Homer
Triple
Single
Carson Kelly hit for the cycle last night as the Cubs absolutely demolished the Athletics 18-3.
I have full game notes and observations coming later this morning at 9:30am but for now wanted to kick the morning off with Carson Kelly’s cycle – the first Cubs cycle since 1993.
Obviously it’s a surprising achievement. It’s Carson’s 10th year in the big leagues and he’s got a .680 career OPS which is about the same as former Cubs’ legend Matt Szczur.
It’s awesome for a lot of reasons. My #1 is that the cycle is such a unique accomplishment because it’s almost entirely LUCK.
Any starting MLB player can hit for the cycle provided you get 4 plate appearances.
The skill requirement is more can you hit a home run in the first place, which the answer is Yes because you’re in the big leagues.
The next skill requirement is being fast enough to hit a triple, which isn’t even a prerequisite as much as it simply helps increase your chances. Carson Kelly has a piano strapped to his back and he made it to 3rd standing up.
That’s it for skill requirements to hit a cycle in MLB. Everything else is spoken for by the mere existence of you on a major league field. There’s a raw assumption that you can handle MLB pitching enough to register a hit in the first place.
So really it just comes down to your ability to register the 4 different types of hits in one game, and that’s purely a matter of luck.
But when it happens, we lose our minds in celebration because it’s so rare. And in doing so, we confuse scarcity with skillset.
There’s a deeper conversation to be had on the topic. Like Phil Humbers perfect game. You don’t know when baseball history is going to strike or it’s desired champion until it happens. The supporting examples are so well documented:
- Dock Ellis acid trip
- David Wells drunk perfect game
- Kerry Wood 20 K’s age 21
- Fernando Tatis Sr. 2 grand slams in one inning
- Mike Cameron hit 4 straight homers
- Rick Ankiel came back as an outfielder
- There’s only two players in MLB history to hit multiple 2-run HRs in the first inning of a game, and they’re brothers: Aaron and Brett Boone
- Eric Bruntlett made back to back errors in the bottom of the 9th inning, then next batter made the 15th unassisted triple play in MLB history
- Scott Podsednik had 0 HR’s in 2005 in 568 plate appearances, but then walked off the Astros in game 2 of the World Series
I can keep going probably for another 6 hour at least and the point will remain the same. Baseball history chooses the strangest vessels sometime to prove its point that you never know what you’re going to see on a baseball field.
And for no other reason, that’s exactly why we love Carson Kelly’s cycle.
Some other programming notes:
- Last 9pm game tonight for 10 whole days
- Fuck this schedule inside and out
- Big week for torpedo bats
- I’m going to opening day at Wrigley on Friday
- Monday Morning Cubs Show is out and available for download
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