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A home run cycle , one player hitting a solo, 2 run ,3 run homer and grand slam in a single game
Yes 4 HR games are rare but with all the thousands of games played in MLB history you'd think someone would've done it.
It did happen in the minors though
Has anyone ever been out for the cycle? As in one game where they were put out at first, at second, at third and at the plate?
As for whether we should have expected the specific four home run game in the ML's by now....
There had been 390,536 ML games played going into the 2012 season, and at that point there had been 15 four home run games. (Hamilton's was this year.) This means that there has been a four run homer game every 26,035 games, or about once every ten years.
I suspect that the feat is actually more rare, three of the fifteen four home run games took place in 2002 and 2003, during the zenith of the roid age.
As for how often any of those four home run games could be expected to produce the solo, two run, three run, grand slam pattern you postulate, that cannot be calculated since it has never happened, but since it has never happened in all those 390,536 games, we know that it is already at least a 390,536 to 1 shot.
At the bottom end of the scale, there have been quite a lot of players who have played only one game in MLB, and some who played only one inning in the field. As far as I know, there has been no player who was officially in a game, but who did not "play", for example, announced as a pinch hitter, then removed for another pinch hitter. A situation where a player would be officially in the game, and appearing in the box score, without there ever being a live ball in play.
Another one that happened in the minors but I don't think in the majors, would be a pitcher getting credit for a win without throwing a pitch.
There was a 27-K perfect game in the minors, but I'd be very surprised if that ever happened in the majors (Ron Necciai, at Class-D Briston, 1952. Got called up immediately to the big time (well, Pittsburgh), and in his first start, the Cubs batted around in the first inning and got the first two on base in the second. He finished his MLB career 1-6 with an ERA over 7.)
One of the most surprising things that has been done and will probably never be done again was Leslie Nunamaker throwing out three caught-stealings in one inning, one of whom was Ty Cobb.
It is alleged that a player in about 1899 made four errors on a single batted ball. Booted a grounder at third (1), threw wildly past first allowing runner to reach second (2) who went on to third, where our man muffed the throw (3) and retrieved it and threw it over the catcher's head (4). But this leaves itself open to some creative official scoring judgments.
I'm surprised nobody ever hit five home runs in a game. Mike Cameron's bid for a fifth was caught on the warning track, and Joe Adcock hit a double off the wall in addition to four homers.
Last edited by CowanStern; 06-30-2012 at 06:34 AM..
Maybe think about other sports and what's been accomplished.
-Basketball, 100 point game by Wilt Chamberlain. The baseball equivalent? 5 home runs by a player? Has any single player dominated a game (offensively), the way a basketball player might score 70, 80 or 100 points?
-Eddie Gaedel was pretty unique.
-I think no one hitting .400 is pretty surprising. Given the technology people have today, video, computer analysis, etc. Far superior technology to Ty Cobbs era, yet no one has hit .400 since the 40's.
-What about stealing 2nd, 3rd and home plate in a single game?
. A NL pitcher who pitches a complete game and hits 2 HR's.
How about a complete game and two grand slams?
On July 3rd, 1966, Tony Cloniger of the Braves pitched a nine inning complete game win against the Giants, giving up seven hits, two walks and three runs. The Braves won 17-3 with Cloninger driving in nine of them with a single and two grand slams in five trips to the plate.
MLB awaits its first unassisted triple play by an outfielder, but it has happened in the Pacific Coast League.
Quote:
On July 19, 1911, in the ninth inning of a tie game between Vernon and Los Angeles of the PCL, the Angels' Charles Moore and George Metzger walked. Angels third baseman Roy Akin followed with a line drive over second base as Moore and Metzger took off on a hit-and-run.
Vernon center fielder Walter Carlisle, playing in close, caught Akin's sinking line drive while doing a somersault. Landing on his feet, he raced to second and after touching the bag to retire Moore beat Metzger back to frst base for the third out of an unassisted triple play.
In recognition for a unique achievement, the sole unassisted triple play by an outfielder in any league, the Vernon and Los Angeles fans chipped in to buy a commemorative diamond-studded gold medal for Carlisle.
On July 3rd, 1966, Tony Cloniger of the Braves pitched a nine inning complete game win against the Giants, giving up seven hits, two walks and three runs. The Braves won 17-3 with Cloninger driving in nine of them with a single and two grand slams in five trips to the plate.
MLB awaits its first unassisted triple play by an outfielder, but it has happened in the Pacific Coast League.
Most things have been done in the Post Season, but nobody has hit for the cycle yet.
Maybe the most improbable thing that has actually happened was Tatis' two grand slams in the same inning off the same pitcher.
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