Sunday, May 10, 2009

Sunday Cubs Fact: Last Player To Hit For the Cycle

Hitting for the cycle is one of the most difficult things to do in all of baseball. For the Cubs, it is even more difficult than throwing a no-hitter. The franchise has had 13 no hitters while only 11 cycles.

The last player to do it for the Cubs was Mark Grace, who did it at Wrigley Field on May 9, 1993. In typical Cubs fashion, they still lost the game, falling to the Padres 5-4.

Grace started the day with a double in the first inning.

All of the cards are from 1993.

Double: Bowman and Score



He singled in his second at bat in the third inning.

Single: Leaf


His only out of the day was when he lined out to right in the fifth inning.

Grace's next at bat in the seventh inning saw him getting the hardest part of the cycle, the triple. For Grace it was extra tough because he didn't have much speed.

Triple: Fleer, Fleer Ultra, and Pinnacle


When the game reached the ninth inning, the Cubs trailed 5-1. Grace was due up fifth in the inning so it was not a given that he would even bat again. But the Cubs staged a mini-rally getting two men on with two outs when Grace came to the plate. I'm sure he knew he needed a home run to get the cycle and I'm sure he was swinging for it. The baseball gods were smiling on Mark Grace, because on a 2-2 count he belted a home run. The blast brought the Cubs within a run, but the next batter, Ryne Sandberg, lined to short to end the game.

Home Run (clockwise): Donruss, Topps, Stadium Club, and Upper Deck


It was a big day for Mark Grace and another loss for the Cubs.

2 comments:

  1. Grace is one of my favorite players from my childhood - I was thrilled when he signed a card for me through the mail a few months ago

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  2. I met Gracie at a signing in 1989 or 90, and what a nice guy, I even had on my Ozzie Smith Cardinals shirt, and he was as sweet as could be. I thought this guy was going to win a ring that year with "Hawk", "Ryno", Sutcliffe, Jerome Walton (who was a killer at that time), Dwight Smith, Shawnon Dunston, Greg Maddux, Luis Salazar, Berryhill, Jody Davis and the great Don Zimmer. Still one of my all time favorite lineups.

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