“Succession”-mania has reached the Major Leagues, with the MLB on Saturday acknowledging a viral fan theory about the HBO show’s finale that ties into a historic World Series play. As MLB.com writer Brian Murphy put it, “We’ll see if the conclusion does indeed tie back to a piece of baseball history from 103 years ago.”
Careful for “Succession” spoilers below.
The MLB shared Nameberry’s viral TikTok video connecting the “Succession” character Tom Wambsgans’ surname to an obscure MLB player whose sole memorable moment in the Majors came in Game 5 of the 1920 World Series. Bill Wambsganss, an infielder for Cleveland, is the only player in league history to turn an unassisted triple play in the postseason.
For those that don’t follow baseball, a triple play means a team gets all three outs in a single play. A rare feat unto itself, but to do it unassisted (meaning one fielder accounts for all three outs by himself) is nearly unheard of. Only 15 such plays have occurred in league history, but Wambsganss is the only player to pull it off in the postseason – when the stakes are the highest.
The stakes will never be higher for Waystar Royco during Sunday’s series finale of the HBO drama, and it seems like everyone and their mother has a theory about who will walk away with the CEO crown following Logan Roy’s death. Nameberry proposed that, as nothing is coincidental when it comes to showrunner Jesse Armstrong and his Emmy-winning writing staff, the choice of Tom’s last name might be foreshadowing the show’s outcome.
Could Tom pull off an unassisted triple play like his namesake, taking the three Roy siblings (sorry, Connor) “out” all at once? If the play will be truly unassisted, does that mean he won’t be bringing his buddy Greg with him to the top of Waystar?
For whatever it’s worth, one of the more memorable moments of the show’s pilot was the family playing a baseball game – a tradition in the Roy household.
The theory has over 300,000 views on TikTok and over 1.3 million views on Twitter as of Saturday afternoon.
We’ll find out the theory’s accuracy on Sunday night, when the finale airs at 6 p.m. on HBO.
