Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu entered play on Saturday with 10 career triples in 2,573 plate appearances (or, one triple for every 257 plate appearances).
And the 30-year-old came to the plate in the eighth inning of Saturday night’s White Sox game against the Giants needing a triple for the cycle. Given that he had an 0-2 count in the at-bat, his already tiny odds of hitting a triple were even smaller in a pitcher’s count.
Well, Abreu smoked a liner into the right-center field gap, and ran as fast as he could (literally his fastest sprint time per Statcast), pulling off the incredible feat. And of course, White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson went crazy on the call:
It was career triple No. 11 that put Jose Abreu into the record books. #Cycle pic.twitter.com/w5pImV3IlQ
— MLB (@MLB) September 10, 2017
“That’s in the gap! That’s in the gap! He’s gonna give it a shot! He gonna go! He’s gonna give it a shot! Yeeeessss! Yeeeessss! Yeeeessss!”
Here’s a full look at Abreu’s cycle, which is the seventh in the majors this year:
Jose Abreu becomes the 6th member of the @whitesox to hit for the #cycle and the first since Jose Valentin in 2000. pic.twitter.com/K6joRiuVC2
— MLB (@MLB) September 10, 2017
Abreu is the first White Sox player to hit for the cycle since Jose Valentin did in 2000.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.