Warning: The following contains spoilers regarding Sunday’s series finale of “Succession.”
It seems Tom Wambsgans’ fate on “Succession” may have been hiding in somewhat plain sight all along.
Leading up to Sunday’s series finale of the critically acclaimed HBO series, in which the character played by actor Matthew Macfadyen is anointed the new CEO of Waystar Royco, a theory began circulating on the internet relating to the name Wambsgans and its connection to the baseball history.
As explained in a now-viral video by Nameberry.com’s editor-in-chief, Sophie Kihm, the names featured in “Succession” are “very intentional” — for instance, the surname Roy meaning “king” — and if a moniker appears unusual, there’s likely a reason behind it.
This is where Wambsgans comes in, as it’s the same last name of former Cleveland Guardians second baseman Bill Wambsganss, who completed the only unassisted triple play in World Series history in 1920.
“It’s no coincidence that Tom shares a surname with Bill Wambsganss. So you have to wonder if Tom will complete an unassisted triple play and take out all three of the Roy siblings to become the leader of Waystar Royco in the ‘Succession’ finale,” Kihm said.
This theory proved correct as Wambsgans did just that, successfully besting the Roy children, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Roman (Kieran Culkin), to claim Waystar’s CEO crown.
And while many viewers spent part of their Monday morning digesting the show’s final moments, the Guardians opted to take something of a victory lap.
“We understand there may have been a second Wambsgans trip play executed last night…,” the team’s account tweeted Monday.
“Succession” began its four-season run on HBO in 2018 and has since won 13 Primetime Emmy awards.
