Three Strikes: The Pie cycle 

August, 17, 2009
08/17/09
2:47
PM ET

STRIKE ONE -- IT'S ALL CYCLICAL DEPT.

We've seen some unlikely guys hit for the cycle here at Three Strikes World Headquarters. But Felix Pie's adventures in cyclicality for the Orioles on Friday rank right up there.

Felix Pie

Pie

For one thing, Pie came into the seventh inning of this game still needing a single and a triple to complete his cycle -- then got both of them in the same inning. He's the first cyclist to collect his final two hits of a cycle in one inning, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, since the Giants' Jim Ray Hart homered and tripled in the fifth inning of a cycle on July 8, 1970.

But just as unlikely were Pie's numbers heading into that game. At the time, he was batting a robust .234 and slugging a lusty .336. And even though, thanks to that cycle, he's now up to .247 and .384, those are still stats that don't exactly suggest: Here's a man born to hit for the cycle. And we can prove it.


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Jayson Stark | email

Senior Writer, ESPN.com
  • Senior writer for ESPN.com
  • 21 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer
  • Author of two baseball books

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jayson Stark
Jayson Stark

Jayson Stark has been a senior baseball writer for ESPN.com since 2000. His regular contributions include the newsy Rumblings and Grumblings column, his eclectic "Three Strikes" blog and his tilted look inside baseball's numbers and quirks, the Useless Information Department.

Stark also makes regular television appearances on "SportsCenter," "Outside the Lines" and "Baseball Tonight." He is a regular ESPN Radio guest of Mike & Mike, the Doug Gottlieb Show, the John Kinkade Show, ESPN Radio tonight and numerous other shows on the network.

Before arriving at ESPN, Stark worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer for 21 years. He was twice named Pennsylvania's sportswriter of the year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. In 2010, he was honored by the Foster Conference for Distinguished Writers for his books and other work. He is the author of two books, "The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History" (Triumph Books, 2006) and "Worth The Wait: Tales of the 2008 Phillies" (Triumph Books, 2009).

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