Hitting For the Cycle: A Rare Feat
Hitting for the cycle happens at about the same rate as no-hitters. Although with pitch counts the way they are, it is going to take a special effort by a starter to notch a no-hitter. Many of the cycles in baseball, are not accomplished by power hitters. There have been to…
Hitting for the cycle happens at about the same rate as no-hitters. Although with pitch counts the way they are, it is going to take a special effort by a starter to notch a no-hitter. Many of the cycles in baseball, are not accomplished by power hitters. There have been to date, 349 times. 42 of those were done before 1900.
The first one occurred on June 14th, 1876. The player was English born, George Hall. Of course it is disputed a little. Hall had five hits that day. Most accounts agree on four of them, a homer, 2 triples and a single. The dispute is whether that fifth hit was a double. He was playing for the Philadelphia Athletics of the National League against the Red Stockings of Cincinnati. The first recognized cycle came in 1882, and was accomplished by Curry Foley, who was born in Ireland. It was May 25th, 1882, and Foley played for the Buffalo Bisons against the Cleveland Blues. Teams had cool names back then. Foley is in the suit.
The most cycles in a career are three and several players have done this. John Reily, Bob Muesel, Adrian Beltre, Trea Turner, Christian Yelich, all three of his have come against the Reds, and Babe Herman who had two while a Dodger and one with the Cubs. The most cycles in a single year, 8, which has happened twice, 1933 and 2009.
Three players, Michael Cuddyer, John Olerud, and Bob Watson, had one in each league. Three pairs of family members have hit for the cycle, Gary and Daryl Ward, Gus and David Bell and Craig and Cavan Biggio. Mel Ott and Dave Winfield are the youngest, 20, and oldest, 39, to do it. Christian Yelich is the only player with two cycles in the same season against the same team. Brock Holt hit for the cycle in the division series in 2018 against the Yankees, the only post season cycle to date. Eddie Rosario got his on just 5 pitches in 2021 while a Brave.
The first one against Brooklyn came in 197 by Johnny Bates of the Boston Doves. The first one by a Dodger came on May 25th, 1922. Jimmy Johnson did it against the Phillies. Some Hall of Famers who hit for the cycle that you would recognize, Nap Lajoie, Home Run Baker, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, George Sisler, who had two. Ross Youngs, Ray Schalk, Pie Traynor, Goose Goslin, Kiki Cuyler and Max Carey, a former Dodger who got his off of Brooklyn.
Babe Herman had two in 1931. One on May 18th against the Reds. His second one came on July24th against the Pirates. Arky Vaughn, who would late play for the Dodgers, hit the last one in the 1930’s on July 19th, 1939, against the Giants. He was with Pittsburgh at the time.
On September 2nd, 1944, Dixie Walker hit for the cycle against the Giants, the Dodgers first since 1931, Jackie Robinson, 1948, and Gil Hodges, 1949, were the only other cycles for Brooklyn before the 50’s. By comparison, the Red Sox had six in the 40’s. Cronin, Leon Culberson, Bobby Doerr (2), Bob Johnson and Ted Williams accomplished it for them. The Dodgers had four players ding them for cycles in the 40’s. Harry Craft, Bob Elliot, Wally Westlake, and some guy name Musial.
The first cycle in the NL in the 50’s came off of the bat of Ralph Kiner, and he did it against the Dodgers on June 25th, 1950. The Dodgers did not have a player in the 50’s hit for the cycle. On May 2nd, 1959, Frank Robinson, playing for the Reds, got the second one of the decade against the Dodgers.
The 60’s would begin with expansion in the AL in 1961 and the NL in 62. There had been teams moving to new cities in the 50’s with the Browns moving to Baltimore and becoming the Orioles, the Braves moved to Milwaukee, the Giants and Dodgers moved west. The Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins, and the A’s moved to Kansas City.
The Angels and new Senators team joined the AL in 1961, the Mets and Colt 45s the NL in 62. There would be several new parks added during the 60’s. Candlestick in SF, Dodger Stadium in LA, Shea in New York, the Big A in Anaheim. The smaller parks were being replaced by more spacious stadiums. Most of them pitcher friendly.
There were 11 cycles in the 50’s. There were 14 in the 60’s. None involved the Dodgers. Two players, Ken Boyer of the Cardinals and Angels SS, Jim Fregosi, each had two. Hall of Famers, Brooks Robinson, Willie Stargell, Carl Yastrzemski and Billy Williams all hit for one. Billy Williams cycle was what they call a natural cycle, single, double, triple, homer.
The first cycle in the 70’s was accomplished by Dodgers first baseman, Wes Parker on May 7th, 1970, against the Mets at Shea in NY. Ray Sadecki started for the Mets. Parker was batting fifth that day. He would go 4-5 with 2 runs scored and 3 driven in. 3 of his hits came off of Sadecki, meaning he was hitting from the right side. His homer off of Sadecki in the 7th, knocked him out of the game. He got his triple off of Jim McAndrew in the 10th inning. LA won 7-4. Ray Lamb got the win, and the loss went to McAndrew.
There were 29 cycles in the 70’s, and Parkers was the only one involving the Dodgers. The 80’s opened with Ivan De Jesus, a former Dodger, getting one against the Cardinals while playing for the Cubs in April of 1980. Odd fact, Ivan would play on the 85 Cardinals who beat the Dodgers in the LCS. There were 27 cycles in the 80’s. None involved the Dodgers.
Some names would be familiar to fans, Puckett, Dawson, Fisk, Ripken. Others not so much, Charlie Moore, Oddibe McDowell, Kelly Gruber, Candy Maldonado. Gary Redus. George Brett got the first one in the 90’s and the second of his career. And again, the Dodgers made it through a decade without being involved in one. Seems like a broken record.
The first one in the new century occurred on April 27th, 2000, when Jose Valentine of the White Sox did it against the Orioles. The first one in the NL happened 22 days later on May 19th, Jason Kendall of the Pirates performed the feat against the Cardinals. The Dodgers finally were involved in one on August 28th, 2008, when Christian Guzman of the Nationals had one in DC in a game LA lost 11-2. His first hit that game was a first inning homer off of Kershaw. CK gave up 5 runs in just 2.1 innings and would suffer his 5th loss. LA scored 2 in the first and was shut down after that. Guzman got his double off of Ramon Troncoso, and his triple off of Joe Beimel.
In 2009, the Dodgers finally got the second cycle in LA history. On April 13, 2009, the Dodgers were playing the Giants at Dodger Stadium and facing Randy Johnson. The game was scoreless going into the third inning. Billingsly and Furcal made outs, but then Orlando Hudson launched a 2-out homer to left. LA led 1-0. The Giants got the run back in the top of the 4th, but LA scored 6 in the bottom of the frame to put the game out of reach. Hudson’s double came off of Johnson who pitched just 3.2 innings also allowing a homer to Ethier, who would also hit one in the 8th off of Hinshaw. His triple came off of Branden Medders who pitched the 5th and 6th innings. LA won 11-1.
It would be 2017 before the Dodgers were involved in one again. Some former and future Dodgers would hit for cycles. Adrian Beltre had three. 2003, 2012, 2015. Matt Kemp also had one in 2015 while with the Padres. Trea Turner had 3 before he joined the Dodgers in 21, 2017, 2019 and in 21 about a month before the trade to LA.
Freeman had one in 2016 and 2021, Betts in 2018, Ohtani in 2019. Cavan Biggio who spent a short time in LA in 24, had one for the Jays in 2019. On July 15th, the last cycle involving the Dodgers was accomplished by Cody Bellinger against the Marlins in Miami. He was batting 4th that day playing 1st base. His 3rd inning 2-run homer off of Urena started a 5 run third that was capped by Grandal’s 3-run shot. He doubled off of Steckenrider and got his triple off of Nick Wittgen. LA won the game 7-1 with Alex Wood getting the win.
The last cycle came in 2025 on July 12th when Byron Buxton did it against the Pirates. So, who will get the next one? Will it be a superstar, or just some player you would never expect? Carson Kelly, the Cubs catcher, was the last National Leaguer to get one in March of last year against the A’s.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
Salt Lake City Bees (LAA) 9 – OKC Comets 7
SS Mookie Betts got a hit on his first swing in the 1st inning at OKC. He was stranded at 1st.
In the 2nd, DH James Tibbs III and RF Jack Suwinski had leadoff singles. Tibbs III moved to 3rd on a F9, and scored on a ground out.
RHSP Christian Romero was not effective at all in this one. After OKC scored, SLC scored 7 unanswered runs off Romero in 3rd – 5th innings. He gave up 11 hits without issuing a BB. He did strike out 5.
The Comets started to claw back in the 5th. CF Mike Siani singled and 2B Tyler Fitzgerald hit his 1st HR in the LAD organization cutting the Bees lead to 7-3.
RHRP Griff McGarry, LHRP Antoine Kelly, and RHRP Jordan Weems combined to pitch 4.0 scoreless innings.
Game moved into the bottom of the 9th with the score remaining at 7-3 SLC. With one out, Suwinski doubled (12). C Eliézer Alfonzo and Siani both drew walks to load the bases. Tyler Fitzgerald hit a game tying grand slam, his 2nd HR of the game. 1B Ryan Fitzgerald followed with a double (10) but was left stranded, and the game went into extra innings.
RHRP Chayce McDermott came in to pitch the 10th. With a runner on 2nd, McDermott struck out the first two batters. However, he walked the next batter and the next batter doubled home both runners. McDermott ended up striking out the side.
In the bottom half, SS Noah Miller started at 2B, but they could not get him home, and the Comets dropped a 10 inning game to SLC.
- Tyler Fitzgerald – 2-4, 2 runs, 6 RBI, 2 HR (2)
- James Tibbs III – 2-5, 1 run
- Jack Suwinski – 2-4, 1 run, double (12)
Mookie went 1-3. He will be back in the OKC lineup on Saturday and will be in the LAD lineup against SFG on Monday.
Arkansas Travelers (Seattle) 5 – Tulsa Drillers 1 – Game 1, 7 innings
The Drillers got a taste of 2025 D1 pitching phenom from LSU, LHSP Kade Anderson. This was his 6th start, and he has completed 30.0 IP. He has allowed 2 runs, 15 hits, 5 BB and 47 K. It sure looks like Seattle has another future All Star pitcher in their organization. Why he is in AA is a mystery.
For the Drillers sole run, C Frank Rodriguez hit the first HR Anderson has allowed this year.
Tulsa started LHSP Wyatt Crowell, who was matching Anderson for the first three innings. Then came the 4th. Crowell struck out the first batter of the inning. Then – single, triple, single, BB, and double. Once Crowell was removed, Arkansas had a 4-0 lead, and a runner on 2nd with 1 out.
RHRP Cam Day relieved Crowell. After Tulsa threw out the runner at the plate on a fielders choice, Day gave up a disengagement violation, WP, walk, and RBI single for the 5-0 lead.
Rodriguez’s 2nd HR of the year was in the 6th, for the final 5-1 score.
Tulsa Drillers 5 – Arkansas Travelers (Seattle) 0, Game 2, 7 innings
RHSP Payton Martin went the first 4.0 scoreless innings. He threw 84 pitches (50 strikes). He allowed 3 singles, issued 2 BB, and registered 6 K. Too many pitches, but no runs.
OTOH, Tulsa scored a run in the 2nd when C Griffin Lockwood-Powell doubled (2) and scored on RF Chris Newell’s single.
Tulsa seemingly broke it open in the 5th. LF Kole Myers hit his 1st HR of the year. 2B Sean McLain drew a BB and was erased on CF Kendall George’s force out. 1B Kyle Nevin reached 1st on E6, and George moved up to 3rd. SS Elijah Hainline singled home George. Nevin reached 3rd and Hainline reached 2nd on the hit on E7. DH Zyhir Hope and Newell each had a RBI singles, and a 5-0 lead.
LHRP Christian Suarez followed Martin and completed 2 scoreless innings.
RHRP Nick Robertson retired the side in the 7th with 2 Ks, and Tulsa got the win to split the DH.
- Chris Newell – 3-3, 0 runs, 2 RBI
- Elijah Hainline – 2-4, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Kole Myers – 1-3, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR (1)
Lake County Captains (Cleveland) 8 – Great Lakes Loons 6
LHSP Zach Root pitched in his first game since April 18. He lasted 1.2 IP, 33 pitches (17 strikes). He was not scored on, and did not allow a hit. He did walk 2 and strike out 2.
The Loons struck first in the 2nd. DH Jose Meza and C Victor Rodrigues both walked. Meza moved to 3rd on a F8 and scored on a ground ball out.
After Root got the first two outs in the 2nd, RHRP Davis Chastain replaced Root. A single, SB, and single tied the score.
Great Lakes scored 3 in the 3rd, RF Mike Sirota singled. CF Eduardo Quintero forced Sirota at 2nd. Quintero scored on LF Charles Davalan’s double (7). Davalan scored ahead of Nico Perez, on Perez’s HR (5).
Chastain allowed a lead off HR in the 3rd, and then walked the bases loaded before LHRP Justin Chambers came in to get the final out.
In the 4th, Chambers issued a 1 out BB, single, and BB before getting a 2nd out. He then walked the next batter to force in a run. That was followed by a 2-run single.
RHP Christian Zazueta came in as the bulk pitcher. He gave up a double who scored on a catcher’s throwing error and then a solo HR.
In the 7th, Quintero singled and Davalan drew a BB. The duo pulled off a double steal and scored on a Meza’s single.
Back to back doubles by Lake County scored the final run.
Quintero was the only Loon with a 2-hit night.
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (LAA) 6 – Ontario Tower Buzzers 0
RHSP Brady Smith pitched his longest and best game of the year. He completed 3.2 IP, allowing a run on 3 hits, no walks and NINE strikeouts. 9 of the 11 outs were via the K. This is someone I am excited to see develop.
RHRP Domingo Geronimo allowed 5 runs (2 earned), on 2 hits and 3 BB. He left trailing 3-0 and the bases loaded. RHRP Luis Carias came in to relieve Geronimo. He walked his first batter to force in a run, and then struck out 2. Then a fielding error allowed 2 more to score.
Great Lakes pitchers struck out 17 and walked 7.
Ontario had a total of 4 hits, and Quintero had two of them.
Rockies ACL 5 – Dodgers ACL 3
CF Landyn Vidourek hit a 2-run HR in the 1st.
C Gio Cueto hit a solo HR in the 6th.
2B Kellon Lindsey reached base all 3 AB via the walk. He came home in front of Vidourek’s HR in the 1st.
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Discussion (60)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Tonight’s batting order. Ohtani, Freeman, Smith, Tucker, Pages, Muncy, Hernandez, Kim, Freeland. Snell pitching.
Snell activated, Stewart placed on 15-day Il with a bone spur in his foot.
9:10 PM ET Braves (26-13) Dodgers (24-14) SP Spencer Strider R 0-0 8.10 ERA SP Blake Snell L 0-0 .00 ERA Confirmed Lineup DH S. Ohtani L 1B F. Freeman L C Will Smith R RF Kyle Tucker L CF Andy Pages R 3B Max Muncy L LF T. Hernandez R SS Hyeseong Kim L 2B A. Freeland S 71° Wind 8 mph Out
They rushed Smell back for this? Takes quite a performance to make me pine for Roki!
I thought he was fine if not good. Just two balls that were hard-hit (95+ mph EV). This team is a machine and ridiculously deep
whatever.
Alex Call is a nice 5th outfielder but has very little power. He’s a league average player. Great backup who you hope never plays. Fact! Don’t shoot the messenger!
I couldn’t watch the game tonight. Blacked out because of Atlanta.
You’re not missing much. Another stinker. I’ve got Your Friends and Neighbors to watch. Game being recorded. If a miracle happens I’ll watch it tomorrow.
My wife likes that show, we are just getting into Widows Bay. it’s by the person who wrote The Heat