Forty-six years ago today, on Aug. 7, 1963, Jim Hickman became the first New York Met to hit for the cycle, accomplishing a feat nearly as rare as a no-hitter.
Hickman’s accomplishment at the Polo Grounds is considered a natural cycle, because he hit his single, double, triple and home run in that order during the Mets 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals – a rare victory during a 51-111 season.
Hickman led off the game with a single, doubled in the second, tripled home Mets picher Tracy Stallard in the fourth and led off the sixth with a solo home run. He got a chance to make it a 5-for-5 day in the eighth but flied out to left.
Although no Met has thrown a no-no during the team’s 47-plus years of existence, eight other Mets have gone on to hit for the cycle: Tommie Agee (July 6, 1970), Mike Phillips (June 25, 1976), Keith Hernandez (July 4, 1985), Kevin McReynolds (Aug. 1, 1989), Alex Ochoa (July 3, 1996), John Olerud (Sept. 11, 1997), Eric Valent (July 29, 2004) and Jose Reyes (June 21, 2006).
So to summarize, the Mets own 0 of the 240 sanctioned Major League no-hitters, yet 9 of the 287 hits for cycle in Major League history. So in Mets history, the no-hitter is MUCH more rare than the cycle.
For the record, only three teams (the San Diego Padres, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Florida Marlins) have never had a player hit for cycle. The Padres and the Rays are the only franchises void of a no-hitter or cycle, while the Colorado Rockies have had a cycle but no no-hitter.
