Hitting For The Cycle – Part 1

This is the first of a three-part post on hitting for the cycle, which occurs when a batter hits a single, double, triple and home run in the same game. The hits do not need to occur in this sequence, and in fact rarely do. From 2006 to 2010, an average of five players hit for the cycle in each season, so it doesn’t happen that often. It’s a great achievement, allright, but it’s hardly equal to a pitcher throwing a perfect game, or a batter hitting four home runs in a game. So what is it about hitting for the cycle that so fascinates me that I have to write a three-part series to get it off my chest?

I’ve never seen a player hit for the cycle, so that might be part of it. I would imagine it is very exciting. I see myself at the ball park with a pal, or a group of my baseball cronies, watching the game unfold. As the hits come, the potential presents itself. Will he do it? What has he hit so far? The chatter begins to spread first with the people seated next to us and then to the rows of people surrounding us. What does he need to hit next time? What if the opposing team brings in another pitcher who gives him trouble? If he still needs the home run, what if the wind changes direction and starts blowing in, instead of out? Can he get the cycle? These questions make for great baseball banter whenever a player gets close to doing it. The event, or its possibility, pulls people together, as all hope to witness a little slice of baseball history.

I suppose it’s a combination of a lot of things, many of them mentioned just above. The sheer randomness of witnessing a cycle plays a part, too. It’s not like watching a player on his way to his three thousandth major league hit when he has two or three to go and you know it’s coming. Cycles have been hit by superstars as well as marginally talented ballplayers, but a pitcher’s perfect game or a batter hitting four homers in a game are feats generally reserved for the best of the best. To me hitting for the cycle is part skill, part timing and part luck. Maybe the batter is seeing the ball particularly well that day. It could be that the batted ball is just missing those gloves that are trying to catch it, too. The stars just might be in a perfect alignment for it to happen as well. Whatever the case, cycles do happen. Here are a few comments on some of the players who have hit them.

Ken Boyer, one of my boyhood favorites, appearing here on his 1963 Topps baseball card, hit for the cycle twice. The first time was on September 14, 1961 against the Chicago Cubs. He hit his home run to complete the cycle in the bottom of the 11th inning to win the game for the Cardinals, 6 to 5. Boyer’s second time came on June 16, 1964 and will be discussed in my next post. These were not his only memorable moments during a very successful, fifteen-year major-league career, however. He was a seven-time All Star. In 1964, he was awarded the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award. That fall his Cardinals defeated the New York Yankees in a well-played, tense World Series. In the deciding seventh game, both he and his brother Clete, who played for the Yankees, hit home runs. This was the only time that brothers have each hit home runs in the same World Series game.

Keith Hernandez was another one of my favorite players. I’ve shown him here on his 1983 Topps Update card. Without getting too off track I want to mention I see tremendous similarities between the 1963 and 1983 Topps sets, both of which are among my favorites. When he was traded to the Mets that summer, I was in my early 30’s. I was back in New York on vacation at the time, and saw an instant improvement in the Mets infield. He was easily one of the best fielding first basemen I had ever seen. To my seasoned eye he was part man and part vacuum cleaner. With Keith in the field, the level of professionalism rose dramatically. Throwing errors were reduced. Runs were prevented. Pitchers grew more optimistic. Fans were overjoyed. Everyone realized just how remarkable Keith was, for no matter how hard the Mets infielders tried to throw the ball past him, they just couldn’t do it. Keith was that good. His cycle occurred on July 4, 1985 in a 19-inning marathon that the Mets won, 16 to 13. This game stands out in Mets history as a truly unique experience and deserves a post of its own, which it will get down the line.

Babe Herman, one of the best hitters during the late 1920’s and 1930’s, hit for the cycle three times. Two of them came during the 1931 season while playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, who were often called the Robins after their colorful Manager Wilbert Robinson. The first was on May 18, 1931 in a 14 to 4 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds. The second came on July 24, 1931 when the Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8 to 7. By1933, the year this Goudey baseball card was issued, Herman was a member of the Chicago Cubs. On September 30th he hit for his third cycle in a 12 to 2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Although I’m ending this post here, we’ve only just begun to cover this topic. I’ll explore a related, and somewhat rare, variety of hitting for the cycle in Part 2. Part 3 is a surprise for a friend. Both posts will follow in rapid succession.