An obscure baseball reference may have predicted the Succession finale

Succession has never been short of foreshadowing. From a subtle hint to the season's biggest moment in the season 4 poster to countless callbacks to earlier episodes of the hit HBO show, the writing on Succession has always been airtight, and nothing is a coincidence. 

And that includes the naming of one major character after a World Series baseball player, which was pointed out by the website Nameberry on TikTok. Be warned, there are Succession season 4 finale spoilers ahead!

Tom Wambsgans, played by Matthew Macfadyen, doesn't exactly have a common surname, especially compared to his fellow characters whose family names include Roy, Hirsch, and Pierce. If you're looking for prominent figures with that name from the last century, you'll only find Bill Wambaganss, a baseball player who played primarily for the Cleveland Indians between 1914 and 1926.

Wambsganns is known for one particular thing over the course of his 13-year career: during a game in 1920, he committed the first – and, to this day, only – unassisted triple play in World Series history. In simple terms, that means he eliminated three members of the opposing team as 'out' in one go. 

And what did Tom do in the Succession finale? He knocked the three Roy siblings, Kendall, Roman, and his wife Shiv, out of the running for CEO of Waystar RoyCo and took the top job himself. 

All episodes of Succession are streaming on Max in the US and NOW in the UK – if you still need to catch up, check out our guide to the Succession season 4 episode count. For more viewing inspiration, fill out your watch list with our picks of all the best new TV shows on the way.