Daniel Haight While watching the Women?s College World Series the other night (add that to the list of sentences I?d never thought would see the light of day), a Michigan player lined into a double play with the bases loaded and no outs, and the third baseman, who was the recipient of the aforementioned line drive, nearly turned a triple play. Plus, she had breasts. That play got me thinking about some of the most exciting plays that can occur throughout the course of a baseball game. Since lists and countdowns are always the fashionable mode of conveyance, I figure I?d rank the 10 Most Exciting Plays In Baseball. In order to make The List, the play has to be an individual play occurring as the result of an individual pitch, therefore perfect games or five-homerun games do not count. Our panel of experts (read: me) determined the list based primarily on rarity of occurrence. For instance, if you can remember in 30 years that such-and-such happened at a game you attended, then it probably was a pretty sweet play. We?ll call this the ISTHIAGIA Effect (I Saw That Happen In A Game I Attended). Our experts also considered the impact each play has on both the inning and game in which it occurred, as well as the level of difficulty for the play, however these standards were not applicable to all situations. So without further ado, I bring you the 10 Most Exciting Plays in Baseball: 10) Homerun: Some baseball purists would argue that the homerun has become hackneyed, commonplace and quite boring, and doesn?t even belong on this list. Although it is a bit more common these days, I find it hard to believe that watching a homerun can actually bore someone. Plus, chicks still dig the long ball. 9) Triple: Pretty much only pertains to when catchers, or other aerodynamically-challenged players, come stumbling around second and to their horror see the third-base coach waving them in to third. Still, there?s nothing quite as promising as a leadoff triple. Well, maybe being a Patriots fan during the early stages of Drew Bledsoe?s career, but we all know how that turned out. 8) Stolen Base: I guess this is a fairly common play, though as a lifelong member of RSN I would have no idea. Extra points here for when pinch-runners come in and the entire stadium and country know he?s about to steal, and then Dave Roberts slides in a millisecond ahead of Jeter?s tag, and then Billy Mueller comes up and deliv--Whoops. Sorry. Anyway, extra points for that. 7) Bases Loaded, 2 Outs, Full Count: This is more of a situation than an individual play, but it made the list due to its unique aspects. Especially if you are at the game, and can see all three runners taking off simultaneously while the batter waits for what will ultimately result in one of the more important pitches of the game. 6) Suicide Squeeze: Though this play is quite exciting to see, it always seems anti-climactic to me for some reason, even when executed perfectly. It just leaves me wanting more [fill in your own joke here]. 5) Play at the plate: Nothing quite like seeing Ichiro uncork a laser beam to the plate from the right-field wall, unless of course Dale Sveum is prominently involved. Extra points are added to this one if it occurs in the home half of extra innings, where that run could decide the game. Extra, extra points are added if the play involves a collision. In the immortal words of Jack Parkman, ?Don?t stand on the tracks when the train?s coming through.? 4) Walk-off Homerun: Chicks did the long ball even more when it wins the game. 3) Inside-the-Park Homerun: Obviously for this to happen you need a lot of speed and a little bit of luck, or vice versa. Most notably an outfielder has to fall down, injure himself, or simply misplay the ball but fail to touch it so that no error is recorded. Definitely high up on the ISTHIAGIA scale, and one more reason why you should never, EVER, leave a baseball game early. Of course, this play can also be combined with (5) above to create one uber-play. 2b) Triple Play: Needs a lot of help for this to happen. For the traditional kind, runners have to be on at least first and second, the third baseman has to be playing close to the bag, and a slow-footed batter, preferably one of the Molina brothers, has to hit it pretty hard right at the third baseman, allowing him to step on the bag, throw to second, and then on to first. Of course, other types of triple plays are possible, and have occurred, most likely due to Manny-esque base-running. According to retrosheet.org, there have been a couple hundred triple plays up through the 2004 season. Question: If a double play is a pitcher?s best friend, then what is a triple play? Friend with benefits? 2a) Unassisted Triple Play: Probably the rarest single play in the history of baseball. According to baseball-almanac.com, there have been only 12 unassisted triple plays, while by comparison there have been 17 official perfect games thrown. You need to have both base-runners stealing on the pitch, and have a line drive right at a middle infielder so that he can catch it, and then tag both the bag and the other runner in succession. Two first basemen, three second basemen, and seven shortstops have accomplished this feat. 1) Stealing Home: While unassisted triple plays are undoubtedly rarer than stealing home, there is nothing quite like a straight steal of home. I?m not talking about a double steal, or a suicide squeeze gone wrong, that may show up in the official record as stealing home. Nor am I talking about RBI baseball when you take off for home and your opponent freaks out and instinctively hits ?up? and ?B? after the catcher has the ball, instead of the correct yet seemingly counter-intuitive play, which is ?down? and ?B?. I am referring to taking off while the pitcher is in his windup and sliding in under the tag, Willie Mays Hayes style (or Benny the Jet, depending on personal preference). The runner is literally stealing a run, plain and simple. Unfortunately this play just does not happen anymore. Fifty-six, .400, and 755 are all numbers that could hypothetically be reached with a decent amount of skill and a lot of luck. However, nobody, and I mean NOBODY, will ever even sniff Ty Cobb?s all-time record of 54 swipes of home plate, 25 of which were straight steals. The man could flat out fly. Either that, or the catcher was too scared of being spiked to put up a fight at home. And on that note, I?ll close with some words of wisdom from Emmy-winning broadcaster and Hall-of-Famer Joe Morgan, explaining why the Red Sox are struggling after not re-signing Pedro Martinez: ?You can?t replace them [superstars] with replacements.? Right on, Joe, right on.