It was on this day in 2001 that
Toronto Blue Jays’ third baseman, Jeff Frye, became only the second player in
club history to hit for the cycle (single, double, triple and home run in the
same game). Frye accomplished the feat in an 11-3 victory over the Texas
Rangers at SkyDome in Toronto.
The Rangers scored two runs in
the top of the first on back-to-back home runs by Ivan Rodriguez and Rafael
Palmeiro. The Jays responded with two runs in their half of the inning on an
RBI single by Carlos Delgado and a sacrifice fly by Brad Fulmer.
Frye came to the plate for the
first time in the second inning and tripled to right on the second pitch of the
at bat, but was stranded on third. He was up again in the fifth inning and
doubled to right and later scored on a single by Shannon Stewart, giving the
Jays a 3-2 lead.
The Jays would score seven runs
in the sixth inning to take a 10-3 lead. Frye’s third trip to the plate, which
came in the sixth, would result in a two-run home run, leaving him just a
single shy of the cycle. With two out and a runner on first in the seventh,
Frye lined a pitch into the gap in right-centre field that should have been a
double. But Frye looked at first base coach, Garth Iorg, as he rounded first
and didn’t attempt to try for second base. He was content with the RBI single
and received a standing ovation from the 22,384 fans in attendance
Besides the cycle, the Jays also
made some franchise history when they hit four home runs in the sixth inning. As
well as Frye, Toronto got dingers from Jose Cruz Jr, Stewart and Delgado.
Frye only played the one season
with Toronto and appeared in 74 games. He collected 43 hits for a .246 batting
average, hit two home runs and had 15 RBIs. He retired after that season,
having played a total of eight years in the Big Leagues, spending time with
Texas, Boston and Colorado.
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