3+ XBH in a post-season game
Posted by Andy on November 17, 2007
I was just thumbing though Sports Illustrated and they mentioned that only two players have ever had a 2B, 3B, and HR in the same post-season game. PI confirms it:
Cnt Player Date Series G Tm Opp GmReslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions +----+-----------------+-------------+------+-+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ 1 Kazuo Matsui 2007-10-04 NLDS 2 COL @PHI W 10-5 5 5 2 3 1 1 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st 2B 2 Lou Brock 1968-10-06 WS 4 STL @DET W 10-1 5 5 2 3 1 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1st LF
Since neither of these guys singled, we know that nobody has ever hit for the cycle in the post-season. Interesting that both games were more-or-less blowouts, or else both players might have gotten more recognition for this feat.
By the way, 3 or more extra-base hits (of any variety) has happened in a post-season game 51 times, and here is the entire list:
Cnt Player Date Series G Tm Opp GmReslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR XB RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions +----+-----------------+-------------+------+-+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ 1 Jacoby Ellsbury 2007-10-27 WS 3 BOS @COL W 10-5 5 5 2 4 3 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st CF RF 2 Kazuo Matsui 2007-10-04 NLDS 2 COL @PHI W 10-5 5 5 2 3 1 1 1 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st 2B 3 Sean Casey 2006-10-27 WS 5 DET @STL L 2-4 4 4 1 3 2 0 1 3 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5th 1B 4 David Eckstein 2006-10-26 WS 4 STL DET W 5-4 5 5 1 4 3 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st SS 5 Derek Jeter 2006-10-03 ALDS 1 NYY DET W 8-4 5 5 3 5 2 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2nd SS 6 Craig Biggio 2005-10-08 NLDS 3 HOU ATL W 7-3 5 5 2 3 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st 2B 7 A.J. Pierzynski 2005-10-04 ALDS 1 CHW BOS W 14-2 4 3 4 3 1 0 2 3 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7th C 8 Trot Nixon 2004-10-27 WS 4 BOS @STL W 3-0 4 4 0 3 3 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7th RF 9 Larry Walker 2004-10-23 WS 1 STL @BOS L 9-11 5 5 1 4 2 0 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2nd RF 10 Alex Rodriguez 2004-10-16 ALCS 3 NYY @BOS W 19-8 6 5 5 3 2 0 1 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2nd 3B 11 Hideki Matsui 2004-10-16 ALCS 3 NYY @BOS W 19-8 6 6 5 5 2 0 2 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4th LF 12 David Ortiz 2004-10-08 ALDS 3 BOS ANA W 8-6 6 6 2 4 2 0 1 3 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4th DH 13 Troy Glaus 2004-10-05 ALDS 1 ANA BOS L 3-9 4 3 1 3 2 0 1 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5th DH 14 Jeff Kent 2002-10-24 WS 5 SFG ANA W 16-4 6 5 4 3 1 0 2 3 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd 2B 15 Adam Kennedy 2002-10-13 ALCS 5 ANA MIN W 13-5 4 4 3 4 0 0 3 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th 2B 16 Juan Gonzalez 2001-10-13 ALDS 3 CLE SEA W 17-2 6 6 1 4 2 0 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4th RF 17 Alex Rodriguez 2000-10-17 ALCS 6 SEA @NYY L 7-9 5 5 2 4 2 0 1 3 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd SS 18 Jim Edmonds 2000-10-05 NLDS 2 STL ATL W 10-4 5 4 2 3 3 0 0 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd CF 19 Bret Boone 1999-10-26 WS 3 ATL @NYY L 5-6 5 5 1 4 3 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2nd 2B 20 John Valentin 1999-10-10 ALDS 4 BOS CLE W 23-7 5 5 2 4 1 0 2 3 7 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2nd 3B 21 Jason Varitek 1999-10-10 ALDS 4 BOS CLE W 23-7 5 5 5 4 2 0 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7th C 22 Mo Vaughn 1998-09-29 ALDS 1 BOS @CLE W 11-3 5 5 2 3 1 0 2 3 7 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd 1B 23 Javy Lopez 1996-10-14 NLCS 5 ATL @STL W 14-0 6 5 4 4 2 0 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6th C 24 Fred McGriff 1995-10-11 NLCS 2 ATL @CIN W 6-2 5 4 2 3 3 0 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4th 1B 25 Eric Karros 1995-10-04 NLDS 2 LAD CIN L 4-5 5 4 2 3 1 0 2 3 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4th 1B +----+-----------------+-------------+------+-+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ Cnt Player Date Series G Tm Opp GmReslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR XB RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions +----+-----------------+-------------+------+-+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ 26 Lenny Dykstra 1993-10-20 WS 4 PHI TOR L 14-15 6 5 4 3 1 0 2 3 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1st CF 27 Billy Hatcher 1990-10-17 WS 2 CIN OAK W 5-4 5 4 2 4 2 1 0 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2nd CF 28 Dave Henderson 1989-10-27 WS 3 OAK @SFG W 13-7 5 4 2 3 1 0 2 3 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5th CF 29 Will Clark 1989-10-04 NLCS 1 SFG @CHC W 11-3 5 4 4 4 1 0 2 3 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd 1B 30 Gary Carter 1986-10-22 WS 4 NYM @BOS W 6-2 4 4 2 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4th C 31 George Brett 1985-10-11 ALCS 3 KCR TOR W 6-5 4 4 4 4 1 0 2 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd 3B 32 Dane Iorg 1982-10-19 WS 6 STL MIL W 13-1 4 4 3 3 2 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6th DH 33 Willie Stargell 1979-10-17 WS 7 PIT @BAL W 4-1 5 5 1 4 2 0 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5th 1B 34 George Brett 1978-10-06 ALCS 3 KCR @NYY L 5-6 5 5 3 3 0 0 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st 3B 35 Steve Garvey 1978-10-04 NLCS 1 LAD @PHI W 9-5 5 5 3 3 0 1 2 3 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4th 1B 36 Reggie Jackson 1977-10-18 WS 6 NYY LAD W 8-4 4 3 4 3 0 0 3 3 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4th RF 37 Pete Rose 1976-10-09 NLCS 1 CIN @PHI W 6-3 5 5 1 3 2 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st 3B 38 Ron Cey 1974-10-06 NLCS 2 LAD @PIT W 5-2 5 5 2 4 2 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6th 3B 39 Bob Robertson 1971-10-03 NLCS 2 PIT @SFG W 9-4 5 5 4 4 1 0 3 4 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5th 1B 40 Paul Blair 1969-10-06 ALCS 3 BAL @MIN W 11-2 6 6 1 5 2 0 1 3 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2nd CF 41 Lou Brock 1968-10-06 WS 4 STL @DET W 10-1 5 5 2 3 1 1 1 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1st LF 42 Duke Snider 1955-10-02 WS 5 BRO NYY W 5-3 4 4 2 3 1 0 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd CF 43 Duke Snider 1953-10-03 WS 4 BRO NYY W 7-3 4 4 1 3 2 0 1 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6th CF 44 Jim Gilliam 1953-10-03 WS 4 BRO NYY W 7-3 5 5 1 3 3 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st 2B 45 Alvin Dark 1951-10-08 WS 4 NYG NYY L 2-6 4 4 1 3 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2nd SS 46 Hank Greenberg 1945-10-07 WS 5 DET @CHC W 8-4 5 5 3 3 3 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4th LF 47 Babe Ruth 1928-10-09 WS 4 NYY @STL W 7-3 5 5 3 3 0 0 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3rd LF 48 Babe Ruth 1926-10-06 WS 4 NYY @STL W 10-5 5 3 4 3 0 0 3 3 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd LF 49 Max Carey 1925-10-15 WS 7 PIT WSH W 9-7 5 5 3 4 3 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2nd CF 50 Hank Gowdy 1914-10-12 WS 3 BSN PHA W 5-4 5 4 1 3 2 0 1 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8th C +----+-----------------+-------------+------+-+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ Cnt Player Date Series G Tm Opp GmReslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR XB RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions +----+-----------------+-------------+------+-+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ 51 Frank Isbell 1906-10-13 WS 5 CHW @CHC W 8-6 5 5 3 4 4 0 0 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3rd 2B
From that list, you can see that 4 XBH has been done only three times, most recently by Godzilla. You can also see that this feat is a whole heck of a lot more common now, with half of the occurrences coming in just the last 13 seasons.
November 17th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Your post made me wonder how many players were 1 hit short of a cycle in the post season.
Including the 2 mentioned above there were 122:
missing 2b: 11 http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/N9Nx
missing 3b: 86 http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/cSBC
missing hr: 23 http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/MEVN
November 17th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
For comparative purposes I had PI spit out the regular season totals as well.
Regular season since 1957:
cycles: 130
missing 1b: 262
missing 2b: 914
missing 3b: 8425
missing hr: 2235
November 18th, 2007 at 6:55 am
I did a similar post on missing the cycle a while back:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/sotd/archives/101
November 18th, 2007 at 10:34 am
That was a nicely written article. Too bad I hadn't seen it. I could have saved myself some time.
November 18th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Well, you covered a larger time period...
November 19th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Wikipedia says there've been 276 cycles. Over about 200,000 games (a rough, ROUGH estimate, using this: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/interview-dave-retrosheet-smith/), that averages to one every 725 games. We've had about 1200 post-season games without a cycle. We're due fairly soon.