I’ve always been fascinated with players hitting for the cycle. Of all of baseball’s unusual events, to me the cycle is the least appreciated. Hitting for the cycle is surprisingly rare. According to Baseball Reference there have been 218,168 major league baseball games played in the history of the sport. There have been 299 no-hitters thrown and only 324 players have hit for the cycle. Natural cycles, where a player collects his hits in order: single, double, triple and home run are even rarer.
There have only been 14 natural cycles in major league history. The first natural cycle was accomplished on October 6, 2010 when Bill Collins of the Boston Doves pulled off the feat against the Philadelphia Phillies.