Since 1916, many pitchers have accomplished a certain game feat once in a career, several have done it twice, and one even did it three times. But, only these three moundsmen have managed that feat twice in the same season.
Dennis Martinez
Claude Willoughby
Dizzy Dean
What is this most unusual of repeat performances?
Congratulations to John Autin! He correctly identified that these are the only pitchers to start two games in the same season in which an opposing player hit for the cycle. More after the jump.
These are the games, Willoughby pitching for the Phils, Dean for the Cards and Martinez for the Os (I don’t attribute any significance to the fact that two thirds of these batters are HOFers.)
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | 1B | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | HBP | BOP | Pos Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hack Wilson | 1930-06-23 | CHC | PHI | W 21-8 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | CF |
| 2 | Chick Hafey | 1930-08-21 | STL | PHI | W 16-6 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | LF |
| 3 | Chuck Klein | 1933-05-26 | PHI | STL | L 4-5 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | RF |
| 4 | Babe Herman | 1933-09-30 | CHC | STL | W 12-2 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | RF |
| 5 | George Brett | 1979-05-28 | KCR | BAL | W 5-4 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3B |
| 6 | Bob Watson | 1979-09-15 | BOS | BAL | W 10-2 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1B |
Batters have hit for the cycle 241 times since 1916, led by Babe Herman and Bob Meusel with three games each. Herman in 1931 and Aaron Hill in 2012 are the only batters with two cycle games in the same season (Hill’s two were only 11 days apart). Nineteen other players have two cycles in a career, led by Joe DiMaggio, the only player with 5 hits (and two HR) in both games.
On the pitching side, George Earnshaw has been the starter for 3 cycle games by 3 different HOFers, in 1932, 1933 and 1934. In addition to the three players in the quiz, twelve other pitchers have started two games, in different seasons, with an opponent hitting for the cycle. Some other curiosities:
- There have been four pitchers (Bill Trotter 1939, Jose Mercedes 2000, Rocky Biddle 2004, Sun-Woo Kim 2004) who started a cycle game and, in the same season, relieved a teammate who started another cycle game (Biddle and Kim were teammates for the Expos in their final season in Montreal).
- Matt Harrison was on the mound for both of Adrian Beltre‘s cycles, once as the opposing pitcher and once as Beltre’s teammate.
- Beltre’s first cycle came on Sep 1, 2008, one of two dates with cycles in two different games (Stephen Drew had the other for Arizona in 2008). The other date was almost 88 years earlier, on Sep 17, 1920, when George Burns and Bobby Veach helped the Giants and Tigers to extra-inning walk-off wins.
- There were 8 cycle games in 2009, tied with 1933 for the most in any season (and also tied with the cycle-starved 1951-60 decade).
- Included in the 2009 cycles were three in a 5-day period in April and another three in a 13-day period in August.
- In 1933, four of the eight cycles came in a 16-day period in August, including 3 in succession by the Athletics against 3 different opponents. The fourth was by the Indians against the Athletics, the only time two cycles have occurred in the same series.
- Earlier in 1933 the Cardinals and Phillies had cycles against each other in two different series in May. Frank Pearce took the loss for the Phillies in both games, one of them (above) won by Dizzy Dean in a 14-inning complete game.
- 82% of cycles have come from batters in top 5 spots in the order.
- 23 cycles (9.5%) have come from 23 different switch-hitters, but 16 of those 23 have been center-fielders and shortstops.
