CHICAGO -- Jimmy Haynes pitched his
first big-league shutout and still didn't get
the attention he deserved.
That's what happens when a teammate
hits for the cycle.
Mike Blowers shoved Haynes out of the
spotlight after Monday's 14-0 rout of the
White Sox by becoming the first A's player
to single, double, triple and homer in the
same game since Tony Phillips did
ir,6p9,6l it in 1986.
"It's the no-hitter for hitters," batting coach
Denny Walling said.
Blowers is only the 99th player in
American League history to hit for the
cycle and the 218th overall.
"Really?" Blowers said. "I've seen a couple
of them, never thinking that I would do it."
The 32-year-old infielder's performance
against the White Sox was remarkable --
even before he hit for the cycle.
Blowers became the starting third baseman
Saturday night only because Dave
Magadan had to go on the disabled list
with a hand injury. Blowers had three hits
that night, then came back the next
afternoon and hit a grand slam in the
eighth when the A's rallied from five down
to win.
He finished the three games here 9-for-12
with two home runs and nine RBIs.
"The last three days, knowing that I was
going to play, I relaxed a lot more,"
Blowers said. "So that slowed things down
for me. I feel good. I don't feel the
pressure of that one at-bat trying to get a
hit. That's helped a lot."
He began his remarkable performance
Monday by homering off Mike Sirotka in
the second inning. After flying out in the
third, Blowers came up again in the fifth
with runners on second and third and two
out. This at-bat proved pivotal in his chase
for the cycle.
Left-hander Sirotka did not intentionally
walk the right-handed hitting Blowers to
get to Jason Giambi, who hits from the left
side.
"I was glad he (Chicago manager Jerry
Manuel) pitched to him, because G has
been struggling lately," A's manager Art
Howe said. "I don't know if they did their
homework on it or not."
Blowers, however, wasn't surprised that
Sirotka pitched to him.
"It's a tough situation," he said. "If he
walks me, now the bases are loaded, and
he's got to pitch to maybe the best hitter
we have here. So I didn't think I was going
to get a free pass, that's for sure. He was
going to let me get myself out."
With the count 1-0, the lefty hung a pitch
that Blowers punched into the gap in
right-center for a double that cleared the
bases and gave the A's a 5-0 lead.
Blowers singled in the seventh, two batters
before Scott Spiezio hit a grand slam, the
third of his brief career and second this
season.
So when Blowers came to the plate in the
eighth all that was left was the triple, the
hardest of the four hits. Blowers couldn't
even remember his last one. So the odds
looked enormous.
"If I had to pick anybody to hit for the
cycle, it wouldn't have been Blowers,"
Rickey Henderson said, smiling and
shaking his head. "Not with needing a
triple on his last at-bat."
Blowers insisted he didn't step into the box
thinking triple. But his mindset changed as
soon as he lined reliever Larry Casian's
pitch down the right-field line.
"I didn't think cycle until I was running to
first base," he said. "When I saw the ball
slicing into the right-field corner, I took off
running. About halfway down there I
realized, hey, a triple gets me the cycle.
And I took off. Even if he cut that ball off,
I'll give it a shot."
Although the pickup, the throw to the
cutoff man and the relay were executed
cleanly, Blowers made it easily into third.
He scored on Mark Bellhorn's pinch-hit
double.
When he got to the dugout, Walling said,
"He came in with the biggest grin on his
face. And we all gave him a high-five. Just
an awesome day."
Blackman, Frank. "Vicious cycle for A's Blowers". San Francisco Examiner. 19 May, 1998.
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