Rube Waddell. Walter Johnson. Lefty Grove. Bob Feller. Sandy Koufax. Sam McDowell. Nolan Ryan. Doc Gooden. Roger Clemens. Pedro Martinez. Randy Johnson. (There are others, of course.) Their names are synonymous with “overpowering strikeout pitcher.” Even as time marches on, their names are not forgotten because each has been a standard against which subsequent generations of strikeout pitchers are measured. Relative to their peers, however, none of them, nor any other pitcher, was as dominant in the “K-Zone” in any single season as Dazzy Vance in 1924.1 And he pitched in the toughest year to strike out batters.

BRYAN SODERHOLM-DIFATTE is a frequent contributor to the “Baseball Research Journal” and presenter at SABR conferences. Read more SABR articles from Bryan by clicking here. He also writes the blog Baseball Historical Insight.

Notes

1. The “K-Zone” is a term popularized by ESPN in its televised baseball broadcasts to refer to the strike zone. ESPN uses exclusive technology that allows viewers to see the location of pitches in relation to the batter’s notional strike zone, as defined by the rule book.

2. Bill James, The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (NY: The Free Press, 2001), 869.

3. Bill James and Rob Neyer, The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers: An (sic) Historical Compendium on Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches (NY: Fireside Books, 2004), pp. 410–11, and Richard Goldstein, Superstars and Screwballs: 100 Years of Brooklyn Baseball (NY: Plume Books, 1992), 142.

4. All statistical data in this article are from the indispensable website for baseball research, Baseball-Reference.com.

5. Strikeouts in the years 1918 and 1919 were not included for the Deadball Era in this decade comparison because the exigencies of World War I caused major league baseball to play less than a 154-game schedule both years. Strikeouts in the Federal League—whose records count for the major leagues—in 1914 and 1915 were also excluded.

6. See splits data for Dazzy Vance in Baseball-Reference.com.

7. With 245 strikeouts in 227.1 innings in his rookie season, Herb Score became the first major league pitcher to strikeout at least one batter an inning. To prove it was no fluke, Score did it again in his second season (a K/9 average of 9.5 in 1956, compared to 9.7 the year before), and might have made it three in a row, going on who knows how many, were it not for a devastating line-drive to the face off the bat of the Yankees’ Gil McDougald early in the 1957 season.

8. Ryan is the only pitcher to have outpaced his closest rival in K/9 average by at least 30 percent in four different years, also doing so in 1977 (by 34 percent over Bert Blyleven), in 1987 (32 percent over Mark Langston) and in 1989 (34 percent over Langston). Vance, as already noted, did so three years in a row from 1923 to 1925.

9. Ryan is the only pitcher to have outpaced his closest rival in K/9 average by at least 30 percent in four different years, also doing so in 1977 (by 34 percent over Bert Blyleven), in 1987 (32 percent over Mark Langston) and in 1989 (34 percent over Langston). Vance, as already noted, did so three years in a row from 1923 to 1925.

Dollar Disputes

The twin specters of collusion in the recent past, and an expiring deal between the owners and players in the near future (on December 31, 1989), cast the shadow of a seasonal shutdown over the Nashville winter meetings. According to some owners, increasing salaries and revenue differences threatened competitive balance. The eccentric Marge Schott, owner of the Cincinnati Reds, griped, “I think it’s dangerous, especially in the smaller areas like Cincinnati. We’re hard-pressed. We’re going to have to develop more players through our farm system. We just can’t go berserk. The solution is to split the money up. More of it should go to the small markets.”1

Players and their union viewed the owners with suspicion. Yankees player rep Don Mattingly said, “There’s a major distrust in the basic agreement we signed in 1985. We basically look at it as having no meaning. Directly after that, collusion came about. There’s a lot of problems believing we can trust [that] the things … in the basic agreement are going to be followed through.”2

Orel Hershiser of the Dodgers agreed, arguing, “The owners have saved hundreds of millions of dollars. They are spending revenues they have saved. They doubled and tripled their profits because of collusion.”3

Union leader Donald Fehr declared, “I find it odd and troubling that as negotiations begin and on the heels of announcements of ‘we’ve got to have trust, we have to form a new partnership, we’re going to persuade players that things are going to be different,’ that words like ‘economic warfare’ are coming [from Commissioner Fay Vincent] and suggestions of setting deadlines, which means lockouts, are coming out.”4

Asked whether the 1990 season would proceed without interruption, Vincent dodged the question by invoking history, observing, “I think it was (Abe) Lincoln who said, ‘The Lord only reveals the future to us one day at a time.’”5

Old-school reporter Jerome Holtzman put a pox on both houses but sided with those collecting the money over those who worked for it: “I attended both the owners’ winter meetings in Nashville and the meeting of the executive board of the players association in Scottsdale, Ariz., … and my surmise is that both sides are crazy, especially the players.”6

Columnist Peter Pascarelli dissented, opining, “The point is that baseball is swimming in ever-increasing dollars. All 26 major-league clubs are guaranteed $16 million from network TV next season. … The … market can handle these ludicrous contracts or they wouldn’t be offered.”7

In contrast to their big-league brethren, the minor leagues operated with a much more minimal financial cushion. Five teams in the minors did not have a major-league affiliate, so even though the Atlanta Braves wanted to add a Florida State League club in Daytona Beach, “[N]o expansion will be allowed, according to Sal Artiaga, president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the governing body of minor-league baseball. ‘Read my lips,’ Artiaga … said, borrowing a George Bush tactic, ‘there will be no expansion.’”8

The affiliation issue notwithstanding, Artiaga expressed optimism about the state of the minors, thanks to record attendance, new ballparks, and improved lighting.9

The cheery news at the lower levels did not extend to the major-league owners or their players, as disagreements and dissension would persist throughout the winter before the warring sides reached a deal on March 19, 1990, that was made retroactive to January 1.10 The great player movements of the 1989 winter meetings would thus prove to be meaningful on the field during the 1990 major-league season.

Player Movements

The Expos had cashed in the biggest chips in the Montreal farm system to acquire Mark Langston in an ultimately futile push to take the 1989 NL East crown, but the first Canadian team in the majors, one of only three teams owned by a billionaire,11 declined to pursue the flame-throwing southpaw. Any team that wanted to get its fans heated up over the Hot Stove League made noises about going after the prize pitcher, including the Cubs, the team that bested the Expos in taking the 1989 NL East title. “While their interest in … Langston is making headlines, the Cubs expect to make few high-profile moves at the winter meetings … in Nashville,” wrote a Chicago Tribune correspondent. “Two clubs — believed to be the California Angels and the New York Yankees — reportedly have offered Langston five-year packages … worth between $15 million and $18 million.”12

Three seasons removed from winning the World Series for the second time, the New York Mets also sought pitching, but in this case bullpen help: The Mets “are likely to create activity in Nashville if they find a team willing to deal for a reliever to complement Randy Myers, the left-hander who saved 24 games,” the New York Times wrote.13

The Angels captured the first headlines after arriving in Nashville by inking Langston to a pact worth $16 million over five years. Knowing more about baseball than capitalism, Boston Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman did not approve, exclaiming, “Good God almighty, I don’t know what’s happening in this business. We’re self-destructing. It’s just economic lunacy, that’s the best way to describe it.”14

With Langston fitted for his halo, the focus shifted to trade talks for Cleveland outfielder Joe Carter. Murray Chass of the New York Times speculated that Boston, St. Louis, and San Diego had the best chances of capturing Carter: “The Red Sox are willing to trade [Mike] Greenwell for Carter and, if pushed, perhaps [Ellis] Burks. The Cardinals are believed to have offered [Vince] Coleman, their left fielder, and [Willie] McGee, their center fielder. The Padres will give the Indians one of their catchers as the focal point of a multiplayer package.”15

San Diego dangled catcher Sandy Alomar. The son of the longtime major-league infielder and 1970 All-Star was receiving intense scrutiny although he had played in just eight games over two seasons for the Padres. In receiving the minor-league player of the year award from Baseball America, the younger Alomar conceded, “If something happens, that’s the way baseball is, it’s a weird game.”16

California sought to acquire Carter in addition to Langston. According to the Boston Globe, the Angels were offering center fielder Devon White, right-hander Kirk McCaskill and second baseman Johnny Ray for Carter.17

The longer the Winter Meetings lasted, the more possible connections to Carter developed, with the Royals, Blue Jays, and White Sox also reportedly in contention to get him.18

Unlike the 28-year-old Carter, Dave Parker’s best days were primarily behind him, but that did not deter the Milwaukee Brewers from signing him away from the 1989 World Series champion Oakland A’s with a two-year, $3 million contract.

Oakland bemoaned the loss of Parker. “We would like to bring back everybody from our championship team, but the economics haven’t made it possible,” Athletics general manager Sandy Alderson said. “We also didn’t feel we could give him the multiyear contract he was seeking.”19

Milwaukee manager Tom Trebelhorn praised the Parker pickup, proclaiming, “This gives us a better ballclub than we had yesterday.”20

At the age of 39, Parker made his last All-Star team in 1990 for the Brewers, but the team went from 81-81 in 1989 to 74-88 in 1990. Meanwhile, thanks to stars like José Canseco and Dave Stewart, Oakland did not miss Parker. Without him, Canseco had an even better year, going from a .269/.333/.542 slash line in 1989 to .274/.371/.543 in 1990 as the A’s won the ALCS for the third straight year.

While Milwaukee had its designated hitter, the White Sox needed a first baseman, causing general manager Larry Himes to tout the recently released Keith Hernandez as “a Gold Glove guy. He kind of fits into some things we want to have done defensively with our ballclub.”21

Instead of Chicago, however, Cleveland signed Hernandez, who hit just .200/.283/.238 with the Tribe in 1990, his final season. In 1990, Chicago brought up 22-year-old rookie Frank Thomas. The future Hall of Famer played 51 games at first base and slugged his way to a .330/.454/.529 line as the surprising White Sox surged into second place.

With Parker gone, Oakland added right-handed pitcher Reggie Harris from Boston in the Rule 5 draft. “We might be able to keep Harris,” A’s pitching coach Dave Duncan said. “We’ll have to see how he does during spring training. All we know now is we’ve got a good athlete with a good arm. Maybe we can work with him.”22

With Oakland, Harris went 1-0 with a 3.48 ERA in 1990, the best of his six seasons. The 26th pick overall by the Red Sox in the 1987 draft, Harris would finish his career with a 2-3 record and a 4.91 ERA.

Two other Rule 5 picks proved to be productive players. Plucked from the Padres, Shane Mack hit .299 over a nine-year career and started in right field for the 1991 World Series champion Minnesota Twins. Picked from the Pirates, righty Bill Sampen won 12 games for Montreal in 1990 and 9 in 1991. When he slumped in 1992, the Expos packaged him in a deal with Kansas City for Sean Berry, who made the majority of starts at third base in Montreal for three seasons, including 1994, when the Expos had the best record in the majors.

Minus the more obscure Harris, Boston went after a reliever with a much more impressive pedigree, closer Jeff Reardon, whose agent “expects teams who lose out in the bidding war for National League Cy Young winner Mark Davis to enter into the Reardon hunt.”23

After criticizing California for paying Langston, Lou Gorman quipped, “I haven’t looked at the breakdown of what we’ve offered”24 Reardon, thereby making the Boston GM appear clueless rather than hypocritical.

Simultaneously, Boston rejected two fascinating trades with Montreal. “The Expos were willing to send outfielder Tim Raines and lefty Zane Smith to the Red Sox for Mike Greenwell, and also proposed a package of third baseman Tim Wallach and Smith for Wade Boggs,” reported the Boston Globe.25

Leaving Minnesota, the right-handed Reardon took the Boston offer of $6.8 million over three years. A native of Dalton, Massachusetts, Reardon gushed, “I started pitching when I was 6, 7 years old. That’s all I ever dreamed was pitching for the Red Sox. I’m so excited to be putting on the uniform. … I don’t even know how to describe it.”26 Reardon said he didn’t understand why the Twins didn’t offer him a third year: “I am a little surprised after what I did for them. Being 34 years old, I guess that was a factor to them.”27

Minnesota chose to re-sign slugging first baseman Kent Hrbek over Reardon. Twins general manager Andy MacPhail said, “We’re going to miss Jeff, there’s no doubt about that. He was instrumental in leading us to a world championship. … We just didn’t feel we could afford to give Jeff that kind of a contract, but with Kent, we had to. He’s 29 years old and his prime years are still ahead of him.”28

MacPhail made the right decision. Reardon had two solid years in Boston before slumping in 1992, when the Sox traded him to Atlanta. Meanwhile, Hrbek played five more seasons for Minnesota and helped the Twins win the 1991 World Series.

Rather than complementing Randy Myers, the Mets moved him to the Reds for pitcher John Franco. Presumably referring more to their star power than to their good looks, New York Vice President Joe McIlvaine called the exchange “the trading of beauty queens,”29 while the “acquisition of Myers … freed the Reds to deal [Norm] Charlton, who relieved [in 1989] after starting the previous summer.”30

Sometimes the best trades are the ones that do not happen. The Cubs failed to persuade the Reds to cash in Charlton, a key component along with Myers and Rob Dibble of the Cincinnati Nasty Boys bullpen that keyed the Reds victory in the 1990 World Series.

Likewise, “[T]he Phillies and Yankees and Angels weren’t offering the White Sox wonderful players for Bobby Thigpen.”31 Saving 57 games, Thigpen had a career year in 1990, when he finished fourth in the Cy Young Award voting and fifth in the MVP race.

Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Verdi criticized the White Sox’ failure to act more aggressively: “We wonder why the White Sox bothered to attend the winter meetings in Nashville. Were they: (a) There to ask Emmylou Harris if she would sing the National Anthem on Opening Day April 2? (b) There to determine whether Merle Haggard can play third base? (c) There hoping for an Elvis sighting?”32

If making moves wins games, then San Diego would have had a splendid 1990 season. Since the Indians “couldn’t bribe Carter into putting up with the indignity of playing in Cleveland and had to trade him or lose him,”33 San Diego obtained him for Sandy Alomar, infielder Carlos Baerga, and outfielder Chris James. “It wasn’t a tough decision,” Carter said. “The situation is right — a contending team, they have a chance to win it all, and it’s a great place to play baseball.”34

The maestro of the deal, Padres GM Jack McKeon, got his man as part of “a dawn-to-dusk performance December 6 and December 7 at the Opryland Hotel, [where] he juggled about 50 telephone calls, a half-dozen television interviews and went through 18 cigars as he landed Carter and two free agents, outfielder Fred Lynn and lefthanded reliever Craig Lefferts.”35

While few liked the trade from the Cleveland perspective, Indians President Hank Peters expressed guarded optimism: “We know Carter will be an impact player in San Diego, but we’d like to think the players we acquired will have some impact, too.”36

Peters called Alomar “our No. 1 catcher. We’ve already had three or four offers for him.”37

In 1990, Carter hit just .232/.290/.391 in his lone season for the Padres, but finished 17th in the MVP balloting. Meanwhile, Alomar won Rookie of the Year in 1990, played 11 seasons for Cleveland, and made six All-Star teams. Less heralded, Baerga played eight seasons for the Indians and made three All-Star teams. Trading Joe Carter put Cleveland on the path to becoming an AL powerhouse during the 1990s.

While the Indians picked up position players, other AL teams tweaked their pitching staffs.

Feeling short-changed by the Red Sox, flamboyant right-hander Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd left Boston for Montreal. “It wasn’t like Montreal gave me a billion-dollar deal or anything like that,” he said. “Montreal told me they wanted me, and that was the difference.”38

The Expos had to take the players they could get and find creative ways to compensate them, including incentive pay at a time when the Players Association rejected an industrywide approach that would tie all salaries to statistical rankings.39 “We’re not going to sign the big guys, just because they’re going to sign where the weather’s warm and the dollars are abundant,” said Montreal general manager Dave Dombrowski. “Also, you’re dealing with the perception of Canada being a foreign country and all the difficulties associated with that.”40

Boyd signed for a “guaranteed $400,000, [and] will earn an additional $100,000 for every 30 days … on the roster … plus $100,000 for each of five levels of games started or innings pitched, beginning at 24 starts or 140 innings and reaching 32 starts or 220 innings,” the New York Times reported. “… Whatever Boyd makes … a tax equalization clause will pay him an extra 5 percent.”41

Boyd won 10 games for the 1990 Expos, finishing third in the NL with three shutouts.

The big-money Yankees made two trades, which did little for the New Yorkers but provided key parts for both 1990 NL division champions. In Nashville, the Yankees picked up right-handed pitchers Jeff Robinson and Willie Smith from Pittsburgh in exchange for catcher Don Slaught. “We really targeted Slaught,” said manager Jim Leyland. “We thought he was the best available.”42

“I can’t believe the Yankees got both those pitchers for Slaught,” said Syd Thrift, former general manager of both the Yankees and Pirates. “Robinson’s one of the best set-up men if used in that role and Smith has a great arm. He has a chance to be a heckuva closer.”43

Robinson pitched well for New York in 1990, but an above-average set-up man proved of little use to the worst Yankee team (by winning percentage) since 1913. New York released Smith in 1992 without his ever having appeared for the big-league club.

By contrast, Slaught hit .305 over six seasons in Pittsburgh, which took the NL East crown in each of his first three years with the club, thanks in part due to its effective backstopping duo of the left-handed-hitting Mike LaValliere and the right-handed-swinging Slaught.

In the second deal, the Yankees got right-handed pitcher Tim Leary and minor-league outfielder Van Snider from the Reds for two prospects, right-hander Rodney Imes and first baseman Hal Morris.

The “ace” of the 1990 Yanks, Leary went 9-19, leading the AL in losses and wild pitches. In his three seasons in pinstripes, Leary had an 18-35 record with a 5.12 ERA.

Morris, meanwhile, raked for the Reds for a decade, piling up 1,030 hits and a .305 average. In 1990, he finished third in the voting for Rookie of the Year with a .340/.381/.498 line and started all nine playoff games as Cincinnati won the World Series.

While much of the chitter-chatter at the 1989 winter meetings in Nashville dealt with money, the offseason maneuverings and the subsequent 1990 season proved that the teams with the most dollars do not necessarily triumph on the field.

Notes

1 Jerome Holtzman, “Owners, Players Begin Posturing,” Chicago Tribune, December 7, 1989.

2 Murray Chass, “Union Wonders if It Can Trust Owners,” New York Times, December 7, 1989.

3 Jerome Holtzman, “Collusion ‘scar’ triggers players’ militancy now,” Chicago Tribune, December 8, 1989.

4 Murray Chass, “Players and Owners Taking Divergent Courses in Talks,” New York Times, December 8, 1989.

5 Dave Nightingale, “Good News, and Bad, About 1990,” The Sporting News, December 18, 1989.

6 Jerome Holtzman, “Showered With Millions, Players Still Rip Owners,” Chicago Tribune, December 10, 1989.

7 Peter Pascarelli, “If Owners Cry Economic Doom, Ignore ’Em,” The Sporting News, December 18, 1989.

8 Ken Willis, “Expansion Freeze Leaves DB Cold,” Daytona Beach News-Journal, December 7, 1989.

9 “Artiaga: Minors Going First Class,” The Sporting News, December 18, 1989.

10 An analysis of this 103-page document lies beyond the scope of this article, but interested readers can find the 1990-1993 Basic Agreement linked at research.sabr.org/business/resources/documents/category/1-agreements-and-settlements# (accessed November 27, 2015).

11 Jerome Holtzman, “Disparity Growing Among Ownership,” Chicago Tribune, December 5, 1989.

12 Andrew Bagnato, “Cubs Taking a Casual Approach,” Chicago Tribune, December 1, 1989.

13 Michael Martinez, “Mets Feel Little Trade Urgency,” New York Times, December 1, 1989.

14 Steve Fainaru, “Angels Dish out $16M: Langston Signed to Five-Year Deal,” Boston Globe, December 2, 1989.

15 Murray Chass, “In Bizarre Free Agency, Whitey Ford Would Break the Bank,” New York Times, December 3, 1989.

16 Steve Fainaru, “Lamp Deal Hits a Snag; Expos Hinting That They’ll Make a Bid for Free Agent Boyd,” Boston Globe, December 4, 1989.

17 Steve Fainaru, “Sox Focusing In on Hrbek? Twin May Welcome Change,” Boston Globe, December 4, 1989.

18 Steve Fainaru, “One Small Trade; Many Big Rumors,” Boston Globe, December 5, 1989.

19 Ben Walker, Associated Press, “Milwaukee Signs Dave Parker,” Los Angeles Times, December 4, 1989.

20 Alan Solomon, “Parker Fills 3 Needs for Milwaukee,” Chicago Tribune, December 4, 1989.

21 Andrew Bagnato and Alan Solomon, “Yount, Lefferts Get ‘Substantial’ Offers,” Chicago Tribune, December 4, 1989.

22 Steve Fainaru, “A’s Snag Harris From Sox,” Boston Globe, December 5, 1989.

23 Steve Fainaru and Nick Cafardo, “Expos Appear to Be Serious about Boyd,” Boston Globe, December 5, 1989. After the winter meetings, Davis signed a four-year contract with the Royals for $13 million.

24 Nick Cafardo, “Red Sox Playing Hardball: Local Ties May Lure Reardon; Hrbek Offer in $10 Million Range,” Boston Globe, December 6, 1989.

25 Nick Cafardo and Steve Fainaru, “Expos’ Bids for Greenwell, Boggs Fail,” Boston Globe, December 6, 1989.

26 Steve Fainaru, “They’re Making Pitch,” Boston Globe, December 7, 1989.

27 Nick Cafardo, “Reardon Signs On With Red Sox: He Inks Three-Year Deal,” Boston Globe, December 7, 1989.

28 Nick Cafardo, “Hrbek Takes Twins’ 5-Year Plan,” Boston Globe, December 7, 1989.

29 Dan Castellano, “‘Trading of Beauty Queens’ Sends Franco to New York,” The Sporting News, December 18, 1989.

30 Andrew Bagnato, “Cubs; Deal With the Reds Comes Apart,” Chicago Tribune, December 7, 1989.

31 Andrew Bagnato and Alan Solomon, “Free-Agent ‘Show’ Helps Put Cubs, Sox on Hold,” Chicago Tribune, December 10, 1989.

32 Bob Verdi, “Someone Please Wake Up the Sox,” Chicago Tribune, December 16, 1989.

33 Alan Solomon, “Million-Dollar Question: Why No More Trades?” Chicago Tribune, December 8, 1989.

34 Steve Fainaru, “Carter Goes to Padres,” Boston Globe, December 7, 1989.

35 Barry Bloom, “Trader Jack a Live Wire,” The Sporting News, December 18, 1989.

36 Moss Klein, “Free Agency Takes Big Bite Out of Dyn-A’s-ty,” The Sporting News, December 18, 1989.

37 Sheldon Ocker, “Indians,” The Sporting News, December 18, 1989.

38 Steve Fainaru, “Boyd Accepts One-Year Offer From Montreal,” Boston Globe, December 8, 1989.

39 Murray Chass, “Players Still Seem Cool to Pay-for-Performance,” New York Times, December 9, 1989. The issue persisted beyond the Nashville winter meetings. In an article that appeared on the last day that the collective-bargaining agreement remained in force, Chass wrote, “[O]wners … will push their pay-for-performance system of salaries for players now eligible for salary arbitration. They would much rather have a statistical scale set salaries than have arbitrators do it or have themselves do it faced with the predictable uncertainty of arbitration.” Murray Chass, “Arbitration a Key to Negotiations,” New York Times, December 31, 1989.

40 Alan Solomon, “Sox Forced to Sell Nostalgia and Hope,” Chicago Tribune, December 17, 1989. While born in the United States, the author of this article can confirm the accuracy of “the perception of Canada being a foreign country,” since for those not born there, Canada is a foreign country.

41 Murray Chass, “As Lockout Threat Looms, Players Lock Up Big Bonuses,” New York Times, December 17, 1989.

42 John Mehno, “Pirates,” The Sporting News, December 18, 1989.

43 Bill Madden, “Yankees,” The Sporting News, December 18, 1989.

This article examines long balls hit on Canadian soil. Over the years, Canadian home runs have included baseballs in the public pool adjacent to right field at Jarry Park, balls rolling forever on the football field at Exhibition Stadium, and shots under the roof at Olympic Stadium and the Skydome/Rogers Centre. At the end of the 2010 season, 9,816 long balls had been hit in Canada during regular season MLB games, with an extra 44 hit in playoff games.

The first section examines the history of the record and the leaders. In the second section, we look at Canadians homering in their homeland. 

CANADIAN HOME RUN RECORD: PROGRESSION AND LEADERBOARDS

Major League Baseball crossed the border for the first time on April 14, 1969, when the St. Louis Cardinals took on the Montreal Expos at Jarry Park. Veteran Mack Jones became the first to homer in Canada, a three-run shot in the bottom of the first inning, off Nelson Briles. Dal Maxvill and Joe Torre later homered for the Cards in that game.

The left field bleachers were named Jonesville after Jones hit five dingers in their direction in the first 21 local games. However, by the end of that first season, he had been eclipsed by The Sporting News Rookie Hitter of the Year Coco Laboy and the first Expos star, Rusty Staub, who concluded the season with 12 home runs each in Montreal. Among visitors, Willie McCovey stole the spotlight with four home runs in six games. His most memorable one came the following year however, when he skied a pitch from Steve Renko clear over the scoreboard in right field, a shot described as terrifying by the Montreal Gazette.[fn]Ted Blackman, “Expos split with Giants,” Montreal Gazette, 25 July 1970.[/fn] A decade later, McCovey would hit the 521st and last home run of his career, a solo shot off Scott Sanderson, in Olympic Stadium.

In 1970, with Laboy suffering from a severe case of sophomore slump, Jones and Staub exchanged the career lead in Canadian home runs. Le Grand Orange eventually prevailed, taking the lead for good on August 1.

Staub set records in 1971, with 15 Canadian home runs during the season and 40 for his career. However, he was traded to the Mets before the start of the 1972 season. The 1971 season also saw a new leader among visitors. Joe Torre became the first to hit five Canadian home runs in a season, bringing his career total to eight. In 1972, it was Willie Stargell’s turn to hit five home runs at Jarry Park, allowing him to steal the visitors’ career lead from Torre. He was by far the most prolific visiting slugger of the Jarry Park era, with 17 homeruns. While many of the home runs that ended in the public pool that sat beyond the right field scoreboard actually rolled into it, Stargell is famous for his July 16, 1969, long ball off Dan McGinn that landed in the middle of the pool.[fn]Bill Christine, “Pirates win despite rash of goof-ups,” Pittsburgh Press, 17 July 1969.[/fn]

With Staub traded, first baseman/outfielder Ron Fairly did the most damage among local players. Acquired from the Dodgers midway through the 1969 season, Fairly took over the lead from Staub on April 17, 1973, with his 41st home run. Traded to the Cards after the 1974 season, he ended his Expos career with 58 home runs at Jarry Park, more than anybody else, against only 28 on the road during that period. In fact three of the four visiting leaders and three of the four overall leaders at Jarry were left-handed hitters like Fairly.

The 1977 season saw two major changes for Canadian baseball. Olympic Stadium replaced Jarry Park in Montreal and MLB added a second Canadian franchise, the Toronto Blue Jays. Major League Baseball made its debut in Toronto on April 7 in Exhibition Park. Jays’ first baseman Doug Ault stole the show that day, hitting his first two major league home runs, both off Ken Brett of the White Sox. Al Woods added a pinch-hit shot for the Jays and Richie Zisk became the first visitor to homer in Toronto.

Among those original Blue Jays was Ron Fairly. He set many Canadian firsts that year, including being the first to represent both Canadian franchises at the All-Star game. More importantly for our purposes, Fairly also became the first to homer for both franchises, and by season’s end, he was the career leader in home runs for both Montreal and Toronto, upping his Canadian long-ball total to 68. That would be his final tally, as he was traded to the Angels after the season, never homering again in Canada.

Among visitors, Yankee Cliff Johnson made the best impression with a three-home run game in June, followed by a pair of home runs in a September game. That display of power probably played a role in the Jays’ decision to acquire him for the 1983 season. He briefly held the visitors’ record in Toronto, but in the end, Red Sox slugger Jim Rice emerged as the most prolific visiting slugger at Exhibition Stadium, with 18.

While the Jays were taking their first steps, future star Gary Carter was welcoming the Big O in major fashion. He hit 22 home runs in Montreal in 1977, shattering the record for most Canadian home runs in a year. Carter was far from done, and on April 21, 1981, Carter left a Canadian yard for the 69th time, making him the lone Canadian home run king. When the Kid connected off reliever Alejandro Pena of the Dodgers on May 30, 1984, he became the first to reach 100 Canadian home runs. Carter was traded to the Mets after the season. He came back to the Expos in 1992 and hit his final two Canadian home runs, ending his career with 121 home runs in Canada, all in Montreal.

For the Olympic Stadium’s first few years of existence, no visiting slugger really made much of an impression there. As late as 1980, the leading visitor was Mets journeyman John Stearns. Willie Stargell tried to carry his dominating performances to the new stadium, even as he struggled through the last moments of his career. On May 20, 1978, he hit the longest homerun ever struck at the Big O, a 535-foot shot to right field that landed in the second deck.[fn]Associated Press, “Stargell explodes on Expos,” 21 May 1978.[/fn] When Stargell retired, the Expos offered him a stadium seat to commemorate that home run, with the actual seat where the ball landed being painted yellow. Stargell was also given a life preserver by the City of Montreal, in memory of all the swimmers he chased from the pool at Jarry Park.[fn]Russ Francke, “Wallach’s Blast Decisive in Battle for Respectability,” Pittsburgh Press, 25 September 1982[/fn] 

Then Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt emerged as the most feared visitor in Montreal. On August 7, 1984, Schmidt hit his 23rd career Canadian home run, allowing him to take the lead from Stargell. Schmidt continued to make a habit of profiting from his trips north of the border, ending his career with 32 Canadian home runs, all in Montreal. This number includes the home run he hit against Stan Bahnsen in the next-to-last game of the 1980 season, knocking the Expos out of the pennant race.

Olympic Stadium was the theatre of home run controversy early in its existence. In June 1977, a monster shot by Dave Kingman seemed destined to the seats when the blast hit the concrete rim, 150 feet above the playing field. Umpire Bruce Froemming called it a foul, to the dismay of the Mets.5 For the following home-stand, a line was painted on the rim to designate foul territory and prevent a reoccurrence.[fn]Montreal Gazette, “Clubhouse not ready for Expos,” 16 June 1977.[/fn] Darryl Strawberry, on opening day 1988 off Randy St. Claire,[fn]Joe Sexton, “Strawberry’s Home Runs: Going, Going, Still Going,” New York Times, 1 August 1988.[/fn] and Henry Rodriguez, in 1997 off the Tigers’ Brian Moehler, were the only ones to hit the rim for a home run.[fn]Associated Press, “Expos’ streak reaches 9 in a row,” 16 June 1997.[/fn] Both shots were estimated at 525 feet.

The early 1980s saw the first playoff games in Canadian territory. The Expos qualified for the postseason in the 1981 strike season. During the Division series, the Phillies’ Keith Moreland hit the first Canadian postseason home run. Carter homered in Game 2, and the Expos won the series to move to the League Championship series against the Dodgers. Jerry White hit a crucial round-tripper for the Expos in Game 3, but the big home run, certainly the most famous long ball ever hit in Montreal, came in the decisive Game 5. In the top of the 9th, with ace Steve Rogers coming out of the bullpen, Rick Monday hit the circuit blast that sent the Dodgers to the World Series. The Jays qualified for the 1985 postseason, but were beaten by the Royals in the ALCS without homering at home. Surprisingly, Royals’ outfielder Pat Sheridan, who had only three long balls in the regular season, became the first to have two career Canadian postseason home runs with a pinch-hit shot in Game Two and a crucial home run in Game Seven.

Two outfielders had parallel success stories in Canada in the 1980s: Andre Dawson and Jesse Barfield. Both had great careers in Canada, but were traded away just before reaching 100 career Canadian home runs. Both achieved the feat as visitors during the 1989 season. Dawson reached it first on June 18, with the Cubs, as he homered off Mark Langston. Barfield followed on August 6, as he took Todd Stottlemyre deep, a few months after he was traded to the Yankees. Both players retired with 102 Canadian dingers. Barfield was also the home run king at Exhibition Stadium, with 99 long balls.

The 1989 season also marked the opening, on June 5, of the SkyDome in Toronto. Exhibition Stadium had closed in grand fashion with a walkoff home run by George Bell off Bobby Thigpen of the White Sox on May 28. Fred McGriff was the first to homer in the new park, marking the start of a golden age in Jays history. After competing for the home run lead with Kelly Gruber, who hit a record 23 in Canada in 1990, McGriff was traded at year end to the Padres for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter, two players who would become key to the Jays’ future. 

Carter made an immediate impact. He tied Gruber’s season record during the 1991 season, and followed that with two seasons of 20-plus local home runs. After unsuccessful postseason campaigns in 1989 and 1991, the Jays won back-to-back World Series championships in 1992–1993. Carter hit four home runs in Toronto during those two playoffs runs, for the career lead. Of course, this includes the most memorable Canadian home run, his walk-off shot against Mitch Williams that ended the 1993 World Series. This is still the last postseason game played on Canadian soil.

Joe Carter continued his slugging ways and on August 6, 1997, he became the lone Canadian home run king with his 122nd home run, a shot off the Indians’ Jaret Wright, moving him past Gary Carter. Joe Carter left the Jays after the 1997 season, and ended his career after one more season, split between the Orioles and Giants. He concluded his career with 127 Canadian home runs.

Slugger Jose Canseco made his mark in Toronto during his eventful career. In the 1989 American League Championship Series, he blasted a Mike Flanagan pitch into the fifth deck of the Skydome. The official estimate put the distance at 480 feet, but teammate Rickey Henderson evaluated the shot at 600 feet.[fn]Thomas Boswell, “O Say Can You See Where Jose’s Homer Landed in the SkyDome,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9 October 1989.[/fn] In mid-1997, he broke Jim Rice’s record of 18 home runs as a visitor in Toronto. The next season, he was signed by the Jays, with whom he had a monster year, breaking the season-record with 25 Canadian home runs. He finished his career with 25 home runs as a visitor in Canada, all but one in Toronto.

Two young and powerful hitters dominated the Canadian baseball scene in the late 90s and early 00s: Vladimir Guerrero in Montreal and Carlos Delgado in Toronto. Delgado got a regular gig in 1996, Guerrero in 1997. At that point, MLB had introduced interleague play, and both homered in the first Canada-only MLB game when the Expos visited the Jays on June 30, 1997. Guerrero was the season leader for home runs in Montreal six straight years, from 1998 to 2003, topping at 25 in 2000. Delgado reached 30 home runs in Toronto that same year, shattering Canseco’s record. It was the first of five times that Delgado was Toronto’s yearly leader between 1997 and 2004. Delgado reached the 100 home run plateau first, on August 6, 2000, by going deep against the Rangers’ Ryan Glynn. Guerrero followed a year and a half later, on April 16, 2002, with a shot off Jesus Sanchez of the Cubs.

That same season, Delgado became the undisputed Canadian home run champ, eclipsing the mark held by Joe Carter. He broke the Canadian record with his 128th home run on August 29. His iconic moment came on September 25, 2003, when he went deep four times in the same game against the Rays.

During this period, baseball was in its dying days in Montreal. The club had been purchased by the league in 2002, and in 2003 and 2004 a number of home games were moved to Puerto Rico. The team was put out of its misery with a transfer to Washington in time for the start of the 2005 season. Guerrero, set to become a free agent after the 2003 season, just managed to pass Gary Carter for the Montreal lead. He hit his 122nd home run, the one that put him ahead, on August 25, with a mere 10 home dates left.

Delgado left the Jays after the 2004 season and he did not homer in Toronto in the few opportunities he had before retiring, his Canadian total stopping at 178. Replacing Delgado as the main power threat in Toronto, Vernon Wells has climbed the rankings, becoming the 7th player to reach 100 career Canadian home runs on September 4, 2008, with Canadian-born Jesse Crain of the Twins the victim. Traded to the Angels after the 2010 season, Wells sits in third place, with 129 long balls. He is only eight behind Vladimir Guerrero, but needs an even 50 to dislodge Delgado.

The latest movement atop the Canadian home run leaderboards came courtesy of Alex Rodriguez. He established himself as the most successful visiting slugger in Toronto with his 25th home run late in the 2005 season. During the last game of 2010 at Rogers Centre, on September 29, he took a Brett Cecil pitch to deep left-center field to move ahead of Mike Schmidt and become the visitor with the most home runs in Canada (33). Among these shots we find a July 2008 home run, the 537th of his career, the blow which moved him ahead of Mickey Mantle on the all-time list.

Tables 1 and 2 below present the lead changes for career home runs in Canada.

Tables 3 and 4 list the top 20 for home runs in Canada, globally and for visitors.

Table 3 contains the usual suspects, the Expos and Jays stars. Darrin Fletcher is possibly one name that would not immediately come to mind, as he split evenly his 60 career home runs between Montreal and Toronto. A-Rod should build a considerable lead in the next few years, as no active player seems likely to catch him. Most of the greatest sluggers of the past 40 years found their way on the list. Among the absentees, Mark McGwire, Jim Thome, and Frank Thomas have the excuse of spending their careers in the wrong division, while Reggie Jackson was mostly in the wrong league altogether. The only ones that missed the cut due to subpar performances in Canada are Sammy Sosa (15 home runs in 304 plate appearances), Eddie Murray (14 home runs in 481 PA) and Jeff Bagwell (10 home runs in 284 PA).

The surprising name on the list is catcher Tony Pena, who has only 107 career home runs in total. He was particularly effective in Montreal, with 16 home runs in 288 plate appearances. Outside Canada, he had 89 home runs in 6,672 PA. Pena was one of the many non-star players who particularly enjoyed hitting up north. The most extreme split probably belongs to Nelson Santovenia. He played all but six of his 297 career games for the Expos. In 460 plate appearances at Olympic Stadium, he had a .277 average with 15 home runs and a .457 slugging percentage, very good numbers for a backstop. However, away from Montreal, he struggled to a .195 batting average in 512 plate appearances, with 7 home runs and a .283 slugging percentage. Another interesting outlier is Doug Loman, infielder for the Brewers, who hit the only two home runs of his career in the same September 1984 game at Exhibition Stadium.

In this table, we find the names of Dave Winfield and Dave Parker, both of whom share a unique feat: they are the only players to hit home runs in all four Canadian stadiums. Many homered in three stadiums, but as Jarry Park closed after the 1976 season and SkyDome opened during the 1989 season, it took a long career, as well as switches between the two leagues, to achieve that feat. 

THINK GLOBALLY, SLUG LOCALLY

Surprisingly, the number of Canadians hitting home runs on their native soil is slight. No Canadian homered at Jarry Park, and we had to wait until 1980 to see this for the first time, when Terry Puhl homered for the Astros in Montreal. Here is the complete list of Canadians homering in their country.

Not surprisingly, Larry Walker and Matt Stairs stand tall in this section. Walker and Rob Ducey are the only ones to homer in both Montreal and Toronto. A greater surprise is that there are only three Canadians who ever homered in Montreal.[fn]For more details on Canadians homering in Canada, see Matchett, David, Homering in the Home Land, mimeo.[/fn]

CLOSING COMMENTS

With the Expos’ history complete after 36 seasons and the Blue Jays in their 35th season, we are at a quasi-symmetric moment in Canadian MLB history. Obviously, each passing season reduces the presence of Montreal and the Expos in the leaderboards. The Blue Jays have been atop the Canadian home run list since 1997, first with Joe Carter, then with Carlos Delgado.

With the trade of Vernon Wells, we also enter a new era dominated by the surprising Jose Bautista, who shattered the season record with 33 home runs in Toronto in 2010. Bautista entered the 2011 season with 40 career Canadian homeruns and a guaranteed contract with the Jays up to the 2015 season. Bautista would need to average 28 home runs in Toronto per season to catch up to Delgado before the end of the contract.[fn]More precisely, his contract contains a team option for the 2016 season. If Bautista averages anywhere near 28 Canadian home runs a year, that option will certainly be picked up. He would still need an average of 23 home runs over these six years.[/fn] While that seems unlikely, he is currently the most serious challenger for the Canadian home run crown. And with rookie Brett Lawrie in the lineup, the Blue Jays now have a Canadian power hitter who could challenge Larry Walker’s mark.

CHRISTIAN TRUDEAU is an assistant professor of Economics at University of Windsor, Ontario. The Quebec native and orphaned Montreal Expos fan just had to look across the river for a new team to cheer for, the Detroit Tigers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Data compiled from the Baseball-Reference website, www.baseball-reference.com, which includes the Tattersall/McConnell homerun database. Special thanks to William Young who helped improve the article. 

A third of a century has passed since the Dodgers commemorated their centennial – 100 years since joining the National League in 1890, the year they consider their founding. The anniversary was highlighted by a midsummer Old-Timers Weekend held at Dodger Stadium, which included a private luncheon for former players and coaches on Saturday, June 30, and an exhibition on Sunday, July 1, 1990, before the regularly scheduled game against the St. Louis Cardinals. The largest number of former Dodgers to appear at an Old-Timers Game, before or since, assembled that weekend. The specific theme was a salute to the Dodgers’ 21 National League pennant-winning teams. Players from 16 teams who went to the World Series between 1941 and 1988, including six that won the Series, attended.1

The first group of retired players began to show up at the ballpark on Friday evening, June 29, a night that would go down in Dodger annals. Carl Erskine and Rex Barney were among those looking on as Fernando Valenzuela, the 1981 National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award winner, on this summer evening twirled a no-hitter, something both Erskine and Barney had accomplished with Brooklyn. Then in his 10th season with the ballclub, Valenzuela beat St. Louis Cardinals pitcher José DeLeón, 6-0. The Dodgers offense was sparked by a three-hit night from Lenny Harris and home runs by Hubie Brooks and Juan Samuel.2

Valenzuela’s was the 20th no-hitter in Dodgers history, and the first thrown by a Dodgers pitcher since Jerry Reuss held the Giants hitless in 1980. It also was the first at Dodger Stadium since Bill Singer denied the Phillies a hit on July 20, 1970.3 Valenzuela’s gem nearly evaporated in the top of the ninth inning. With a runner on first and one out, former Dodger Pedro Guerrero hit a grounder that Valenzuela deflected with his glove and second baseman Samuel converted into a game-ending double play. With the last out recorded, Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully advised listeners, “If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky!”4

Remarkably, earlier in the day, Valenzuela’s former teammate and friend, Dave Stewart, of the Oakland Athletics, hurled a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays. As of 2023, this was the only time in big-league history that two no-hitters were thrown on the same day. And on Sunday, Andy Hawkins of the New York Yankees pitched an eight-inning no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox but in a losing cause, 4-0; in 1991 he also “lost” the no-hitter, when a major-league rule change asserted that a game must go at least a full nine innings to be classified as a no-hitter.5

On Saturday afternoon, June 30, the Dodgers hosted a private luncheon for former players and coaches in the posh Stadium Club, perched high above right field, where old acquaintances were renewed and days of glory recalled. Erskine kidded with Dodgers President Peter O’Malley’s sister Terry Seidler: “Peter paid for a hotel room, meals, plane tickets, game tickets, and chauffeur service to get me here. That’s more than your dad (Walter O’Malley) paid me to play for him.”6 Don Drysdale, who was by this time a member of the Dodgers broadcasting crew, served as the luncheon’s emcee, and after viewing a four-minute video encapsulating a century of the team’s history, told those gathered, “I wish I could put everything in a time capsule and keep it just the way it was.”7

Sunday afternoon was set aside for the Old-Timers Game. There was nothing particularly new about Old-Timers Games. In fact, MLB historian John Thorn traced the earliest one to have been played at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1875.8 The Yankees have famously held an annual Old-Timers Day continuously since 1947 and as of 2023 were the only big-league team that carried on the tradition. It appears the Dodgers held their first Old-Timers Game at Ebbets Field in August 1932, and held another in September 1936, the latter ostensibly to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National League.9 Four years later, in September 1940, the Dodgers brought back nearly 40 of their former players for a three-inning old-timers exhibition. It was the last one held in Brooklyn.10

Thirty-one seasons passed before the Dodgers hosted their next Old-Timers Day. In their 14th season on the West Coast, in 1971, the Dodgers brought 34 of their former players back to Chavez Ravine.11 It became an annual promotion for the next 25 seasons, often centered on a specific theme or commemoration of an anniversary, such as their first year in Los Angeles, a World Series championship team, their first year in Dodger Stadium, the retirement of a uniform number, and so forth. The 1990 event, in fact, was the 20th consecutive season the Dodgers staged an Old-Timers Game. There would be five more through 1995.

By 1990, Equitable Insurance had not only become a sponsor of the Dodgers Old-Timers Game but held one in each big-league ballpark.12 On July 1, 1990, fans cheered on their favorite players of seasons past at Dodger Stadium. Before a crowd of just under 40,000 fans, 86 Dodgers alumni from both the Brooklyn and Los Angeles eras emerged from the dugout and stood along the baselines and were introduced to the crowd, and assembled afterward for a team photo. Veteran backstop Rick Dempsey, age 40, was summoned from the dugout to join the group photograph to represent the 1988 champions.13

Tom Pagnozzi and Bob Tewksbury were among the Cardinals collecting autographs from some of the famed Dodgers, and Tewksbury, an amateur artist, recorded the day in his sketch pad. Cardinals coach and Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst was asked about his impressions in seeing many of his old rivals on the field again. “Those old goats used to slide into my legs and knock me down. My legs started hurting when I got here, so I knew there was going to be an Old-Timers game,” he joked.14

Then it was time to play ball. The Dodgers divided into two teams and, amid all the on-field antics expected of them, somehow played three innings. For those interested, the highlights included Derrell Griffith’s (1963-66) clutch double to drive in Al Ferrara (1963; 1965-68), and Tommy Davis’s (1959-1966) RBI single. It was fitting that both Ferrara and Davis had been born in Brooklyn. Seventy-four-year-old Mickey Owen (1941-45), the catcher who dropped the third strike with two outs in the ninth inning of Game Four in the 1941 World Series against the Yankees, made solid contact for a hit and drove in a run. Sandy Koufax (1955-1966) received the loudest ovation, and retired the two batters who faced him: Maury Wills (1959-1966; 1969-72) grounded out to third baseman Ron Cey (1971-82) and Ted Sizemore (1969-70; 1976) flied out to left fielder Lou Johnson (1965-1967). Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda took to the mound and received the crowd’s cheers while running over to cover first base on a dribbler hit by Dick Nen (1963). Lasorda was so excited about nipping the runner that in attempting to whip the ball around the infield, threw the ball wildly into the outfield.15

In the regular-season game that followed, the Dodgers took an early 5-0 lead against St. Louis. Dempsey arguably had his best performance all season – smashing two doubles and going 3-for-4 – in seeming defiance of time. But the Dodgers’ fortunes quickly changed, and the players began to resemble their “Daffiness Boys” antecedents rather than any of those league championship teams they had just finished honoring. In this game, the 1990 Dodgers exhibited mental lapses and committed physical errors, with a wild pitch, an errant pickoff throw, and strange baserunning thrown into the mix. Lenny Harris was picked off base for the first time in his major-league career – by, of course, a former Dodger, now Cardinal, Ricky Horton. Rubbing salt into the wound was another former Dodgers pitcher, Tom Niedenfuer, who, like Horton, shut the door on his old chums. The Cardinals came back to win, 6-5.16

The Dodgers shelved the annual Old-Timers Games after 1995. When asked why, the organization offered no official comment. After an 18-year absence, the Dodgers resumed Old-Timers Day for five seasons, between 2013 and 2017, but as of 2023 have not scheduled one since. Though every Old-Timers Game is special, those fortunate enough to attend the special event in the summer of 1990 were witness to the greatest assemblage of former Dodger players in their history before or since.17

GREG KING is a California-based public historian who attended his first game at Dodger Stadium in 1962, a 13-inning affair that produced a 2-1 LA win over the Reds and featured both managers being tossed. He and the late Woody Wilson co-founded SABR’s Dusty Baker – Sacramento Chapter in 1994.

Roster of Players and Coaches Introduced at Dodger Stadium on July 1, 1990

• Red Adams
• Don Drysdale
• Tommy Lasorda
• Dick Schofield
• Joey Amalfitano
• Carl Erskine
• Don LeJohn
• George Shuba
• Sandy Amoros
• Chuck Essegian
• Bill Loes
• Ted Sizemore
• Bob Aspromonte
• Joe Ferguson
• Ken McMullen
• Reggie Smith
• Monty Basgall
• Al Ferrara
• Mike G. Marshall
• Duke Snider
• Rex Barney
• Herman Franks
• Carmen Mauro
• Dick Teed
• Jim Baxes
• Augie Galan
• Joe Moeller
• Darrel Thomas
• Joe Beckwith
• Al Gionfriddo
• Manny Mota
• Arky Vaughan
• Carroll Beringer
• Dick Gray
• Dick Nen
• Ben Wade
• Joe Black
• Derrell Griffith
• Don Newcombe
• John Werhas
• Ralph Branca
• John Hale
• Nate Oliver
• Maury Wills
• Bobby Bragan
• Gene Hermanski
• Claude Osteen
• Steve Yeager
• Al Campanis
• Ben Hines
• Mickey Owen
• Geoff Zahn
• Jim Campanis
• Burt Hooton
• Danny Ozark
• Ron Cey
• Tommy John
• Ron Perranoski
• Eddie Chandler
• Lou Johnson
• Joe Pignatano
• Chuck Churn
• Tom “Spider” Jorgensen
• Johnny Podres
• Dolph Camilli
• Von Joshua
• Doug Rau
• Pete Coscarart
• Clyde King
• Phil Regan
• Willie Crawford
• John Kennedy
• Pete Richert
• Mark Cresse
• Clyde King
• Ed Roebuck
• Tommy Davis
• Sandy Koufax
• John Roseboro
• Willie Davis
• Clem Labine
• Jerry Royster
• Al Downing
• Lee Lacy
• Bill Russell
• Norm Larker

DANNY GALLAGHER played highly competitive baseball for 27 consecutive seasons from 1968-94 in adult leagues across Canada where he worked as a reporter. He has been covering major-league baseball since 1988 when he joined the staff of the Montreal Daily News. Over the years, Gallagher has written five books on the Expos, including his latest on the 1981 squad: Blue Monday: The Expos, The Dodgers and the Home Run That Changed Everything. Blue Monday was scheduled for release in the fall of 2018 by Dundurn Press. The softcover includes 74 interviews and will unveil secrets never told before. Danny co-authored Remembering the Montreal Expos and Ecstasy to Agony with fellow SABR member Bill Young. He lives in Uxbridge, Ontario with his wife Sherry.

Notes

1 1 Jacques Doucet and Marc Robitaille, Il Etait Une Fois Les Expos, Tome 1: Les Annees 1969-1984 (Montreal: Editions Hurtubise Inc., 2009), 28.

2 Danny Gallagher, You Don’t Forget Homers Like That: Memories of Strawberry, Cosby, and the Expos (Toronto: Scoop Press, 1997), 163.

3 Danny Gallagher and Bill Young, Remembering the Montreal Expos (Toronto: Scoop Press, 2005), 19.

4 Gallagher, You Don’t Forget Homers Like That, 164.

5 Gallagher, Remembering the Montreal Expos, 20.

6 Brian Schecter, ed., Les Expos, Nos Amours (Montreal: TV Labatt, 1989).

7 Gallagher, Remembering the Montreal Expos, 20.

8 Gallagher, Remembering the Montreal Expos, 21.

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid.

11 Gallagher, You Don’t Forget, 165.

12 Gallagher, You Don’t Forget, 166.

13 Schecter, Les Expos, Nos Amours.

14 Gallagher, You Don’t Forget, 164.

15 Gallagher, Remembering the Montreal Expos, 23.

16 Ibid.

17 Denis Brodeur and Daniel Caza, Les Expos du Parc Jarry au Stade Olympique (Montreal: Les Editions de l’Homme, 1996), 25.

18 Brodeur, 15.

19 Gallagher, Remembering the Montreal Expos, 60.

20 John Robertson, Rusty Staub of the Expos (Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall of Canada Inc., 1971), 91.

21 Gallagher, You Don’t Forget, 84.

22 Ibid.

23 Charles Bronfman and Howard Green, Distilled: A Memoir of Family, Seagram, Baseball, and Philanthropy (Toronto: Harper Collins Publishers, 2016), 76.

24 Gallagher, Remembering the Montreal Expos, 26.

25 Doucet, 72.

26 Gallagher, You Don’t Forget, 85.

27 Gallagher, Remembering the Montreal Expos, 26-27.

28 Gallagher, Remembering the Montreal Expos, 27.

29 Gallagher, You Don’t Forget, 86.

30 Brodeur, 47.

31 Gallagher, Remembering the Montreal Expos, 27.

32 Ibid.

33 Brodeur, 273.

34 Gallagher, You Don’t Forget, 87.

One of baseball’s highest-regarded feats is the cycle: “A single, double, triple, and home run (not necessarily in that order) hit by a player in the same game.”1 In the history of major league baseball (1876–2023) there have been 351 documented regular-season cycles, including seven in the Negro Leagues.2 The distribution of the starting defensive positions of the players who achieved these cycles is provided in Table 1.

No starting pitcher has ever achieved the feat.3 With the notable exception of Shohei Ohtani, pitchers have rarely batted since 1973 in the AL and since 2022 in the NL. Thus, the feat of achieving a cycle is limited to non-pitchers, and the cycle has become a de facto “Batter’s Cycle” (BC). What about pitchers? How about a cycle exclusively for pitchers?

The three principal goals of the research described in this article are:

1. Devise a viable definition for a Pitcher’s Cycle that is equivalent to the Batter’s Cycle.
2. Compile a list of all Pitcher’s Cycles from 1893 forward.
3. Highlight the special features and characteristics of the various Pitcher’s Cycles.

To pursue the first objective, I looked up various definitions for the word “cycle.” I wanted to adhere to the basic definition of a cycle, “a sequence of a recurring succession of events or phenomena,” and create an equivalent to the batter’s cycle: a series of pitching achievements commensurate to a batter collecting the series of types of safe hit.4 A batter’s primary objective is to get on base, which he can achieve entirely by himself by getting a safe hit, of which there are the four types. A pitcher’s primary objective is to retire the batter, which he can do entirely by himself by striking out the batter, who occupies one of the nine positions in the batting order.5

Since a regulation baseball game consists of nine innings, a seemingly reasonable cycle would require the pitcher to strike out at least one batter in each inning. However, this definition has a couple issues. First, not all games last nine innings. Some are shortened due to weather, some go into extra innings, and some forego the bottom of the ninth because the home team is ahead. This variability would lead to different categories of Pitcher’s Cycles, such as a six-inning PC or a seven-inning PC. Second, a player could achieve a PC by striking out a few players multiple times. While striking out at least one batter in each inning of a regulation nine-inning game is a noteworthy accomplishment, it doesn’t merit the same level of regard accorded to the BC.

Since there are nine different players in the batting lineup, a reasonable cycle would be for the pitcher to strike out each of the opposing batters at least once in a game. One difficulty with this idea is that a player could be replaced before the pitcher had a chance to face him. To address this circumstance, the concept can be modified slightly: the pitcher must strike out at least one batter from each of the nine recurring batting slots. This would still require the hurler to fan at least nine different batters in the same game. And since, in a regulation nine-inning game, the batting order recurs at least three times, adherence to the basic definition of a cycle is achieved. Furthermore, in striking out at least one player from each of the nine batting slots, the pitcher achieves a complete set (series) of strikeout victims.

Thus, my definition of a Pitcher’s Cycle: “The series of at least one player from each of the nine repeating batting slots (not necessarily in order) struck out by one pitcher in the same game.”

My definition of a Pitcher’s Cycle essentially paraphrases The Dickson Baseball Dictionary definition of a Batter’s Cycle.6 Similarly, while a batter hits for his cycle, a pitcher hurls for his cycle. A batter collects specific hits for his cycle while a pitcher collects specific strikeouts for his cycle. While the Pitcher’s Cycle requires a player to pitch at least three innings, it does not require the player to be a starting pitcher. Moreover, just like there is no limit to the number of plate appearances it takes a player to achieve the Batter’s Cycle, there is no limit to the number of innings it takes a player to achieve the Pitcher’s Cycle.7

With a viable definition of a Pitcher’s Cycle in place, the next step was identifying the players who accomplished the feat. The 1893 season was chosen as the starting point because that was the first year for the current 60’ 6″ distance between the pitcher’s rubber and home plate.

RESEARCH PROCEDURE

Since a player needs a minimum of nine strikeouts to accomplish the Pitcher’s Cycle, I started by generating a list of pitchers who amassed at least 9 strikeouts in an “ML” game. “ML” is enclosed in quotation marks to indicate that only the National, American, and Federal Leagues were considered for the research described in this article. My research on Pitcher’s Cycles achieved in the Negro Leagues has been initiated and the results will be disseminated as soon as possible.

For the 1893–1900 period, I utilized the game-by-game pitching statistics provided in the ICI (Information Concepts Incorporated) sheets, digitized versions of which were graciously provided to me by Retrosheet’s Dave Smith. For the 1901–2023 period, I used Baseball Reference’s indispensable Stathead search engine. I queried for pitchers with nine or more strikeouts, then examined the box score and play-by-play to ascertain the batting order of the victims.

There are 87 games from the 1901–1915 period for which the box scores omit strikeout information about the batters. Fortunately, Jonathan Frankel has done some phenomenal research on strikeouts for the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He graciously provided information that filled many of the gaps.8 Nonetheless, 54 games remain for which it has not yet been determined whether the pitcher achieved a Pitcher’s Cycle. See Supplement A below for pertinent information for these 54 games. Finally, John Rickert graciously wrote a computer program using the Retrosheet database to confirm the validity of my methodology for the 1901–2023 seasons.9

RESULTS

From 1893 to 2023, there were (at least) 483 Pitcher’s Cycles by 276 different players, along with 316 Batter’s Cycles by 279 different players.10 Despite a difference of 167, the two sums are in the same ballpark and have the same order of magnitude. Table 2 provides a decade-by-decade comparison and Figure 1 provides a graphical comparison of the corresponding cumulative numbers.

Table 2 shows that the bulk of the 167-cycle difference has occurred in the last few decades; starting in 1990 and picking up speed in 2010. Thus, while the number of Batter’s Cycles was greater than the number of Pitcher’s Cycles for nearly every decade up to the 1940s, the situation has been reversed since the 1950s. The total number of Pitcher’s Cycles surpassed the total number of Batter’s Cycles during the 1990s. From 1949 to 2019, home runs increased by 81.3% while strikeouts increased by 139.9%.11 Pitchers are throwing harder and batters are focused on exit velocity and launch angles. These changes unavoidably lead to more strikeouts and more Pitcher’s Cycles.

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Because the Pitcher’s Cycle is a new concept, it features several aspects that merit exposition, such as a team-by-team summary of PCs, the chronology of the career leaders, and postseason PCs. These topics and others are covered in the Appendix and Supplement below.12 The remainder of this article will focus on these four topics:

1. Relief Pitcher’s Cycles
2. Perfect Pitcher’s Cycles
3. Super Pitcher’s Cycles
4. The only major-league player with both a Batter’s Cycle and a Pitcher’s Cycle

1. RELIEF PITCHER’S CYCLES

As seen in Table 3, Six of the players who achieved a Pitcher’s Cycle did so in relief. Also, as described in Appendix G, Jesse Barnes earned a relief PC in the 1921 World Series.

Rube Marquard took over for Christy Mathewson after the first inning. Big Six pitched an uneventful first inning, but in the bottom of the frame, the Giants scored 13 runs. “Having the game on ice, [manager John] McGraw made several changes in his lineup. He took Mathewson out of the box, so as to save him for another game and he put Marquard in the box.”13 Marquard carved out his Pitcher’s Cycle as the Giants emerged victorious, 19–5. Mathewson was credited with the win and Marquard was retroactively credited with a save.14

Gene Conley essentially pitched a complete game that he did not start. Starter Seth Morehead got rocked by the Cubs in the first frame, allowing a single to leadoff batter Tony Taylor, hitting the next batter, George Altman, walking the third batter, Lee Walls, and surrendering a bases-clearing double to clean-up hitter Ernie Banks. Conley came in from the bullpen at this point. The fireman got next batter, Bobby Thomson, to fly out, but then yielded an RBI triple to John Goryl before striking out Alvin Dark and Cal Neeman. Conley pitched rest of game, striking out 11 and blanking the Cubs for nine innings (a full-route pseudo-shutout).15 Unfortunately, the Phillies were unable to overcome the first-inning deficit, losing 4–3. Morehead was charged with the loss. “Gene Conley pitched nine shutout innings for the Philadelphia Phillies today,” wrote the Associated Press, “but had nothing to show for his efforts except self-satisfaction. In all, he fanned 11, two shy of the club record held by Ray Benge, Robin Roberts, and Jack Sanford, and whiffed every Cub in the starting lineup at least once. Conley, now figured to move into the Phils starting rotation, was obviously pleased with his performance. ‘I’m ready now,’ he said after the game. ‘This is just what I needed. I’m ready for whatever the skipper (Eddie Sawyer) wants me to do, starting or relieving.’”16

Dave Hillman, who started for the Cubs in Conley’s relief Pitcher’s Cycle, achieved his own relief PC just a few weeks later. In an “It’s-déjà-vu-all-over-again” twist, Seth Morehead, who had been traded from the Phillies to the Cubs on May 12, was once again the starting pitcher. Morehead walked Dodgers leadoff batter Junior Gilliam and gave up a single to Charlie Neal before he struck out Don Demeter. He then intentionally walked Gil Hodges immediately before Rip Repulski smashed a bases-clearing double. After walking Dick Gray, he was replaced by Hillman. Hillman threw a wild pitch to Johnny Roseboro, then walked him intentionally. Hillman then got things under control by striking out pinch hitter Duke Snider and opposing pitcher Stan Williams. Hillman pitched brilliantly for 72⁄3 innings to complete the bottom of the eighth. In the top of the ninth, the Cubs rallied for a pair of runs to take a 7–5 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Hillman walked Snider to lead off the inning. Don Elston was then summoned from the bullpen and retired the next three batters to secure the triumph for Chicago. Elston was rewarded (retroactively) with a save and Hillman was awarded the W, a nice complement to his second Pitcher’s Cycle. He earned the first as a starting pitcher in 1958.

Dick Radatz earned his Pitcher’s Cycle in an ideal payback manner. Radatz, nicknamed “The Monster,” achieved his PC in a duel of relief pitchers at Tiger Stadium on June 11, 1963. Going into the bottom of the seventh, the BoSox clung to a 3–2 lead. Southpaw Wilbur Wood was on the hump for the Red Sox. Don Wert led off with a single and Dick McAuliffe sacrificed him to second. With Tigers starter Jim Bunning due up, Detroit manager Bob Scheffing called on the right-handed Bill Freehan to pinch hit. Boston Manager Johnny Pesky countered by calling on the Monster, a right-hander. Scheffing went to his bench again, summoning left-swinging Whitey Herzog to bat for Freehan. Radatz proceeded to strike out Herzog before passing Jake Wood. That brought up Bubba Phillips, a right-handed batter, and more managerial chess. Scheffing called on the left-handed batting Bill Bruton to pinch-hit for Phillips. Pesky stood pat with Radatz. Bruton delivered a single to knock in Wert with the tying run, which was officially charged to Wood. Radatz induced a groundout from Al Kaline to end the inning. While Radatz was not charged with Wert’s run, he was retroactively charged with a blown save. The game remained knotted going into the top of the 15th inning, at which point the Red Sox took a 7–3 lead. In the last of the 15th, the Monster struck out pinch-hitter Frank Kostro and got Jake Wood to pop out, bringing up Bill Bruton. As it had happened, Bruton’s number-two spot was the only strikeout Radatz needed. He simultaneously secured the victory and the PC: a Walk-off Strikeout Pitcher’s Cycle.

Randy Johnson got his record-breaking eighth NL Pitcher’s Cycle in a bizarre relief role against the Padres on July 19, 2001. The night before, Arizona’s starting pitcher, Curt Schilling, had set down the first six batters in order. The D-backs had pushed across a run to provide a 1–0 lead going into the top of the third. With the bases empty and nobody out, Schilling was in the batter’s box. The count was 0-and-2. “Transformer Explosion Suspends Padres Game” was the headline in the next day’s newspaper story.17 After a delay of over an hour, the backup lighting was deemed inadequate and the game was suspended, to be completed the next day as the first game of a “doubleheader.” Upon resumption the next day, Brian Anderson replaced Schilling in the batter’s box; he struck out looking and the strikeout was charged to Schilling. Johnson replaced Anderson in the Arizona lineup and nearly tossed a perfect game. He walked just one batter and gave up one hit, a harmless single. He struck out 16. After the game, Johnson said, “By no means do I go out and try to strike people out. It’s probably one of the hardest things to do, especially against major league hitters. But I got in a groove. [Catcher] Damian [Miller] made some big blocks when I threw my breaking ball in the dirt.”18 Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly jokingly added, “He may be the best long man, huh.”

Tyler Alexander established an amazing relief-pitcher record in the first game of a doubleheader at Comerica Park. With each game scheduled for seven innings because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alexander entered in the top of third with the Reds leading his Tigers, 3–0. Nick Castellanos had just hit a homer off starting pitcher Rony Garcia. Alexander struck out the next three batters in succession: Mike Moustakas (five pitches, swinging), Eugenio Suarez (three pitches, looking), and Jesse Winker (three pitches, swinging). In the top of the fourth, Alexander struck out the side: Nick Senzel (four pitches, swinging), Josh VanMeter (three pitches, looking), and Freddy Galvis (eight pitches, swinging). Alexander did it again in the fifth: Tucker Barnhart (four pitches, looking), Shogo Akiyama (four pitches, looking), and Castellanos (five pitches, swinging). The Detroit Free Press wrote, “Nine men up. Nine men down [via strikeouts]. It tied an American League record, set by the Tigers’ Doug Fister against the Royals on September 27, 2012. Alexander’s reaction—somewhere between ‘meh’ and ‘whatever’—was perhaps as bewildering as his pitches. ‘I don’t know about special,’ he said. ‘I normally don’t try to strike people out. But I would say that after about the fifth strikeout I was trying to strike people out. I don’t know about special. We were just trying to get outs and keep us in it. It’s surprising, I guess,’ he said. ‘I normally do throw a lot of strikes, and when I miss, I miss over the plate. I made a big focus on missing down. I didn’t have very many bad misses and the mistakes I made were in the dirt so it gave me a chance for them to swing at it.’ Alexander wasn’t aware of the record until it was announced in the [virtually empty] stadium after he struck out Castellanos to end the fifth inning.”19 In the top of the sixth, Alexander terminated his string of strikeouts by hitting Moustakas.

2. PERFECT PITCHER’S CYCLES

When a pitcher strikes out nine batters in succession, he automatically achieves a Pitcher’s Cycle, as just described. Such a feat is herewith dubbed a Perfect Pitcher’s Cycle.20 Table 4 shows the 13 documented Perfect Pitcher’s Cycles. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw one each. So far there have been 11 in the twenty-first century. Nice snippets about each of the Perfect Pitcher’s Cycles are available in an article on MLB.com.21 For four (or five) of the players, the Perfect Pitcher’s Cycle was the only PC they achieved in their big-league careers. Mickey Welch and Pablo López achieved their Perfect Pitcher Cycles at the beginning of the game, while Tom Seaver ended the game with his. For Welch’s 1884 Perfect Pitcher’s Cycle, the distance from the front of the pitcher’s box to home plate was only 50 feet.

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3. SUPER PITCHER’S CYCLES

As mentioned previously, striking out at least one batter in each inning of a nine-inning game is a noteworthy accomplishment, though it doesn’t quite measure up to the Batter’s Cycle. However, combining that achievement with a Pitcher’s Cycle affords an impressive feat herewith termed a “Super Pitcher’s Cycle.”22 To earn credit for a Super Pitcher’s Cycle, the player must strike out at least one batter in each of nine consecutive innings and at least one batter from each of the nine batting slots. A complete game is not required, so he could be removed after striking out a batter in the ninth inning or enter with an out already recorded in the first. The Super Pitcher’s Cycle has been achieved 31 times by 23 players. Tables 5a and 5b present the pertinent details for the players who achieved a Super Pitcher’s Cycle.

Four of those pitchers did not hurl complete games: Johnny Allen (1934), Mike Flanagan (1978), Nolan Ryan (1986), and Randy Johnson (2001). Allen struck out Eric McNair for the second out in the ninth inning, but injured his arm in the process and had to leave the game. Flanagan was replaced by Don Stanhouse to start the 10th inning with the score tied, 2–2. Ryan was relieved in the 10th inning with two runners on and one out in a scoreless game. Johnson was replaced to begin the 10th inning with the score tied, 1–1. Five players achieved multiple Super Pitcher’s Cycles: Sandy Koufax (2), Tom Seaver (2), Ryan (4), Roger Clemens (3), and Pedro Martinez (2). Bill Hallahan achieved the first Super PC (1931). It was the only PC in his career. Vince Velasquez earned the most recent Super PC in 2015. Perhaps the most phenomenal Super PC was accomplished by Nolan Ryan. The Express struck out at least one batter in each of the 11 innings he pitched en route to a 19-K Super PC performance. In spite of this stellar complete-game effort, he lost the game, 1–0. Finally, as described in Appendix G, Bob Gibson accomplished a Super Pitcher’s Cycle in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series.

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4. THE ONLY PLAYER WITH BOTH A BATTER’S CYCLE AND A PITCHER’S CYCLE: SHOHEI OHTANI

Shohei Ohtani has achieved one Batter’s Cycle (thus far) in his major-league career, on June 13, 2019, at Tropicana Field versus the Tampa Bay Rays. Batting third as the Angels’ designated hitter, Ohtani slugged a three-run homer off Ryan Yarborough in the first inning, doubled off him in the third, and tripled off him in the fifth. He singled off Hunter Wood in the seventh. Fittingly, the Angels won the game, 5–3, thanks in part to the four runs Ohtani produced. In the batting cage before his final at bat, Ohtani expressed to infielder David Fletcher that more than anything he wanted to increase the Angels’ tenuous two-run lead. “I went and saw him in the cage and said, ‘all you need is a single,’” Fletcher said. “He was like, ‘No, I want another homer.’ I don’t think he was trying to hit a single. He was definitely trying to hit another homer if you watch the at bat. But I’m glad he got the single.”23

After the game Ohtani said through a translator, “You need some power to hit the home run, some speed to accomplish a triple. To be able to do that at the major league level is going to lead to a lot of confidence. The important thing now is to try to continue this tomorrow.” He then added, “I wasn’t necessarily trying to hit a single. I was just trying to get on base, whether it was a base on balls or any other way because it was still a close game.”24 Responding to a postgame question about being the first Japanese player to hit for the cycle, Ohtani said, “Simply very happy to accomplish this. There’s been so many great Japanese players that have come before me. Being the first one to accomplish it [makes me] really happy and makes for a lot of confidence down the road.”25

Ohtani has achieved two Pitcher’s Cycles (thus far) in his major-league career. The first came on April 20, 2022, at Minute Maid Park against the Houston Astros. Ohtani struck out a dozen over six innings. In the first, he fanned leadoff batter Jeremy Pena (slot one) and Michael Brantley (two). In the second he whiffed clean-up hitter Yordan Alvarez (four). He struck out the side in the third and fourth: Niko Goodrum (seven), Jason Castro (eight), and Jose Siri (nine), Pena, Brantley, and Alex Bregman (three). Alvarez flied out in the fifth, snapping Ohtani’s string of six consecutive strikeouts. Ohtani then resumed his strikeout clinic by fanning Kyle Tucker (five) and Yuri Gurriel (six), giving him the Pitcher’s Cycle. Also of significance, Ohtani had retired each of the first 15 batters; he was hurling a perfect game. In the sixth, he fanned leadoff batter Goodrum for his 12th strikeout, but Castro lined a single to center, breaking up the perfecto. Ohtani closed out the frame with a popout, a walk, and a groundout. “Ohtani threw 81 pitches [55 strikes] on a night [Angels manager Joe] Maddon had said he would be limited to 85. But, Maddon said after the game that he would not have pulled him with a perfect game intact regardless of the pitch count. ‘There’s no number,’ Maddon said. ‘He was going to pitch a perfect game. I’m not going to get in the way of a player’s greatness—ever.’ Ohtani was asked if he was thinking about the perfect game. ‘I was aware of it, but I knew the pitch count was getting up there, and I was thinking I wouldn’t be able to finish it,’ he said. Ohtani was also the designated hitter, batting leadoff for the Angels. Facing Jake Odorizzi, he started the game by drawing a base on balls, and, as the Angels proceeded to bat around, he also clouted a two-RBI double off Blake Taylor. In the third, facing Cristian Javier, he lined out to third base. In the top of the sixth, again squaring off against Javier, he bunted for a single. After leaving the mound, Ohtani flied out to left in the bottom of the eighth. The final result was a 6–0 triumph for the Angels, with Ohtani as the winning pitcher. “Ohtani was asked if it was his top performance in the majors. ‘It could be,’ he said with a smile in Japanese through a translator.” He had achieved the Pitcher’s Cycle and was halfway to a Batter’s Cycle.

Ohtani’s second PC came on May 3, 2023, at Busch Stadium. He hurled the first five innings, striking out 13 Cardinals. In the bottom of the first, he fanned leadoff batter Lars Nootbaar (slot one), Paul Goldschmidt (two), and Wilson Contreras (five). He also gave up a homer to Nolan Gorman. Ohtani whiffed three batters in the second: Dylan Carlson (seven), Brendan Donovan (eight), and Tommy Edman (nine). In the third inning he atoned for the homer he yielded by striking out Gorman (three) and Nootbaar. In the fourth, Ohtani struck out Alec Burleson (six) and Donovan, but he was touched for three runs on two doubles and another home run (by Carlson). In the fifth, he struck out three: Nootbaar (for the third time), Goldschmidt (for the second time), and Nolan Arenado (four), giving him the Pitcher’s Cycle. At the end of five innings, the Angels trailed, 4–3. Ohtani had thrown 97 pitches while striking out 13 batters. His 13th strikeout was the 500th of his career, putting him in select company: in major-league history, only he and Babe Ruth have accumulated 500 strikeouts and 100 home runs.27

Wrote Rhett Bollinger, “Ohtani had a strange start outside of his strikeout total, however, as he allowed four extra-base hits, walked a batter, hit another and threw two wild pitches. So while it was special for Ohtani to reach yet another milestone, he was frustrated he only made it through five frames. ‘I gave up a couple homers and I wanted to get through six or seven innings, minimum,’ Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. ‘So more than the strikeouts, I’m just disappointed I couldn’t pitch deeper in the game.’”28 Ohtani made three plate appearances as the pitcher. He singled in the first, then again in the third, driving in a run to give the Angels a 2–1 lead. He popped out in the fifth. Ohtani had two plate appearances as the DH. He grounded out in the seventh and doubled in the ninth, eventually coming around to score the go-ahead run.

SUMMARY

A viable definition of a Pitcher’s Cycle has been devised to characterize a feat commensurate with the Batter’s Cycle. From 1893 to 2023, there were 483 Pitcher’s Cycles, achieved by 276 different pitchers. At present, Randy Johnson holds the career records for the most Pitcher’s Cycles in the major leagues (21) and the National League (11). He shares the American League record (10) with Chris Sale. Because of the huge increase in strikeouts during the past few decades, Pitcher’s Cycles have become more frequent than Batter’s Cycles, perhaps dimming the luster of the PC. From 1893 to 1949 (57 seasons), there were 113 BCs and 41 PCs, a difference of negative 72. From 1950 to 1999 (50 seasons), the corresponding numbers were 105 and 185, a difference of positive 80. From 2000 to 2023 (only 24 seasons), the corresponding numbers are 98 and 257, a difference of positive 159. Of the 13 Perfect Pitcher’s Cycles, 11 were achieved since 2007. Super Pitcher’s Cycles have been accomplished 31 times by 23 pitchers; Nolan Ryan holds the record with four Super PCs. Shohei Ohtani is the only player in history with both a Batter’s Cycle and a Pitcher’s Cycle.

DISCUSSION

The most important question is whether the Pitcher’s Cycle, as defined here, is as noteworthy a feat as the Batter’s Cycle. Table 6 lists some typical single-game batter’s feats, along with (in my opinion) commensurate feats for pitchers.29

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Based on the information provided in Table 6, I contend that the answer is a resounding yes! The Pitcher’s Cycle is a noteworthy feat, just as the Batter’s Cycle is. Significantly, the Pitcher’s Cycle and the Batter’s Cycle are accomplishments achieved—entirely by the player himself—via skill. However, it would be fair to describe both the Pitcher’s Cycle and the Batter’s Cycle as quirky or fluky.

With regard to skill, achieving the Batter’s Cycle requires the batter to employ each of the three keystone skills of offense: collecting four hits in a game requires hitting for average, collecting three extra-base hits requires hitting for power, and hitting a double and a triple requires speed. However, the requirement of collecting each of the four types of hits in one game imparts quirkiness and/or flukiness to the Batter’s Cycle. A player can use expertise to specifically try for a single by bunting or employing the Willie Keeler approach of hitting ’em where they ain’t. Similarly, a player can swing for the fences to purposely try for a home run. However, doubles and especially triples are not likely to be achieved by a player trying to specifically hit them on purpose. Thus, while each individual type of base hit requires skill, assembling the complete series involves some luck. To wit, when Rod Carew achieved his Batter’s Cycle on May 20, 1970, he told reporters, “Lots of luck. That’s it, lots of luck.”30 At least two players, Kelly Gruber and Jeff Frye, eschewed a sure extra-base hit by “skillfully” stopping at first base complete the Batter’s Cycle with a single.31

Achieving the Pitcher’s Cycle also requires skill. Strikeouts are valued especially because they preclude balls in play that could result in an error or an out that allows an existing base runner to advance. There are different types of hitters, such as free swingers, go-with-the-pitch hitters, high-ball hitters, and so on. As with the Batter’s Cycle, while skill is needed to strike out any one batter, striking out at least one batter from each batting slot requires some luck. To illustrate this, let’s consider these two games:

• September 21, 1954, (2nd) at Fenway Park: Frank Sullivan of the Boston Red Sox emerged with a 4–3 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics. He surrendered eight hits and issued three walks in 81⁄3 innings before being relieved. He allowed two earned runs on solo homers by Jim Finigan and Bill Renna. He struck out nine batters, one from each slot, earning the Pitcher’s Cycle. After the game, Sullivan said, “I wasn’t pitching right. My back is killing me. I hope I didn’t hurt myself.”
• May 11, 2016, at Nationals Park: Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals emerged with a 3–2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. He threw a complete game, walking none and scattering six hits. Both runs were earned, coming on solo homers by Jose Iglesias and J.D. Martinez. Scherzer struck out 20 batters, at least one in each inning, but, he did not earn the Pitcher’s Cycle. He failed to strike out Victor Martinez, the clean-up hitter, who went 3-for-4 with three singles and a groundout. After the game Scherzer said, “There’s something [special] about 20. Tonight was an emotional game, facing a former team and all those guys I have so much respect for. And so to have a game like this against that caliber of hitter on their side, it really puts a feather in my cap.” Going into the ninth inning, Scherzer had already set down 18 batters on strikes, giving him the chance to tie Tom Cheney’s single-game record of 21 strikeouts. “It crossed my mind,” said Scherzer. “I was thinking of all the different scenarios in an 0–2 count that I could do to be able to get that last strikeout.” Instead, James McCann ended the game by grounding into a 5–4 force out. Nonetheless, Scherzer’s 20 K’s equaled the record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game, shared by Roger Clemens (1986 and 1996), Kerry Wood (1998), and Randy Johnson (2001). “That’s some serious company,” said Scherzer. “It won’t sink in right now, but it’s an amazing accomplishment. Had to go through some tough, tough hitters there with Miggy [Miguel Cabrera], J.D., and Victor, and all those guys over there. Those guys are unbelievable and they gave me a heck of time tonight.”33

While Scherzer turned in a phenomenally skillful performance, he was not fortunate enough to achieve the Pitcher’s Cycle. It would have marked the fourth PC of his career (he currently has eight). Sullivan turned in an acceptably skillful performance while fortunately accomplishing his first and only PC.

The first use of the word “cycle” to describe a player collecting a single, double, triple, and home run in one game was in 1921; after 70 cycles had already been achieved: “George Sisler on August 13 [1921] hit the cycle by getting on [via] a single, double, triple, and home run, and by getting an extra double in the same game.”34 Furthermore, as Mike Huber and Allison Davidson subsequently reported, the term did not again appear in print over the next 10 years, during which time another 22 cycles were achieved. According to Huber and Davidson, “By 1938, it seems that the phrase [“hitting for the cycle”] to describe this rare event was indeed commonplace.”35 So while nowadays regarded as a prestigious feat, the Batter’s Cycle had an induction period of roughly 60 years. The Pitcher’s Cycle, if also eventually deemed a prestigious feat by baseball fans, might follow a similar course. 

HERM KRABBENHOFT is a retired chemist (PhD, University of Michigan, 1974) and author of Leadoff Batters of Major League Baseball (McFarland, 2001). Among various baseball research topics he has pioneered are: Ultimate Grand Slam Homers, Consecutive Games On Base Safely (CGOBS) Streaks, Quasi-Cycles, Imperfect Perfectos, Downtown Golden Sombreros, Pitcher’s Cycles. Krabbenhoft has received three SABR Research Awards (1992, 1996, 2013).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

With grateful appreciation, I heartily thank all the people who have contributed to Baseball Reference and Retrosheet, thereby making their websites phenomenal baseball-research-enabling vehicles. Special thanks are gratefully extended to John Rickert for graciously writing a computer program using the Retrosheet database to generate a complete list of players who achieved the Pitcher’s Cycle during the 1901–2023 period, thereby confirming my hands-on research and ensuring that the players who achieved the Pitcher’s Cycle were identified. It is a pleasure to again thank Jonathan Frankel for providing his superb strikeout research to me. I thank Dave Smith (Retrosheet) for kindly providing digitized versions of the ICI sheets for the 1893–1900 seasons. I also thank Rick Schabowski for providing game accounts in the Milwaukee Journal and the Milwaukee Sentinel for the Milwaukee-vs-Detroit game on July 03, 1901. I thank Cliff Blau for providing me with “batters struck out” details from the New York Evening Telegram for two 1899 games. I thank Matt Spitz for coining the term “Perfect Pitcher’s Cycle.” I thank Patrick Todgham for dubbing the term “Super Pitcher’s Cycle.” I thank Pete Palmer for his guidance on strikeouts statistics and the “large lead rule” (note 14). I thank Kevin Johnson and Tom Thress for providing the pertinent information the seven players from the Negro Leagues who achieved Batter’s Cycles. I thank Steve Hirdt, Jeff Robbins, and Gary Stone, for especially helpful discussions.

DEDICATION

I enthusiastically and appreciatively dedicate this article to Dixie Tourangeau, my friend and baseball research colleague. Thanks so much for all the superb research help you’ve provided to me over the past so-many years and for all of the good times we’ve enjoyed at Fenway and the various SABR Convention ballparks.

NOTES

1 Paul Dickson, The Dickson Baseball Dictionary (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009), 237.

2 (a) “Hit for the Cycle,” Baseball Almanac, accessed October 3, 2023, https://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/Major_League_Baseball_Players_to_hit_for_the_cycle.shtml. (b) According Retrosheet’s list of cycles, https://www.retrosheet.org/cycles_chron.htm, George Hall hit for the cycle on June 19, 1876. (c) Baseball Almanac’s list includes a postseason cycle by Brock Holt, on October 8, 2018, which gives the grand total of 344 cycles. (d) According to information provided by Tom Thress of Retrosheet and Kevin Johnson of Seamheads, seven verified cycles were achieved in the Negro Leagues. According to Johnson, another 12 “known” Negro League cycles are awaiting corroboration by balanced box scores. Email exchanges with Kevin Johnson and Tom Thress, July 04-07, 2024; discussion with Kevin Johnson, August 10, 2024.

3 Jimmy Ryan of the White Stockings completed his July 28, 1888, cycle as a pitcher after having started the game as Chicago’s center fielder. Ryan, who was the leadoff hitter for the White Stockings, singled to open the game in the first inning. He followed with a triple in the top of the second inning. In the bottom of the second, with the Wolverines leading, 7–4, Ryan switched positions with Chicago’s starting hurler, Mark Baldwin; the bases were loaded with two outs. Ryan struck out the first batter he faced, Count Campau, to retire the side. Ryan remained on the mound for the rest of the game. In the fourth inning, Ryan walloped a 2-run homer. In the fifth frame he added another triple to his batting line. In the seventh, he reached on a fielding error by the left fielder (“a rattling liner that was too hot for Twitchell’s hands”). In what turned out to be his final plate appearance, in the eighth, Ryan clouted a double, giving him the cycle. Thus, for the entire game, Ryan collected a single and a triple while he was Chicago’s center fielder, and a homer, triple, and double while he was a relief pitcher. His pitching line was 7.1 innings, 10 runs allowed on 9 hits (including one homer), four strikeouts, two walks, one hit batter, and two wild pitches. The White Stockings emerged victorious, 21–17. Complete details of Ryan’s accomplishments are given in the following newspaper accounts: (a) “Home Runs All Around,” Chicago Tribune, July 29, 1888, 14; (b) “They Hit the Ball Hard,” The (Chicago) Inter Ocean, July 29, 1888, 2; (c) “Sluggers Outslugged,” Detroit Free Press, July 29, 1888, 4; (d) “Was Waterloo Thus?,” Detroit News, July 29, 1888, 8.

4 “Cycle Definition & Meaning,” Merriam-Webster, accessed August 26, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cycle.

5 Although the catcher must hold on to the third strike to actually retire the batter, the pitcher alone is credited with a strikeout.

6 Dickson, 237.

7 Thus, accomplishing the Pitcher’s Cycle by hurling in extra innings is fully acceptable. For example, two of the players who have hit for the Batter’s Cycle since 1893 achieved their cycle-clinching hit in the 14th inning. George Brett (double in his seventh plate appearance on May 28, 1979) and Jay Buhner (triple in his seventh plate appearance on June 23, 1993).

8 Jonathan Frankel, email exchanges, September 4–October 5, 2023, and January 2–4, 2024.

9 John Rickert, email exchanges, October 12–November 21, 2023.

10 A chronological register of the 483 Pitcher’s Cycles is provided on a decade-by-decade basis in Supplement B.

11 Herm Krabbenhoft, “Going Downtown with a Golden Sombrero— Combining Baseball’s Best and Worst True Outcomes,” Baseball Research Journal, Fall 2023, Volume 52, Number 2, 55.

12 See appendices and supplements below.

13 (a) “Did Anyone See Bresnahan’s Goat?,” The (New York) World, Evening Edition, May 13, 1911, 1. (b) “Giants In Run Cataclysm,” The (New York) Sun, May 14, 1911, 13. (c) “Bang! Slam! Went Giants,” New York Daily Tribune, May 14, 1911, 10.

14 That Mathewson is credited with being the winning pitcher is a consequence of “the large lead rule.” Pete Palmer, email correspondence, November 2, 2023: “If you leave the game with a large lead, you can get the win because the manager is saving you for the next game. I don’t know when that practice was in effect. There were no [official] rules for ‘winning’ and ‘losing’ pitchers until 1950.” See also: (a) Frank Vacarro, “Origin of the Modern Pitching Win,” Baseball Research Journal (Volume 42, Number 1, Spring 2013) 50; (b) Frank J. Williams, “All the Record Books Are Wrong,” The National Pastime, 1982, 50; (c) Joe Wayman, “The Matty-Alex Tie,” Baseball Research Journal (Number 24, 1995), 25.

15 Allen Lewis, “Cubs’ 4 in 1st Defeat Phils Despite Relief by Conley,” Philadelphia Inquirer , May 03, 1959, S1.

16 “Gene Conley Ready To Take Over As Starter For Phils,” Danville (Virginia) Register , D1.

17 “Transformer explosion suspends Padres game,” The (Palm Springs, California) Desert Sun, July 19, 2001, D4.

18 Richard Obert, “Big Unit K’s 16 to finish suspended game,” Arizona Republic, July 20, 2001, D1.

19 Carlos Monarrez, “Swift Wiffs,” Detroit Free Press, August 03, 2020, B1.

20 The origin of “Perfect Pitcher’s Cycle” is as follows: I attended the September 10, 2023, Giants-Rockies game at Oracle Park with three friends. I cheered for every Colorado batter Keaton Winn struck out. While I was scoring the game, I explained my Pitcher’s Cycle research to my friends and was carefully charting each K that Winn achieved. When Winn struck out Austin Wynns to end the fifth inning, I enthusiastically exclaimed that Winn just needed to K two more batting slots, two and six, to accomplish the Pitcher’s Cycle. A couple of Giants fans seated in front of me asked what I was talking about. I gave a brief account of my research project and, to provide some perspective, I mentioned that Nolan Ryan had 12 Pitcher’s Cycles and that Randy Johnson had 18 through the 2001 season, the most recent season I had completed at the time. I also mentioned that there were 13 pitchers who had struck out at least 9 batters in a row and that, therefore, they had automatically achieved the Pitcher’s Cycle. One of them responded matter-of-factly, “So they had perfect cycles.” I replied, “Yeah! That’s cool! A Perfect Pitcher’s Cycle! What a neat way to express that! I got his name—Matt Spitz— and said I would give him credit for coming up with the term. Thanks, Matt! As it turned out, Winn did not strike out the second-slot batter, Ezequiel Tovar),in the sixth. Similarly, Winn did not have the opportunity to strike out the sixth-slot batter, Hunter Goodman, as the Giants brought in a relief pitcher in the seventh inning.

21 Matt Kelly and Sarah Langs, “Most Consecutive Strikeouts by a Pitcher,” MLB.com, April 10, 2023, accessed October 30, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/most-consecutive-strikeouts-by-pitcher-in-game. For additional information about Mickey Welch’s Perfect Pitcher’s Cycle, see: (a) Harry Simmons, “An Overlooked Feat,” The Sporting News, October 23, 1941, 6; (b) George Buckley, “Why Did Mickey Smile?” Baseball Research Journal (Volume 11, 1982), 127.

22 The origin of the “Super Pitcher’s Cycle” is as follows: At a hot stove league discussion on December 3, 2023, at the Cambridge Common & Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA, the topic of Pitcher’s Cycles came up, along with the feat of a pitcher striking out at least one batter in each inning of a nine-inning game. I mentioned that while there were nearly 500 PCs, there were only 30-some instances where the PC player also struck out at least one batter in each inning (of a nine-inning game). Patrick Todgham then said, “Those should be called ‘Super Pitcher’s Cycles.’” I agreed and said I would give him credit for the term. Thanks, Patrick!

23 Maria Torres, “A night to remember for Ohtani,” Los Angeles Times, June 14, 2019, D1.

24 “Angels’ Ohtani first Japanese player to hit for cycle,” Associated Press, June 13, 2019, accessed November 5, 2023, https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triad/ap-top-news/2019/06/14/angels-ohtani-first-japanese-player-to-hit-for-cycle0.

25 J. Scott Shaffer, “June 13, 2019: Shohei Ohtani becomes first Japanese player to hit for cycle,” SABR Games Project, accessed November 5, 2023, https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/june-13-2019-shohei-ohtani-becomes-first-japanese-player-to-hit-for-the-cycle/.

26 Kristie Rieken, “‘Virtuoso’ Ohtani Mows Down Astros,” Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2022, B10.

27 Lynn Worthy, “Gallegos coughs up late lead, Cards lose,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, May 4, 2023, page B1.

28 Rhett Bollinger, “Make room for Shohei! Ohtani joins Babe in another club,” MLB.com, May 3, 2023, accessed October 23, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/shohei-ohtani-joins-babe-ruth-in-500-strikeout-100-home-run-club?game_pk=718320.

29 Stathead.com. Other sources consulted: (a) Seymour Siwoff, The Elias Book of Baseball Records (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009), 237; (b) The Major League Baseball Ultimate Book of Baseball Records (Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Fenn/McClelland & Stewart, 2013), 132; (c) Lyle Spatz, Editor, The SABR Baseball List & Record Book (New York: Scribner, 2007), 191; (d) Joseph Dittmar, Baseball Records Registry (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1997); (e) Joseph L. Reichler, Revised by Ken Samelson, The Great All-Time Baseball Record Book (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993), 181; (f) David Nemec, Great Baseball Feats, Facts, & Firsts (New York: NAL Penguin,Inc., 1987), 237.

30 (a) “Royals’ Metro in Awe as Carew Keeps Hitting,” (Saint Cloud, Minnesota) Daily Times, May 21, 1970, 29; (b) Tom Briere, “Twins Win 7th Straight,” (Minneapolis) Star-Tribune, May 21, 1970, 31. See also: Herm Krabbenhoft, “From Kralick to Lopez and Carew to Polanco— Interesting Aspects of the Pitcher’s Cycles and Batter’s Cycles Achieved by Minnesota Twins Players,” The National Pastime, 2024, 60.

31 Herm Krabbenhoft, “When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It,” Baseball Research Journal (Volume 47, Number 1, Spring 2018) 72.

32 Hy Hurwitz, “Hy and Inside,” Boston Globe, September 22, 1954, 8.

33 Ian Quillen, “Nats top Tigers 3-2,” The Park City Daily News (Bowling Green, KY), May 12, 2016, C8.

34 (a) Herm Krabbenhoft, “Quasi-Cycles—Better Than Cycles?,” Baseball Research Journal (Volume 46, Number 2, Fall 2017) 107; (b) Chuck McGill, email correspondence, June 1, 2017; (c) From the Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee, August 21,1921, 12) was the following news item: “George Sisler on August 13 hit the cycle by getting on a single, double, triple, and home run, and by getting an extra double in the same game.” (d) The Dickson Baseball Dictionary cites a 1933 Washington Post article as the first to use the term “cycle”: Paul Dickson, The Dickson Baseball Dictionary (New York: W,W, Norton & Company, New York, 2009) 237. (e) In this issue, John Racanelli reports an earlier date: June 10, 1920. John Racanelli, “Desperately Seeking Singles,” Baseball Research Journal 53, no. 2, (Fall 2024) 46.

35 Michael Huber and Allison Davidson, “Origin of the Phrase ‘Hitting for the Cycle’ and An Approach to How Cycles Occur,” Baseball Research Journal (Volume 47, Number 1, Spring 2018) 112.

APPENDICES

• Appendix A: Each Franchise’s First and Most-Recent Pitcher’s Cycle
• Appendix B: Franchise-Record Holders
• Appendix C: The Chronology of the Career Leaders
• Appendix D: The All-Time Top-10
• Appendix E: Extra-Inning Pitcher’s Cycles
• Appendix F: Pitcher’s Cycles in Consecutive Games
• Appendix G: Postseason Pitcher’s Cycles

SUPPLEMENTS 

The Supplements for this article provide the following (click on a link below to scroll down to that section):

• Supplement A: Pitchers With Nine or More Strikeouts in a Game and Incomplete “Batters Struck Out” Statistics
• Supplement B: Chronological Register of Players Who Achieved a Pitcher’s Cycle (1893–2023)
• Supplement C: Alphabetical Register of Players Who Achieved a Pitcher’s Cycle (1893–2023)
• Supplement D: Team-by-Team Registers of Players Who Achieved Pitcher’s Cycles

Supplement A — Pitchers with Nine or More Strikeouts and Incomplete Statistics

Table SA-1. NL and AL Pitchers (1894–1903)

Table SA-2. NL and AL Pitchers (1904–1905)

Table SA-3. NL and AL Pitchers (1905–1907)

Table SA-4. NL and AL Pitchers (1907–1911)

Table SA-5. Federal League Pitchers with Nine or More Strikeouts and Incomplete Statistics

Supplement B — Chronological Register of Players With a Pitcher’s Cycle (1893–2023)

Table SB-1. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1893–1909)

Notes: (1) Entries in the OPP column with an asterisk indicate the game was played at the opponent’s ballpark. (2) The Batters column gives the number of different batters the pitcher struck out. (3) The parenthetical entries in the Batters column give the batters in the starting lineup who were not struck out by the pitcher. Thus, for Bob Ewing, the entry “9 (X: 9-2)” indicates that Ewing struck out 9 different batters and that one batter in the starting lineup was not struck out; that batter occupied the #9 slot in the batting order and had 2 plate appearances against the pitcher. (4) Entries in the IP column bracketed with asterisks indicates the pitcher pitched a complete game.

Table SB-2. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1910–1919)

Table SB-3. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1920–1929)

Table SB-4. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1930–1939)

Table SB-5. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1940–1949)

Table SB-6. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1950–1959)

Table SB-7a. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1960–1966)

Table SB-7b. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1967–1969)

Table SB-8a. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1970–1972)

Table SB-8b. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1973–1979)

Table SB-9a. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1980–1986)

Table SB-9b. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1987–1989)

Table SB-10a. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1990–1994)

Table SB-10b. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1995–1997)

Table SB-10c. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (1998–1999)

Table SB-11a. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (2000–2002)

Table SB-11b. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (2003–2005)

Table SB-11c. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (2006–2009)

Table SB-12a. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (2010–2012)

Table SB-12b. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (2013–2014)

Table SB-12c. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (2015–2016)

Table SB-12d. Players Who Accomplished a Pitcher’s Cycle (2017-2018)