Matsui Hits for the Cycle

Little-Matsui hit for the cycle in Seibu's 10-4 routing of the Kintetsu Buffaloes last night (6/7) at Seibu Dome, the first cycle in the Pacific League for 6 years.  (Yokohama's Rose hit one last season.)

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In the bottom of the first, Matsui hit a two run shot 130 meters to right-center while batting right handed.  After Kintetsu's starter Elvira was chased in just two innings, Matsui switched to the left side of the plate where he walked (and later scored) in the 3rd inning, ripped a base hit to center to lead off the 4th inning, tripled and later scored to lead off the 6th inning, and finally, in his last at bat, doubled to complete the cycle.

Well, it was kind of a double.  Just before his final at bat, Higashio-kantoku told Matsui, "Don't fail to stop at second base."  Matsui grounded the ball to third, the ball then bounced off of third baseman Nakamura's glove and bounded into left field.  Matsui did what he was told and stopped at second base.  One Seibu coach called it "One hit, one error."  But the home ground scorer called it a double, and so a cycle it is.

How rare is the cycle?  Matsui became the 51st Pro Yakyu player to do it, last night being only the 55th time.  Grand slams are much more common.  As for hitting for the cycle batting from both sides of the plate, Matsui is only the second person to do it.  Matsunaga (Orix) did it twice, once against Nankai on October 8, 1982, and once against Lotte on May 24, 1991, making this the third time that the feat was accomplished.