 |
|
|
O'Neal Swings for the Cycle Sunday, September 12th, 2021 There are four types of hits in baseball. It is a rarity for one player to get them all in one game. Joe O'Neal did it -- single, double, triple and a home run -- and sparked Pasadena to a 16-3 win over Chicago at The War Dome. "Yeah, I was some kind of hitter in this game. It was like all I had to do was close my eyes and swing the bat. I don't think they could have gotten me out with a bazooka." Those were the words of Joe O'Neal of the Pasadena Bumblebees reflecting on his great game against the Chicago Titans. He hit for the cycle and is headed for the record books. For the game the Bumblebees right fielder banged out 4 hits in 4 at-bats and totaled 2 runs batted in and 4 runs scored. Speaking to the press corps about the difficulty of hitting for the cycle, he told them, "A triple is so hard to hit. You hit very few in a year. To hit one in a game when you need it for a cycle, it's impossible to try to do it. If you need a single, you could bunt or do some other things. To hit a triple, usually something weird has to happen, the ball kicking past an outfielder or somebody falling down. It's hard. If you could hit one in the gap every time, you'd be a great hitter. It's a lot of luck to hit for a cycle." Joe O'Neal doubled in the 1st, singled in the 3rd, hit an RBI triple in the 4th, hit a solo-shot off Jun'ichi Kimura in the 5th and walked in the 7th. So far this year in 36 games O'Neal is hitting .360 with 4 home runs, 24 RBIs and 30 runs scored. |
|
