FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ORANGE, Calif. – Some final thoughts on Tyler Dean’s monumental achievement (since we now know that he’s not going to hit for the cycle in three straight games). The man on the phone at Elias Sports Bureau in New York City didn’t hesitate – didn’t even try to look it up – when asked if any professional baseball player had ever hit for the cycle in back-to-back games. “Nope, never happened,” he said. “In fact it’s rare when a guy hits for the cycle in the same season.” The NCAA was asked if it had ever been done at the collegiate level, but statisticians there haven’t kept track of such oddities enough to know for sure. But they’re likely to start. Makes you wonder if something like this has ever happened at any level of organized baseball, right down to tee-ball, where everything is either an error or a home run. Dean has gotten some good initial recognition from the accomplishment. The Page 2 column in Wednesday’s Orange County Register was dedicated to the rare feat (see link below) and Dean will be interviewed on College Sports TV’s One College Sports Show tonight at 5 p.m. eastern. CSTV can be found on Channel 610 for subscribers of DirecTV’s sports package. And for those of you wondering, Dean went 2-for-5 with a single and a double in Chapman’s 4-2 win over Whittier on Tuesday afternoon. Hard to imagine a 2-for-5 game might disappoint some people and actually lower his batting average. In fact, he no longer even leads the team in batting. That distinction is currently held by senior catcher John Alexander, who’s batting a cool .600 (15-for-25) in his first six games.
Randy Youngman’s column (Orange County Register): |
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