August 10, 2022: Chandler Redmond hits for pro baseball’s second-ever ‘Home Run Cycle’

The Springfield Cardinals and Amarillo Sod Poodles were trying to stay in their respective division races in the Double-A Texas League in August 2022. Springfield, a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate, had struggled in the first half of the season, finishing 31-38, in last place in the Northern Division. Amarillo, a part of the Arizona Diamondbacks system, ended up 32-37, in third place in the Southern Division.

The two teams were playing out a six-game series at Hodgetown in Amarillo. Springfield at 17-16 and Amarillo at 16-17 were both in second place in their divisions when the series started. The Sod Poodles’ home field had gained a reputation as a hitters’ ballpark, and the 5,134 fans saw that reputation grow that evening.1

Neither did Chandler Redmond, the Springfield first baseman. Redmond was just hoping to break out of a 0-for-14 slump in his third professional season. Signed by the Cardinals organization after playing at Gardner-Webb University, the left-handed Redmond had shown power in college, finishing his career with a school-record 50 home runs and 153 RBIs. Redmond was named Big South Conference Player of the Year as a senior in 2019.

After being selected in the 32nd round of the June 2019 amateur draft, he played for the Johnson City Cardinals (Appalachian League). Redmond split his time between the Class A Peoria Chiefs and Springfield when minor-league play resumed in 2021.2 The Cardinals assigned him to Springfield in 2022. Going into the August 10 game in Amarillo, he had 13 home runs in 102 games.

Slade Cecconi was given the start for the Sod Poodles. The right-hander, a first-round draft pick from the University of Miami in June 2020,3 entered the game with a 5-4 record but had struggled since his last win, on July 10.

After Cecconi got two outs in the top of the first, the Cardinals jumped on him for three runs. Three singles and a walk brought in the first two runs. Redmond hit Cecconi’s first pitch for the Cardinals’ fourth single of the inning, snapping his hitless streak and scoring the third run.

“Line driving that first pitch that I saw in the game for a single, that’s always a good sign that I was on time for that first fastball of the day,” Redmond said. “Sometimes that first fastball can sneak by you so being on time for that one let me know that I was locked in for the day.”4

The Cardinals added another run in the second. Cecconi hit Mike Antico with one out. Antico stole second and scored on Masyn Winn’s double, making it 4-0.

Domingo Robles started for the Cardinals. The southpaw, in his seventh year in the minors, entered with a 2-5 record and a 6.09 ERA. He had mostly come out of the bullpen for the Cardinals during the season. His last start was on May 27, when he went five innings and took the 2-0 loss against the Tulsa Drillers.

Robles looked strong through the first two innings, but the Sod Poodles scored three runs off him in the third. A leadoff walk followed by a double and a single scored the first run. Two more singles brought home three runs. Robles stopped the bleeding by striking out Leandro Cedeno and getting Eduardo Diaz to ground into a double play, but the Sod Poodles’ bats had made it a one-run ballgame at 4-3.

Cecconi managed to keep the Cardinals from scoring in the third despite giving up two singles and a stolen base.

Sod Poodles manager Shawn Roof5 replaced Cecconi with Brent Teller in the fourth. Teller made it through his first inning unscathed, but Springfield’s Matt Koperniak led off the fifth with a walk and moved to second on Nick Raposo’s single. After Koperniak was caught stealing third, Redmond hit Teller’s fourth pitch over the left-field fence for a two-run homer. The blast put the Cardinals ahead, 6-3.

Teller continued to struggle, giving up two more singles, and Roof replaced him with Josh Green, who got the final two outs of the frame.

Robles gave up the Sod Poodles’ fourth run in the bottom of the fifth when Ti’Quan Forbes tripled and came home on Justin Toerner’s groundout.

Green did not fare well in the sixth. He hit the first two batters. Jordan Walker’s single scored a run. Koperniak singled to load the bases. With one out and the count 3-and-1, Redmond hit his second home run, a grand slam over the left-center-field fence, making the score 11-4.

“After I hit the grand slam, I had a little thought creep into my mind about maybe the cycle, but then I brushed it off real quick,” Redmond said. “I was like, ‘Come on, this was only my second time with a multi-homer game in pro ball.’”6

Justin Lewis replaced Green and got the final two outs, but the right-hander could not contain the Cardinals’ bats when he returned to the mound in the seventh. Winn led off with a double. After Nick Dunn popped out, Walker – St. Louis’s first-round draft pick out of high school in 2020 – hit a home run to make the score 13-4. Koperniak followed with the Cardinals’ second home run of the seventh and Springfield’s 14th run.

Lewis struck out Nick Raposo for the second out, but Redmond then hit his third home run of the game, this one a solo blast, and Toerner followed with Springfield’s fourth home run of the inning. The Cardinals had racked up their second five-run inning, pushing the lead to 16-4.

Right-hander Michael Brettell replaced Robles in the sixth. He pitched two scoreless innings before Griffin Roberts came in to pitch the final two innings.

As the Cardinals pitchers were shutting down Amarillo, their bats kept hammering the Sod Poodles’ pitchers. Austin Pope replaced Lewis in the eighth. The right-hander walked pinch-hitter Aaron Antonini to start the frame. Winn homered to add two more runs, making it 18-4. Nick Dunn reached first on an error by the shortstop and moved to third on a wild pitch and a groundout. Pope then walked pinch-hitter Jonah Davis.

This brought Redmond to the plate with two outs. To sportswriters afterward, Redmond described his thoughts as he approached the plate: “So then walking up for that last at-bat and seeing two guys on, I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, everything is lining up, you can do this. So just stay calm and stay within yourself, but if you get a chance to get a ball to hammer, you better not miss it.”7

Redmond hit Pope’s third pitch over the right-center-field wall for this fourth home run of the game. This one, a three-run shot, completed his “home run cycle” – solo shot, two-run homer, three-run homer, and grand slam – and gave the Cardinals a 21-4 lead. “As soon as I hit it, I just lost it. I started pointing into the dugout,” Redmond said. “They’re just hopping over the fence and going crazy. I can’t put into words how it felt. It was so euphoric. Just crazy.”8

The home run gave Redmond five hits and 11 RBIs for the night. His home-run show gave him 17 for the season and raised his average to .242. Redmond finished the season with 21 home runs and 79 RBIs.9

When Redmond finished rounding the bases, he was mobbed in the dugout by his teammates and coaches. In the locker room after the game ended, Redmond received a call from his father. “He’s just so proud of me and he gets so much joy out of watching me play,” Redmond said. “He’s watched every single college game and pro game, and I know it’s what he looks forward to most at night. So to be able to put on a show like this for him is pretty special.”10

“I’ve never seen something like that,” said Cardinals manager Jose Leger afterward. “It was one of those days he was seeing the ball like a beach ball. It is a rare accomplishment. All the situations have to align themselves for you, with the right amount of men on base, and then you have to also get it done.”11

“I just went up there trying to see something up in the zone,” Redmond added. “I stayed away from anything low that I could ultimately drive into the ground.”12

The home run put the 25-year-old Redmond in the record books. He joined former St. Louis farmhand Tyrone Horne to become the only players to hit for the home-run cycle in professional baseball history. Horne did so on July 27, 1998, for the Arkansas Travelers, the Cardinals’ Double-A Little Rock team at that time.13

“[Horne] called me and welcomed me to the club,” said Redmond. “It’s probably the most exclusive club in all of baseball. That was cool. I got to learn a little about him. He hit 37 home runs, won the [Texas League] home-run derby and was league MVP. If I could follow that, it would be great.”14

Redmond’s bat was sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, where it would be displayed alongside Horne’s bat.

• Related link: Find a comprehensive list of all 4-HR games in professional baseball history

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Mike Huber and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

The author used newspaper accounts of the game to sort out the story as well as the box score and Gameday account of the game from MILB.com.

https://www.milb.com/gameday/cardinals-vs-sod-poodles/2022/08/10/672136#game_state=live,game_tab=plays,game=672136,lock_state=live

Notes

1 Hodgetown had seen big home runs before Redmond’s accomplishment. The ballpark is 3,600 feet above sea level. The warm Texas weather also provides added distance on fly balls. Sod Poodles first baseman Leandro Cedeno unleashed a mammoth 527-foot homer there on July 16 to lead the team past the San Antonio Missions 7-6. Further evidence of the ballpark’s friendliness to hitters is evidenced by the fact that Sod Poodles pitchers led the league by giving up 262 home runs in 2022 and came in second in that category in 2019, the year that Hodgetown opened.

2 Major League Baseball canceled the 2020 minor-league season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while playing a shortened season at the major-league level.

3 The Diamondbacks selected Cecconi 33rd overall with a Competitive Balance draft pick.

4 Mark Spillane, “Chandler Redmond Talks About His Home Run Cycle,” Ozark Sports Zone.com, August 11, 2022. https://www.ozarkssportszone.com/2022/08/11/chandler-redmond-talks-about-his-home-run-cycle/.

5 Shawn Roof is the son of Gene Roof, who played briefly in the majors for the St. Louis Cardinals. His uncle, Phil Roof, played for 15 years in the major leagues for eight teams.

6 Matthew Neschis, “Cardinals Minor Leaguer Chandler Redmond Hits Second Home Run Cycle in History,” New York Post, August 11, 2022.

7 Neschis.

8 Neschis.

9 Redmond was not listed among the Cardinals top prospects for 2023 although several of his teammates made the list. Masyn Winn was listed as the best athlete in their minor-league system with the best infield arm. Walker and Antico made the list with the team for their outfield defensive skills. Antico was also recognized for his basestealing skills.

10 Neschis.

11 Lyndal Scranton, “Springfield’s Chandler Redmond Makes History with Home Run Cycle,” Springfield (Illinois) Daily Citizen, August 18, 2022. https://sgfcitizen.org/springfield-sports/springfields-chandler-redmond-makes-history-with-home-run-cycle/.

12 Thomas Neumann, “Cardinals Prospect Hits for Extremely Rare Home Run Cycle,” Sports Illustrated.com, August 11, 2002. https://www.si.com/mlb/2022/08/11/cardinals-prospect-chandler-redmond-hits-home-run-cycle.

13 Horne’s home-run cycle came in this order: two-run homer in the first inning, grand slam in the second, solo homer in the fifth, and three-run homer in the sixth. Horne batted in 10 of the Travelers’ runs in their 13-4 win over the San Antonio Missions. Eighteen players have hit four home runs in the majors but none have hit for the home-run cycle. Tino Martinez of the New York Yankees came close on April 2, 1997. He hit three home runs in the Yankees’ 16-4 win against the Seattle Mariners. Martinez hit a three-run shot in the first, a two-run homer in the third and a solo blast in the fifth. Although he came to bat twice in the ninth with bases loaded, he failed to hit a home run.

14 Scranton.