As a Baseball Fan.....

[McLovin]

Even better a D-Backs fan, I feel completely honored tonight to watch history! I even scared the crap out of my dogs when I watched his at-bat where he got the triple. I was screaming 'Go Aaron Go' the whole time!

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/46080/one-season-one-month-two-cycles-for-hill

Barry Bonds, Tony Gwynn, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb are among the great hitters who have never even done it once in their careers.

Aaron Hill has now hit a cycle twice in 12 days.

He's the first player with two cycles in the same season since Babe Herman in 1931.

Two Cycles in the Same Season
MLB History
Team Days Apart
2012 Aaron Hill Diamondbacks 11
1931 Babe Herman Robins 67
1887 Tip O'Neill Browns 7
1883 John Reilly Red Stockings 7
>>Source: Elias Sports Bureau

Hill is the fourth player in Major League Baseball history with two cycles in the same season, joining Herman (1931 Brooklyn Robins), Tip O'Neill (1887 St. Louis Browns) and John Reilly (1883 Cincinnati Red Stockings).

Hill, whose previous cycle was June 18, is the second player in MLB history with two cycles in the same calendar month, and the first since Reilly in September 1883.

The concept that Reilly accomplished this feat in 1883 and nobody else did for almost 129 years is incredible. It’s a rare gap between feats.

Let’s consider what was happening in the United States back in 1883:

• The President was Chester A. Arthur and there was no Vice President.

• There were only 38 states.

• Basketball hadn’t been invented yet.

• The Brooklyn Bridge opened to traffic in May.

• The first Metropolitan Opera House opened in October.

• The last 12 Presidents weren’t even born yet, including Harry S. Truman, who was born in 1884.

• Airplanes had not yet been invented.

Hill now has as many cycles in the last 12 days as the entire Toronto Blue Jays franchise (his former team). He has more cycles in the last 12 days than the Tampa Bay Rays (1), San Diego Padres (0) and Miami Marlins (0) franchises combined.

How did Hill hit for the cycle on Friday?

• In the first inning, he hit a ground-rule double off a fastball, his eighth double against a fastball this season.

• In the third inning, he singled to center off a slider. He was hitting .267 against sliders coming into the game.

• In the fourth inning, he homered to left field off a curveball, his first home run off a curveball since June 19, 2011.

• In the sixth inning, he tripled to center field off a slider.

Hill is hitting .465 in his last 10 games with four home runs, 11 RBI and a .953 slugging percentage. Eleven of his 20 hits are extra-base hits during that span.

No player in MLB history has ever had three cycles in the same season. The Arizona Diamondbacks still have 86 games left, so Hill has a chance to be the first to do so.

That really blows my mind how many of the 'Greats' never did it even once!

 

[TallBill]

Meh, the cycle is overrated. I'd rather have 4x home runs or something.

 

[BUTCH1]

Meh, the cycle is overrated. I'd rather have 4x home runs or something.

yea, good hitting but just more a fluke/luck more than anything

 

[The Boston Dangler]

hmmm, do the terrible pitching/playing and dead ball rule cancel each other out?

 

[SP33Demon]

There is some luck involved in the diff between a double and a triple. Still, a great accomplishment.

 

[z1ggy]

I think the cycle is more impressive than 4x home runs. For the cycle you need power, speed and good base running skills. Not that 4 home runs in a game isn't impressive..Now a days with roids and improved bat making, I think home runs aren't quite the same as they used to be.

 

[swanysto]

Very impressive. Being a White Sox fan, I have seen a couple perfect games, so I can understand how exciting these things are. However, I don't think anyone on the White Sox could pull off even a single cycle except maybe De Aza, but I don't think he has any chance either.

 

[MotionMan]

The hardest thing about hitting for the cycle is the triple. I wonder how many times people have hit the single, double and homer, but not the triple.

MotionMan

 

[kranky]

While it's almost required to have speed + some power to hit for the cycle, it's definitely a flukey achievement. A lot of triples are hits that are misplayed by the outfielder, but not bad enough to be called an error.

A corner outfielder dives to make a catch and misses, the ball rolls to the wall for a triple. If the guy had held up and let it drop in, it's a single. Or a double off the wall takes a wild bounce away from the fielder. Or a liner into the corner also bounces away from the fielder. Some triples would be inside-the-park homers but the hitter is too slow. Some parks are just triple-friendly and some aren't. All those things can add an element of luck and coincidence.

Three homers in a game is by far a better hitting performance.

Hitting for the cycle is interesting and definitely a big day for a hitter but not really a monumental hitting feat.

 

[Schfifty Five]

The hardest thing about hitting for the cycle is the triple. I wonder how many times people have hit the single, double and homer, but not the triple.

MotionMan

Many, many times.

 

[ZOOYUKA]

Happy to see former Tiger making history in the majors!

 

[thepd7]

yea, good hitting but just more a fluke/luck more than anything

This.

I think the cycle is more impressive than 4x home runs. For the cycle you need power, speed and good base running skills. Not that 4 home runs in a game isn't impressive..Now a days with roids and improved bat making, I think home runs aren't quite the same as they used to be.

You're batshit insane. Go look up who has hit 4 home runs in a game and tell me a cycle is more impressive.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

You're batshit insane. Go look up who has hit 4 home runs in a game and tell me a cycle is more impressive.

Mark Whitten, Bob Horner, and plenty of other guys nobody has ever heard of.

 

[ZOOYUKA]

I think the cycle is more impressive than 4x home runs. For the cycle you need power, speed and good base running skills. Not that 4 home runs in a game isn't impressive..Now a days with roids and improved bat making, I think home runs aren't quite the same as they used to be.

Who would you rather on your team Aaron Hill or Josh Hamilton?

 

[rcpratt]

Who would you rather on your team Aaron Hill or Josh Hamilton?

That's a bit of a logic fail right there.

Although I agree, obviously. 4 HR is significantly more impressive than a cycle.

 

[Squisher]

It is fluky, but it happens so little it's just neat seeing it happen. Kind of like the fake pick off to third and throw to first actually working (the one they want to outlaw) or a triple play.

 

[Gibsons]

It is fluky, but it happens so little it's just neat seeing it happen. Kind of like the fake pick off to third and throw to first actually working (the one they want to outlaw) or a triple play.

I love the sneaky stuff. Hidden ball trick is a good one too.

Agree with the above posts too, 4 HR >> cycle.

 

[SP33Demon]

It is fluky, but it happens so little it's just neat seeing it happen. Kind of like the fake pick off to third and throw to first actually working (the one they want to outlaw) or a triple play.

Actually, the fake to third happens almost every year. 2 cycles in one month is something you'll never see again in your lifetime.

Hill, whose previous cycle was June 18, is the second player in MLB history with two cycles in the same calendar month, and the first since Reilly in September 1883.

The concept that Reilly accomplished this feat in 1883 and nobody else did for almost 129 years is incredible.

Also, I didn't watch the two cycles to see how he got the triples. If they are legit (i.e. outfielder didn't misplay the ball) and he did it with speed, that adds to the feat even more. Someone should check how many players have hit 4HRs twice in the same month to see which is actually the rarer feat.

 

[ZOOYUKA]

Actually, the fake to third happens almost every year. 2 cycles in one month is something you'll never see again in your lifetime.



Also, I didn't watch the two cycles to see how he got the triples. If they are legit (i.e. outfielder didn't misplay the ball) and he did it with speed, that adds to the feat even more. Someone should check how many players have hit 4HRs twice in the same month to see which is actually the rarer feat.

No one has done it twice in a career!

 

[z1ggy]

What we should be looking for is how many people were a triple ( the hardest hit out of the cycle) away from completeing it vs how many people have hit 3 HR in one game.

And to argue my side...Ok 4 HR is totally impressive. But with shrinking ball parks, stronger and better bats..HR's happen so often that if Josh Hamilton cranks one 500ft, nobody even thinks twice.

 

[Gibsons]

What we should be looking for is how many people were a triple ( the hardest hit out of the cycle) away from completeing it vs how many people have hit 3 HR in one game.

And to argue my side...Ok 4 HR is totally impressive. But with shrinking ball parks, stronger and better bats..HR's happen so often that if Josh Hamilton cranks one 500ft, nobody even thinks twice.

Right, but when he hit 4 in a game, ESPN asploded all over itself. Only 16 people have done it, none of them twice.

The cycle has happened 293 times.

 

[Blackjack200]

Here's why I think the cycle is a stupid "accomplishment": Imagine a guy with a homerun, triple and double already in the game. In his fourth at bat he shoots the gap. If he stops at first, is that more of an accomplishment than if he had gone on to second and had two doubles, a triple and a homerun?

The cycle is impressive because you have 10 total bases in 4 at bats. 4 homers in a game is far more impressive.

 

[TallBill]

Right, but when he hit 4 in a game, ESPN asploded all over itself. Only 16 people have done it, none of them twice.

The cycle has happened 293 times.

It isn't even really about the #'s. I'd rather have 4 run producing sac flies in a game than see the cycle.

Here's why I think the cycle is a stupid "accomplishment": Imagine a guy with a homerun, triple and double already in the game. In his fourth at bat he shoots the gap. If he stops at first, is that more of an accomplishment than if he had gone on to second and had two doubles, a triple and a homerun?

The cycle is impressive because you have 10 total bases in 4 at bats. 4 homers in a game is far more impressive.

Yeah, retarded.

 

[SP33Demon]

Right, but when he hit 4 in a game, ESPN asploded all over itself. Only 16 people have done it, none of them twice.

The cycle has happened 293 times.

Well considering that, then 4 HRs is more impressive, although like others have said, with shrinking bandbox ballparks + PED era it will probably be more common now.