Adrian Beltre 3K Moments: Bi-Cycle

With Adrian Beltre just seven hits from 3K, here’s a look back at ten of our favorite Adrian Beltre moments and antics. We’ll post a new one with each hit as we count down to 3,000!

For hit No. 2993:

For a very, very long time the Cycle Club in Arlington consisted of one member: Oddibe McDowell.

Jim King hit for the cycle in 1964 as a member of the second version of the Washington Senators. Technically, since that team would move to Texas for the 1972 season, King was the first in franchise history to achieve the feat of hitting for a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game.

It wasn’t until 1985, however, that McDowell did the deed as a proper Texas Ranger. And then, from 1985 through the mighty 1990s and into the 2000s, no one hit for the cycle for Texas. Not Juan Gonzalez, not Pudge Rodriguez, not Raffy Palmeiro, heck, not even David Hulse!

The cycle became something of a myth for me. I’d never seen a Ranger do it. I was two years old when McDowell homered off Tom Waddell of Cleveland at old Arlington Stadium to complete his 5-for-5 night and first Rangers franchise cycle.

Despite their great young hitters in the years to follow McDowell, the next time a Ranger would hit for the cycle wouldn’t be until 2004 when Mark Teixeira took the tour again against Cleveland. And then, two years later, Gary Matthews Jr. did it natural style (single, double, triple, home run in order).

Three years after Matthews, Ian Kinsler hit for the cycle while going 6-for-6 in a game. A year after that, Benji Molina hit the most improbable cycle in baseball history at Fenway Park. Three years after that, Alex Rios hit for the cycle. I bet you remember where you were that September night.

Two years after Rios’ cycle, Shin-Soo Choo rode the bases in Colorado. A couple of years after that, in April of this season, Carlos Gomez celebrated his son’s birthday with a cycle against the Angels.

So, as you can see, between 2004 and now, the cycle drought ended and the Rangers have been lousy in cycles. Perhaps the novelty has worn off. Except for one thing, Adrian Beltre hit for the cycle twice in that span.

Beltre’s first cycle with Texas came on August 24, 2012 against the Minnesota Twins in his second season in Texas. Beltre tripled off Sam Deduno in the first inning, doubled off Deduno in the second, homered off Deduno in the fifth, and singled off Kyle Waldrop in the seventh for the sixth cycle in team history. The Rangers won 8-0.

Beltre’s second cycle with Texas came on August 3, 2015 against the then division leading Houston Astros. Beltre tripled off Lance McCullers in the first, doubled off Josh Fields in the second, singled off Mike Fiers in the third, and homered off Fiers in the fifth for the ninth cycle in team history and his third cycle of his career. The Rangers won 12-9 and began their quest to take the American League West title from Houston.

For a very, very long time the Cycle Club in Arlington consisted of one member, and while that club has expanded greatly in recent years, there is only one man who has hit for the cycle twice as a Texas Ranger and that is Adrian Beltre.

It is here I will note that Adrian Beltre has three career cycles. He also did it once as a member of the Seattle Mariners. Where did he achieve his first cycle? The Ballpark, of course. He’s the only player to hit for the cycle three times in the same ballpark in baseball history.

Here’s a list of the players who have hit for the cycle three times in baseball history, the record:

John Reilly

• Cincinnati Red Stockings 09-12-1883
• Cincinnati Red Stockings 09-19-1883
• Cincinnati Reds 08-06-1890

Bob Meusel

• New York Yankees 05-07-1921
• New York Yankees 07-03-1922
• New York Yankees 07-26-1928

Babe Herman

• Brooklyn Robins 05-18-1931
• Brooklyn Robins 07-24-1931
• Chicago Cubs 09-30-1933

Adrian Beltre

• Seattle Mariners 09-01-2008
• Texas Rangers 08-24-2012
• Texas Rangers 08-03-2015

That’s it. Three players from before the second World War and Adrian Beltre. Adrian Beltre is a unicorn.