Overview
Quick Navigation
Big-league hitters of all ages fantasize about knocking in the game-winning run, hitting a walk-off home run in the playoffs, or even scaring an opponent by deliberately walking them. However, hitting for the cycle is the goal that all hitters strive for throughout their careers.
What about the cycle? What about a bicycle? What exactly does a bicycle have to do with baseball? No need to panic. We’ve got you covered for all of the hittings for the cycle information, so if you’re ready, stick around.
What does hitting for the cycle mean?
Going for the cycle is when a hitter hits a single, double, triple, and a home run, all in the same game in baseball or softball. When a hitter gathers hits in that order, it is referred to as a natural cycle, which has only occurred 14 times in MLB history.
The Rarity of hitting a cycle in a baseball game
The cycle is just as remarkable as a no-hitter; it has been dubbed “one of baseball’s rarest and most daunting feats.” Based on offensive averages in 2009, the likelihood of an average MLB player going for a cycle against an average team in a game is roughly 0.00590 percent; this compares to approximately 212 cycles in a 162-game season of 30 players.
Eight cycles were reached in a single major league season, which happened in both 1933 and 2009. The loop occurs less often in other baseball leagues. There have been 74 cycles struck in Nippon Professional Baseball, Japan’s top-level baseball organization, through May 2019, the most recent being Umeno Ryutaro on April 9, 2019.
Atsuya Furuta, an NPB player, has also reached for the cycle in an NPB All-Star game. In the history of the MLB All-Star Game, no one has ever hit for the cycle. Brock Holt of the Boston Red Sox hit for the cycle in Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series. Just once in NPB history has two players hit for the cycle on the same day; this has happened twice in MLB history.
Multiple cycles have never been completed in a single NPB or MLB game; this has only happened twice in Minor League Baseball: on April 11, 2018, by Gio Brusa and Jalen Miller of the Class A-Advanced San Jose Giants, and on August 7, 2018, by Kevin Newman and Jacob Stallings of the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.
Hitting for the Cycle History
Hitting for the cycle is a very rare accomplishment for any baseball player. In MLB history, the daily loop has only been accomplished 319 times. To put this incredibly unusual achievement in context, there have been almost 210,000 professional baseball games played, and just 319 of them have an individual hit for a single, double, triple, and a home run. Furthermore, a hitter’s cycle is equal to a pitcher’s no-hitter. A hitter’s normal cycle is equivalent to a pitcher’s perfect game. Basically, suppose you accomplish all of these accomplishments during your lifetime. In that case, you will be enshrined as baseball royalty for the rest of your life.
Conclusion – The Very First Cycle Accomplishment
On May 25, 1882, Charles Foley became the first batter in history to strike for the cycle, hitting a bases-loaded home run in the first inning, a triple in the second, a double in the fifth and a single in the seventh. Foley had ten total bases in six at-bats, and his cycle was in a reverse natural order. A typical cycle means that the hits are ordered by total bases, with singles coming first, followed by doubles, triples, and home runs.
A reverse natural cycle denotes the inverse order. Buffalo defeated the Cleveland Blues 20-1, with Foley scoring four runs. 3 On this day, he was obviously the hero for the Buffalo Bisons, but the daily newspapers hardly mentioned Foley’s achievement.
According to some reports, George Hall was the first to strike for the cycle in a game on June 14, 1876. Author Michael Huber found a Baseball entry and then studied the game in many newspaper reports. Hall did get five hits in the game against the Cincinnati Red Stockings for the Athletic Club of Philadelphia. All media accounts believe that he had a single, a home run, and at least two triples.
The Philadelphia Times, on the other hand, claimed that Hall already had a double, thereby fitting the concept of a cycle. At the same time, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the New York Clipper both reported three triples and no double.
Huber quotes SABR author Matt Albertson in his game review, who writes that John Thorn, the Official Historian of Major League Baseball, does not think Hall hit for the cycle. As a result, since this loop is in question, we do not include it in our research. Foley’s consistency is unmistakable: four distinct types of hits in the same game.
There have been 318 additional cycles since Foley’s loop in 1882 to 2017. A season-by-season frequency map of the number of times a hitter has struck for the cycle. Eight cycles happened in two seasons, 1933 and 2009, each by a single hitter. Many seasons have gone by with no batter hitting for the cycle.
For more on baseball, read