How about that sports fans? The Rangers catcher Bengie Molina hit for the cycle against Boston tonight. That’s a single, double, triple and home run in one game. His home run was a grand slam.
No opponent had gone the cycle in Fenway in 32 years.
I had this game on TV for a few minutes and the Boston announcers were talking about Molina and whether he’d get the cycle. The triple, the hardest, came his next time up. I missed it. Damn.
But say Karen, wasn’t Molina a Giant a few weeks ago?
UPDATE: Molina is only the eighth player since 1900 to hit for the cycle with a grand slam.
He’d had just six triples in 4,998 at bats.
As Robert Mays wrote, “Molina rounded second and made his way for third at the one speed he has.”
He’s a catcher for Pete’s sake, notoriously slow.
I can’t believe I was watching that game and didn’t wait for his next at bat. (The triple was in the eighth inning; the grand slam in the sixth.)
I think this also is a good illustration of sports ultimately as part of culture more than a game. A soccer aficionado might think it fun to see Molina lumbering into third, but only the baseball fan could appreciate how rare the cycle is, how unusual for a catcher to triple, etc. And I don’t mean that makes baseball better than soccer. The same could be true in reverse for the baseball fan watching soccer. I just think it explains why soccer just does not catch on in the U.S. to any long-lasting extent. We have enough sports traditions.
Pierce tells a funny base running story.
Indeed, he was a Giant and he was my husband’s favorite Giant too. It was a day of sadness in our house when he was traded.
I loved that guy and he was a leader on the team. But he left my lagging and flopping Giants to go to a first place team. So, you know…
Hitting for the cycle couldn’t happen to a better guy at a better time.
As I Tweeted last night: “Hope after hitting for the cycle, Bengie Molina turned westward and sent two middle fingers, with love, to Sabean.”
(Brian Sabean is the Giants general manager)
He was one of my favorite players in Anaheim on the 2002 winning team. He lumbered then, and that was 8 years ago!