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Cycle!
Last night Carlos Gomez, a player for my hometown team, the Minnesota Twins, hit for the cycle and I was watching!
A rare event.
The last Twin to hit for the cycle was Kirby Puckett on 1 Aug 1986.
Twins beat the ChiSox in a squeeker … 13-1
Everytime I go to a ball game, or perhaps tune into one on TV, I always havea bouyant sense that maybe, perhaps, something great may happen. Maybe this is the game when I will see a triple play? Perhaps this will be a perfect game?
You never know.
Hit for the cycle?
Father, for some of us Europeans it’s not only the Latin that needs translating! ;)
Comment by Zadok the Roman — 8 May 2008 @ 7:04 amI thought the cycle was at least one each of: single, double,
triple, homer. Am I just misinformed, and if so, what is the
definition?
P.S. Some squeeker!
Comment by mpm — 8 May 2008 @ 7:06 amI wish you’d lay off praying for the Twins, Father. My Kansas City Royals could use a little devine intervention for a change…
Is there any doubt that baseball is the Lord’s game? After all, the first words of the Bible are “in the big inning”
Comment by WhollyRoamin'Catholic — 8 May 2008 @ 7:07 amzadok,
Comment by jarhead462 — 8 May 2008 @ 7:09 amHitting for the cycle means the batsman in question hit a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game.
Zadock, my friend. There are truly lacunae in your Commonplace Book.
“Hitting for the cycle” refers to one player in one game hitting a single (getting safely to 1st base on a hit), a double, a triple, and a home run. It doesn’t have to be in order.
This is fairly rare, because it requires that a player come to bat at least 4 times in a game. It has never been down in post-season play and some teams have never had a player hit for the cycle.
Comment by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf — 8 May 2008 @ 7:11 amWholly: I may not in fact be praying for the Twins. Maybe I am praying against the Royals!
Comment by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf — 8 May 2008 @ 7:12 amFather, it’s working. And it’s been working for a long time now.
Comment by WhollyRoamin'Catholic — 8 May 2008 @ 7:27 amsighWholly: Nah… just pullin’ your chain. I don’t pray against the Royals....
Comment by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf — 8 May 2008 @ 7:35 amLet’s see if I got this right, TLM, Halo 2, and baseball. Let me know when you are in Chicago. We can go to St. John Cantius for TLM, fire up the XBOX, and see some real baseball, the Cubs!
Comment by Matt — 8 May 2008 @ 8:34 amMatt: Sounds like a good line up!
Comment by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf — 8 May 2008 @ 9:50 amYou are right, Fr. Z. I myself have been privileged to witness 2 perfect games and a triple play. The perfect games were especially remarkable.
There have been three perfect games at Yankee Stadium.
The first was Don Larsen (with catcher Yogi Berra) in the 1956 World Series.
The second was David Wells (with catcher Jorge Posada) in 1998. Wells and Larsen went to the same high school in San Diego!
The third was David Cone (with catcher Joe Girardi, now current Yankees manager) in 1999. It happened on Yogi Berra Day, and none other than Don Larsen threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Berra!
There have been 17 perfect games in 132 years of major league play.
Coincidences? Nah.
Comment by James — 8 May 2008 @ 9:56 amI only wish I had TV to watch the game, though the radio did suffice. I almost went to the game too, but because it was delayed, and I knew it would go late, I decided to stay home. As a Twins fan living on the South Side of Chicago (mere blocks from the stadium) I am always elated when my hometown team can score a sweet victory. This was only the 8th time in franchise history a player batted for the cycle, and the first since the late great Kirby Puckett in 1986. I think this was also the first complete game a Twins pitcher had this season. This should teach me a lesson about not going to every baseball game I can.
Comment by James Garrison — 8 May 2008 @ 10:43 amJames G: Wow. That’s has to sting.
Comment by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf — 8 May 2008 @ 10:50 amJames: We’re you at the Larsen perfect game? In person?
Comment by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf — 8 May 2008 @ 10:55 amI’ve never seen a cycle, but I was privileged to be at Coors Field last year when Troy Tulowitzki turned an unassissted triple-play against the Braves.
Comment by Will — 8 May 2008 @ 11:19 amLast year was a wonderful baseball year here in Colorado. This year is looking black and scaly.
Oh yeah? Well last night, the Tigers actually won a game, and I was there! Hardly the same thing, but in Detroit you take what victories you can get. Especially with the Tigers record this year…
Comment by Timmay! — 8 May 2008 @ 11:28 amFr. Z,
Not that one! My mother was 2 at the time, lol.
I saw the latter two, though.
Cone’s was
Comment by James — 8 May 2008 @ 12:42 pmThe first major league ball game that I ever attended was the Minnesota Twins’ Jack Kralick’s no hitter against the, believe it or not, the Kansas City…Athletics! That team, originally the Philadelphia Athletics, later moved west to Oakland, making room for the Royals.
Kralick walked the second batter in the top of the 9th inning, making his victory an “almost perfect game.”
We were high in the third deck right behind home plate on a glorious August day with a perfect view of every pitch.
Comment by Ray from MN — 8 May 2008 @ 6:14 pmAs a long-time baseball fan, I don’t see what is so special about hitting for the cycle. It would be better, objectively, if the player in question hit two home runs, a double, and a single (which seems to be a tad more common). Yes, hitting for the cycle is rare but then so is striking out four times in one game.
Comment by dcs — 8 May 2008 @ 7:49 pmDavid Cone is from KC and a graduate of Rockhurst (Jesuit) HS. He watched Yogi Bear and BooBoo as a child.
So what is the liturgical equivalent of hitting for the cycle?
Comment by KK — 8 May 2008 @ 8:38 pmSo what is the liturgical equivalent of hitting for the cycle?
Serving for the Pope, Acting as Deacon for the Pope, Concelebrating with the Pope.
I know a few Roman-trained priests who can claim that honour.
Comment by Zadok the Roman — 9 May 2008 @ 2:21 amZadok: I am one of them.
Comment by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf — 9 May 2008 @ 7:58 amFr. Z., “I am one of them.”
Was that for John Paul II, Benedict XVI or both?
Comment by techno_aesthete — 9 May 2008 @ 8:24 amtechno: John Paul II.
Comment by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf — 9 May 2008 @ 8:44 am