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Cubs Pete Crow-Armstrong Goes From an Incredible High To An Incredible Low

In a Matter of Seconds!

As readers of my website know, I love commenting on baseball rarities and oddities.  In the past, I’ve written about things like unassisted triple plays, four homers in one game, immaculate innings, and perfect games. Those rank right up there with some of the rarest occurrences in baseball history.

There was one of these rarities last night in the seventh inning of the Cubs game against the Rockies at Wrigley Field. As I was watching the game, my “baseball history alarm bells” went off. I’d feel like I’d be remiss in my duties as your “friendly baseball historian” (who keeps a sharp eye out for these things) if I didn’t call it to your attention.  Here’s what happened:

The Cubs’ young star center fielder, Pete Crow-Armstrong, who has been red hot since June 1, came to the plate with three hits to his credit in his previous three at-bats. He led off the game with a homer, then hit a triple in the third, followed by a double in the fifth. He needed only a single to complete a baseball cycle.  Sure enough, on a 1-1 count, Pete came through with a single to right over the head of Rockies second baseman, Edouard Julien. 

A cycle, as we all know, is when a batter hits a homer, triple, double, and single in any order. This is a fairly rare occurrence in itself, having happened less than 400 times in baseball history, and, with Pete’s feat last night, it was only the thirteenth in Cub franchise history.  Just how rare is a baseball cycle? The probability of an average player hitting for a cycle against an average team in a game is about 0.0059%; this corresponds to about 2¹⁄₂ cycles in a 162-game season with 30 teams

However, on closer scrutiny, I soon realized that what Pete did was even more uncommon.  He now enters the record books with one of the rarest of all baseball feats: Not only did Pete hit for the cycle, but he hit what’s known as a “reverse natural cycle.”

A natural cycle differs from a “normal” cycle in that the four required hits come in order, e.g., single, double, triple, and home run in that order. This has happened only 14 times since 1900. But it gets even better: Pete hit for a “reverse natural cycle.” It’s the opposite of the natural cycle, as the batter hits a homer, followed by a triple, then a double, and lastly a single.  It’s so rare (see list below) that it’s happened only nine times since 1900 – and the first time in Cub franchise history – making it rarer than perfect games (24), unassisted triple plays (15), and four home runs in one game (21).

However, hitting the unlucky thirteenth cycle in Cub history proved to be a bad omen. As quickly as the chants of “PCA-MVP” roared from the voices of excited Cub fans,  the cheering came to an abrupt halt. They were immediately extinguished as Pete put on one of the quickest displays of going from an incredible high to an equally incredible low in a matter of mere seconds: OMG! Pete proceeded to get picked off first base! Before fans barely had a chance to exhale, Pete was now seen slowly making his way back to the dugout with his head hung low, having just suffered the ultimate baseball indignity: getting picked off first base in a close, one-run game.

But making the disappointment even worse was that the Cubs were ahead 2-1 at the time, and the next three batters all reached base safely. Even with all that happening on the base paths, the Cubs failed to score a run! (that may be some kind of record in itself). And then sure enough, just to add salt to the wound, in the top half of the eighth, the Rockies took advantage of Pete’s miscue and grabbed a late 4-2 lead, thanks to a three-run homer off the bat of Rockies’ rookie Cole Carrigg. Had the Cubs not rallied to win the game 5-4 in the ninth in walk-off fashion, Pete’s bone-headed play could very well have cost them the game. I guess we can safely file this one away as: All’s well that ends well!

As electrifying as Pete Crow-Armstrong (who certainly wears his emotions on his sleeve) can be at times with sensational highlight-reel defensive play in centerfield, he’s also prone to occasionally doing (or saying) some things that leave you scratching your head. In typical PCA fashion, last night’s game had a little bit of both!

Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All found on Google search

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