More Fun With “Baseball Cycles” Trivia!

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More Fun With “Baseball Cycles” Trivia!

 When 29-year old journeyman ball player Gee Walker saw his name in the starting lineup for the Tigers on Opening Day, April 20, 1937, I wonder if he had any inkling he was about to accomplish something that had never happened before nor would ever happen again in major league history?

Some of the readers who have been with us for a while will remember my post “Fun With Baseball Cycles” from a couple years ago. I pointed out how rare they are and had fun with such things as “natural cycles” and even “reverse natural cycles.” Well, I’ve uncovered another interesting bit of “baseball cycle trivia.” And since we’re all baseball fans, we all love useless baseball trivia!

Eighty-one years ago this week, on Opening Day, April 20, 1937,  Gee Walker stroked a homer, triple, double, and single to become the only player to hit for the cycle on Opening Day. To make it even more rare, it was a “reverse natural cycle,” (homer, triple, double, single coming in order), one of only five in all of baseball history! 

In the featured photo above, we see Gee Walker (known as the “Mad Man from Mississippi” due to his fierce competitiveness and his clownish antics) on the left, along with Hall-of-Famer Goose Goslin in center and Jo-Jo White on right.

Here’s some excerpts from my original post, “Fun With Cycles”:

• There have been only 319 cycles since the first one in 1882 by a player named Curry Foley. They are approximately as rare as no-hitters (288).
• The probability of an average major league ball player hitting for a cycle in a game is approximately 0.00590%. This comes to about 2.5 cycles in a 162-game season, about once every 686 games.
• The Miami Marlins are the only franchise who have never had a player hit for the cycle.
• The “natural cycle,” (single, double, triple, home run in order), has happened only 14 times.
• The “reverse natural cycle” (home run, triple, double, single in order) has happened only five times.
• The most cycles by one player is three, accomplished by four players, the latest being Adrián Beltré.
• The most cycles hit in a single major league season is eight.
• Only four players have hit for the cycle twice in one season, the latest being Aaron Hill (2012).
• Cycles have occurred on the same day twice in history: September 17, 1920 and September 1, 2008.
• The longest period between two cycles was 5 years, 1 month, and 10 days (1896 to 1901).
• Eight players have hit a grand slam as the home run of their cycle. Five players have hit a walk-off home run as the final hit of their cycle. 
• Family pairs to hit for the cycle: father and son Gary and Daryle Ward (1980 and 2004); and grandfather and grandson Gus and David Bell (1951 and 2004).
• Three players have hit for the cycle in both the National and American Leagues.
• Four batters hit for the cycle in the same season in which they won the Triple Crown: Nap Lojoie (1901), Jimmie Foxx (1933), Chuck Klein (1933); and Lou Gehrig (1934). 

Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: Featured photo from the Leslie Jones Boston Public Library collection; All others from Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from the Baseball Cycles Wikipedia page.

Check out my two books, both now available on Amazon in e-book and paperback:  “Paul Pryor in His Own Words: The Life and TImes of a 20-Year Major League Umpire” and “Memorable World Series Moments.” All profits go to the Illinois Veterans Foundation