someone hit a triple, because guys who hit triples are usually pretty fast.
Most people were born at the plate. Some of these people thought they hit a triple, but then the first base umpire examined the chalk on the ball and determined that it was a foul to begin with.
More people than you would imagine thought they hit a single, but were actually hit by a pitch.
Fewer people than you would imagine thought they reached base on balls, but reached when the catcher dropped strike three. No one really understands why.
A handful of people thought they struck out swinging, when really they got to first all on their own, but were thrown out when the next batter grounded into the double play.
Then there’s the fat guy at the end of Money Ball. He hit a home run, but thought he’d been thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. Where, exactly, he was born is unclear.