Who Was Bill Wambsganss, and Was He a ‘Succession’ Spoiler?
When Tom Wambsgans outmaneuvered the Roy siblings, getting himself named because the U.S. government working Waystar Royco for GoJo on the finish of a rollicking finale of the HBO collection “Succession,” it seemingly got here as a shock to lots of the viewers at house. But to followers of baseball’s early days, and web conspiracy theorists, the indicators had been there for Tom to return out on high, besting three rivals on the similar time.
“It’s me,” Wambsgans mentioned to his spouse, Shiv Roy.
The clues had been there for some, due to Bill Wambsganss, a second baseman for Cleveland from 1914 to 1923. Wambsganss didn’t hit a lot, and there’s little indication he was a stellar base runner or a top-notch fielder. But he had one second of pure glory, turning the primary — and solely — unassisted triple play in World Series historical past.
The uncommon surname, and the notion that Tom could be dealing with three opponents without delay, caught hearth on social media in latest days, due to a viral TikTok by Sophie Kihm, the editor in chief of Nameberry, a web based catalog of child names.
Thanks to her video, folks started to take a position if the present’s writers had tipped their fingers as to who would come out on high — and the way. The principle had existed in varied locations for awhile — some consider it defined the ending of Season 3 — however, because the collection started to wrap up, the concept that Tom might find yourself profitable, identical to Wambsganss, began to really feel increasingly more believable.
Whether the connection was intentional or not, it shined a lightweight on a participant who has been all however forgotten past one outrageously good play.
Wambsganss and Cleveland had been taking part in Brooklyn within the 1920 World Series. In the fifth inning of Game 5, with Cleveland main by 7-0, Brooklyn’s Pete Kilduff and Otto Miller each singled. Clarence Mitchell then hit a liner that seemed as if it might rating a run or extra.
In a breathless story concerning the sport the following day, which ran on web page A1, The New York Times recounted what occurred as soon as the ball left Miller’s bat. Wambsganss, who had been taking part in pretty removed from second base, “leaped over toward the cushion and with a mighty jump speared the ball with one hand,” the paper reported.
“Wamby’s noodle began to operate faster than it ever did before,” the article continued. “He hopped over to second and touched the bag, retiring Kilduff, who was far down the alley toward third base.”
With two outs already having been recorded on the play, Wambsganss turned his consideration to Miller.
“Otto was evidently so surprised that he was just glued to the ground, and Wamby just waltzed over and touched him for the third out,” the paper reported.
The play gave Wambsganss a degree of notoriety that eclipsed anything about his profession, and even his life regardless of his having gone on to handle within the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
“Funny thing, I played in the big leagues for 13 years, 1914 through 1926, and the only thing that anybody seems to remember is that once I made an unassisted triple play in a World Series,” he mentioned within the 1966 baseball oral historical past, “The Glory of Their Times.” “Many don’t even remember the team I was on, or the position I played, or anything. Just Wambsganss-unassisted triple play! You’d think I was born on the day before and died on the day after.”
With “Succession” having accomplished its wildly in style run on tv, we’ll by no means know if Tom Wambsgans was in a position to thrive after finishing a triple play of his personal, or if he would come to be outlined solely by the one second, as Wambsganss was.
In Wambsganss’s protection, it has been greater than 100 years for the reason that unassisted triple play, and individuals are nonetheless speaking about him. You must assume Tom Wambsgans could be OK with having the identical destiny.
