Saturday, April 18, 2009

Hit For The Cycle Week

Billy Williams - Kneeling with bat
Not to be confused with Lando Calrissian.

Let's go cycling!

C'mon, honey, everyone's doing it. We're going through the quad!

In the past week, we've seen three players hit for the cycle in the major leagues: Los Angeles's Orlando Hudson, Texas's Ian Kinsler and Minnesota OF/DH Jason Kubel. Which brings up this interesting question: When was the last time a player hit a natural cycle (getting a single, double, triple and home run, in that order)?

The last occurrence of a natural cycle in the majors was on Sept. 13, 2006, by Gary Matthews, Jr. of the Rangers. It's a rare feat- it's happened only 14 times in MLB history. Authoring one of those gems was "Sweet-swinging" Billy Williams (above), a Hall of Famer who made his name with the Chicago Cubs. He turned the trick on July 17, 1966.