Baseball fans: about hitting for the cycle, is an inside-the-park homer consdered...

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a legitimated 'cycle'? How rare is it, ever been done?

[FBaggins]

1. It does count... but it hardly ever happens

The last one was over 80 years ago

[mobeau69]

4. Right and wrong.

It is rare but not as rare as you think.

Elly Del la Cruz hit for the cycle in 2023. I was at the game in the 80s when another Red (IIRC Ken Griffey Jr.) hit for a cycle.

[CanonRay]

7. But they didn't have inside the park homers.

[FBaggins]

8. That's just "hitting for the cycle"

The question was re: hitting for the cycle where the home run was of the inside-the-park variety.

Since inside-the-park home runs make up only a couple tenths of a percent of all home runs... that flavor of cycle is super rare.

Another way of looking at it is that failed cycles are almost always missing the triple (much less common than home runs).

[mobeau69]

10. Sure, but an inside the park HR is just the same as any homer when

it comes to a cycle.

[perfessor]

2. It should count extra ...

Call it an Epicycle, or something like that.

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3. There should be a wording to differentate it from a standard cycle.

[Oeditpus Rex]

25. Interior cycle?

Inside cycle? Running cycle? Leg cycle? Holy shitcycle?

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40. Heehee. I vote for holy shitcycle.

[mobeau69]

5. An inside the park home run is just a home run. The hitter would also need a single, double and a triple to make a

cycle.

Trivia: what is the hardest part? The triple.

[YodaMom2]

6. Totally agree

If it’s not just a hit followed by a series of errors by the opposing team, it counts as a home run.

[True Dough]

9. Yep, it takes four at-bats to register a "cycle"

For sure.

[Wounded Bear]

11. Doubles can be "hit" but a triple requires some speed. Not all players can do that...nt

[WestMichRad]

20. Triples don't always require "some speed"

Even veteran catchers occasionally have gotten triples. Not often, I’ll grant you, but once in a great while.
Kyle Schwarber has even tripled!
(This year, I think)

[rsdsharp]

28. Harmon Killebrew, who was once described as "lumpy legged"

hit 24 lifetime triples. A little known piece of trivia is that he was signed as a second baseman. However, early on he injured both quads, and in the 1968 All Star Game he tore his right hamstring.

Bye-bye speed.

[ProfessorGAC]

22. Or Very Good Placement

Usually have to be fast but, with arms on MLB right fielders, it helps to have great location of the hit.
Should the ball has get away after hitting the wall or hit down the line and get to the RF corner.
The hitter is relying on a long throw & a decent time to get to the ball in the first place.
Even Mark Grace hit for the cycle, and they timed him around the bases with an hourglass. But, the triple was a hooking liner that the right fielder thought he could catch but it got past him and rolled all the way to the corner.
At Wrigley, that's a 445' throw to 3rd base. Even Grace could hit a triple in that situation!
Normally though, I agree that speed is the key.

[Oeditpus Rex]

27. Ever been to or seen

whatever the yard in San Francisco is called now? Lou Piniella could wind up on third if he hit one that kicked around in Triples Alley.

(Piniiella, btw, is the only major leaguer, as far as is known, to be thrown out for the cycle -- once at each base and once at the plate in one game.)

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12. I think we all know that. That's what hitting for the cycle is, all four hit types.

And btw, an inside-the-park-home run is even rarer than a triple.

[mobeau69]

13. Yep. OT: Ever see an unassisted triple play? I've only seen one myself.

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14. Let's see, it would have to be bases loaded, no outs, a liner to the...

third baseman caught for one out, the third baseman quickly runs down and tags the runner on third who has to try to score, then the third baseman goes back to the bag for a force out on the runner advancing from second.

That's the only way I can figure it.

Is there another way?

[mobeau69]

15. Runner at first and second. Line shot to ss, steps on second, tags runner barreling to second.

That’s the one I saw. It was so fast nobody was sure what happened! LOL!

Runner on second had too big of lead.

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16. Yes. Or with a line shot to the second baseman...

I was trying to think of something with the catcher but couldn't. Not even the first baseman of the outfielders as they'd all have to throw to someone for the 3rd out.

[mobeau69]

17. If you watch baseball long enough you'll see crazy things you never imagined.

[Oeditpus Rex]

35. Yeah...

But you won't see everything, because everything hasn't happened.

I think it was Bouton in Ball Four who wrote something like, "You can see 20 basketball games and you've seen just about everything. Same with football. But there's always something in baseball that hasn't happened before."

His point was, that's one of the true beauties of the game, part of its great allure.

[mobeau69]

18. You know, it might have been the second baseman. It was many years ago.

Ever been to Cooperstown? It’s like a cathedral for BB.

[brush]

19. I have. It's hard to get there. I used to live in NYC as was on the art staff...

Newsday, an NYC daily paper. One of the other artists told me of a 'call for entries' for an art exhibit coming up there of one's creation of a baseball card of a favorite player.

We both picked players from the New York baseball Giants. Him Bobby Thompson and me, Willie Mays.

We both got accepted, the show lasted a month so I can always say "I was in the Hall of Fame. Hah.

The place is great. My big memory is walkng in and seeing the life-sized statute of Ted Williams in his Red Sox uniform at bat at the plate.

Drove straight up the NY Trueway with my wife for three plus hours IIRC. It was a blast.

[Oeditpus Rex]

29. A center fielder made one

in the PCL in 1911. The hitter blooped one behind second base. The center fielder ran in, made a diving catch, then scrambled to tag second and pit out the runner who'd been there and apparently assumed the ball was gonna drop in. Then he ran down and tagged the (rather stupid) runner from first.

That's the only recorded instance of an outfielder ever pulling one in pro ball.

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31. Amazing. Never even imagined such a thing.

[Oeditpus Rex]

33. I wouldn't have, either

But I've read a lot of baseball history.

[WestMichRad]

21. How about a walk or HBP instead of a single?

Has anyone ever “walked” into a cycle?

[ProfessorGAC]

23. A Walk Is Not A Hit

It was in the 1880s when walks were not only no longer a hit, but the at-bat didn't count. It was a plate appearance.
The value of walks is captured in on-base percentage, but doesn't affect batting average either way.
The answer to your question is that maybe that happened prior to 1887. But, it couldn't since then.
Oh and, HBP are treated the same as walks.
One last note: when I was a kid Billy Williams had 2 doubles, a triple and a homer in a game my parents & I went to. 11 total bases, but no cycle.
People were saying Billy should have stopped at first on the 2nd double, but I can't imagine a player's instincts would allow that. He sees a ball get to the track, he's motoring to second.

[Oeditpus Rex]

30. Yeah, a cycle isn't really brag-worthy

It's more of an oddity than anything else.Fun to talk about, but it doesn't necessarily win ball games, championships or a trip to Cooperstown.

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32. Are you kidding? Hiting for the cycled is certainly an accomplishment.

Four hits in a game is never anything to scoff at. It boosts the average, RBIs and most likely helps win the game.

[Oeditpus Rex]

34. No, I'm not kidding

I've always been all about helping the ball club win, not helping oneself to better numbers. A guy can hit for the cycle and drive in only one run: himself, with the homer. That isn't theoretical, either. I'd bet my last dollar it's happened. Other guys would have to conttibute to a cycle being worth more than one run.

Now, show me a guy who hit for the cycle and drove in and/or scored a bunch of runs, and I'll be impressed with his contribution.

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38. We're not in agreement. IMO hitting for the cycle is an accomplishment.

And it has nothing to do with a player's concern about his numbers. It's about a sense of accomplishment and having done a good job for the team.

[brush]

24. Good question. Does somebody know?

I don't know since neither is a hit, but the batter does reach first base.

[ProfessorGAC]

36. See Above, Brush

It's not a single, therefore not a cycle. It doesn't even count for total bases which impact slugging percentage.
If it ever happened, it had to be before 1887 which is the year they stopped counting BB as hits.

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37. Thanks, PG. How do you know baseball history going that far back?

[ProfessorGAC]

39. I Was A Baseball Nut &...

...stats freak when I was a kid. A lot of it stuck.
In fact when I was in college, the much younger kid across the street used to come over to shoot hoops with me and do baseball trivia.
So, it went on for a while after I was no longer a kid.

[underpants]

26. Yes.

[Capt. America]

41. Usually an in park HR is the result of an error or some other mistake?