The Golden Sombrero

Growing up as part of a winning baseball team had many advantages. One of which was being able to give your teammates a hard time when things didn't go their way. Practical jokes are more acceptable in the dugout when you are winning. One of my favorite recurring gags was when someone would strike out three times in the same game. Everyone on the team knew when a guy who went to bat had already struck out twice, and was in danger of a third. When he would get one strike away from his third strike out, everyone would be on the edge of their seats, with their hats in hand. Then, on the third strike of the third strike out, dozens of hats would fly out of the dugout in his "honor." It was a hat trick, and not in the positive sense of the term.

In sports, most often hockey and soccer, a hat trick is a rare and spectacular feat because it involves one player scoring three goals in a single game. Sometimes the term is used in describing any sort of success in triplicate, although 3-peat seems to have taken precedence when it comes to winning titles, pennants, or championships.

I had never stopped to think where the term "hat trick" originated, until now. According to Word-Detective.com, the term apparently started in the 1800's in the English game of cricket. The bowler (the guy throwing the ball to the striker -- the guy with the funny bat) who would hit three wickets with three consecutive balls would be awarded a brand new hat from his club. By the early 1900's, the phrase began to creep up in other sports. In the 1940's the Toronto Maple Leafs were given new hats for scoring three goals in a game as well. These days, players that score three goals in a game are likely to get rewarded with something much more valuable than a new hat.

But in baseball, the hat trick is still something you'd rather not be associated with, unless you are the opposing pitcher who contributed to the feat. But, there is something even more humiliating: The Golden Sombrero. That's the distinction you earn if you were to strike out four times in one game. According to Wikipedia, their are two more sombreros of which I was not aware. After all, who strikes out more than four times in one game? The Platinum Sombrero is reserved for the fifth strike out (and can also be termed "Olympic Rings," for the five zeros added to your batting average). If you've already earned a Platinum Sombrero, your worst nightmare may be for the game to go to extra innings, because you may be in danger of the Titanium Sombrero, also known as a Horn (named after player Sam Horn, who accomplished the coveted sixth strikeout in 1991). To date, no player has ever struck out more than five times in a 9-inning game.

"The count is one ball, two strikes... The pitcher looks in and gets the sign from the catcher...checks the runner...And here's the pitch...Swing and a miss at a slider on the outside corner; He struck him out. That's his fourth strikeout of the game."

Olé!