Quote:
Originally Posted by freakhappy
A cycle is celebrated because of its rarity, not because it's better than hitting two homers and a double in the same game, but because every at-bat has to be so specific in what happens. Most guys don't hit more than two to three triples a year...take all of those guys and on the two or three days that they hit a triple, that's when they have a shot at a cycle. All they have to do is get four hits and they have to be a homer, double and single in the other at-bats...easy enough, eh? Now take the guys that do indeed hit ten to twelve triples a year...most of them fail to hit more than five to eight homers all year! Again...it's all about the rarity of the accomplishment.
But I get what you're saying, Jake...in the grand scheme of things there are a lot of better hitting days each year than what a cycle brings.
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I think this touches on why a Cycle is interesting. A cycle shows the "all around" abilities of a hitter. Some guys can hit the ball over the wall, but seldom can get a triple or double because they aren't fast enough. Others are fast and can stretch out bunts for a single or routine line drives for a double, but still can't get a home run. For someone to hit for the cycle, typically they have to be able to run and hit for power.