Long lost milestones

The years fly by

Watching Seth Lugo spin his complete game recently got me thinking about other milestones. Lugo’s complete game, once a common occurrence for pitchers, has become exceedingly rare. The club record, which will never be broken, is held by Dennis Leonard, who threw 21 complete games in the 1977 season. The last complete game for the Royals prior to Lugo’s masterpiece was four seasons ago, a Brad Keller complete game.

The Royals haven’t had a pitcher throw a no-hitter in 33 seasons! They’ve never had a pitcher throw a perfect game and probably never will, though Steve Busby came close in 1974. There’s a good chance that they will never have a pitcher throw a nine-inning no-hitter again, given the reluctance to let pitchers throw more than 100 pitches. The last no-hitter was thrown by Bret Saberhagen on August 26, 1991, against the White Sox. That was a Monday night game at Royals Stadium, with over 25,000 in attendance. It wasn’t a cheapie either, as the Sox had some bats, guys like Tim Raines, Frank Thomas, Carlton Fisk and Robin Ventura. Saberhagen was masterful, striking out five in a 114-pitch effort. The only blemishes on the evening were two walks issued by Saberhagen. The Royals piled up 13 hits off a quartet of Chicago pitchers, led by Kirk Gibson with three and George and Todd Benzinger with two apiece.

Is there anyone on the current staff with the juice to throw another no-no? Cole Ragans, certainly. He absolutely has the stuff to do it, if he can keep his pitch count down. Kris Bubic flirted with a no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs a couple of summers ago, but Bubic is currently working out of the bullpen. The crazy thing about no-hitters is that it’s not always your best pitcher who throws one. Yes, there have been superstars like Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Randy Johnson, and Nolan Ryan throw them. There have also been pitchers like Jonathan Sanchez, Joe Cowley, Tommy Greene, and John Means throw no-hitters. If Alec Marsh had a career day and threw a no-hitter, I would not be shocked.

Even more confounding is that no Royals hitter has hit for the cycle since George did it way back on July 25, 1990, against the Blue Jays. There have been many who have come close including Darion Blanco last season. I was at a game in August of 1990 at the old Minneapolis Humphry dome when the Royals Miguel Olivo collected a triple, home run and single all before the fifth inning. He had three more at bats, needing just a measly double, and he couldn’t do it. Hitting for the cycle is hard.

The best candidate on this team is Bobby Jr. of course. In fact, as I write this, on Monday July 22, he’s already collected a triple, double, and a home run against the Diamondbacks. It’s just the bottom of the fifth, so he’ll have probably two more at bats to hit a single. Maybe tonight’s the night? There are others on this team who have the ability to record the cycle. Maikel Garcia and Kyle Isbel come to mind. Blanco nearly got it last year. Michael Massey and MJ Melendez have the tools to do it. If I were a betting man, I’d wager heavily on Bobby. He’ll do it eventually, whether it’s tonight or some other day, he’ll do it. If he does it tonight, it’ll kill my story, but I’ll take that trade any day.

So, here we are in the bottom of the sixth and Bobby is at the plate. He takes the first pitch off his elbow, eliciting a strong response from the crowd and from Salvy, who is on deck. The normally chill Salvy looks like he’d like to throttle D-backs pitcher Humberto Castellanos. Based on his reaction, I don’t think Castellanos hit Bobby on purpose, but you never know. Is Castellanos chewing on a toothpick, ala UL Washington? Yes, he is. That still doesn’t buy him any forgiveness with the crowd, who are as engaged as I’ve ever seen in a 10-to-3 game. They want this cycle. Naturally, one of the Diamondbacks is going to pay for this transgression, it’s just a question of who is going to get the bruise. They know it’s coming and expect it.

Arizona catcher Gabriel Moreno is the unlucky guy, taking a John Schreiber fastball in the back. That’s how it’s done and has been done basically forever. The home plate umpire Jordan Baker issues warnings to both teams which brings Arizona manager Torey Lovullo out of the dugout. Salvy and Matt Quatraro hang around the fringes, trading verbal barbs. It’s an odd scene in a game that’s a blowout. The Royals bullpen has already opened the gate and they’re ready for the long run to the infield in case the dugouts empty. It doesn’t take Lovullo long to get the ejection. He’s major league pissed off about the whole thing, even though his guy started it. This is how baseball’s version of the barroom brawl usually breaks out. And speaking of brawls, when was the last time the Royals had one? Bobby will get one more chance at the plate.

In case you’re wondering, the Major League record in what’s called the Modern Era, for being hit by pitches in a season is held by Ron Hunt, with 50 during the 1971 season playing for the Montreal Expos. Hunt did this before players came to the plate wearing body armor. Hunt played in 152 games that season, meaning he took one in the ribs (or back) every third game. Ouch. To put that number in perspective, the Royals 2023 leader in hit by pitches was Salvy with…13.

Hunt, a St. Louis native, was one of the more underrated players in the game between 1963 and 1974. He was primarily a singles hitter (1,429 hits and a .273 career batting average over 12 seasons) who made two All-Star teams and accrued almost 33 WAR in his career. He led the league in being hit by pitches for seven consecutive seasons, which has got to be some kind of record, and ended his career with 243 bruises. In 1971, Hunt was taking his beatings from guys with last names like Seaver, Carlton, Marichal, Gibson, and Jenkins. Tough work, but someone had to do it. Hunt’s quest made him a bit of a cause célèbre in the national media that summer. In 1971, we got one TV station, out of Great Bend, Kansas. The reporter, Bob Dundas, did everything. He was a one man show doing the news, weather and sports. At the end of his sportscast, he’d often say something along the lines of, “and Ron Hunt of the Montreal Expos got hit by another pitch today, bring his total to…”

The baseball world was heavily invested in Ron Hunt that summer in sort of a macabre way, pulling for him to get whacked again.

Bobby’s final at bat in the eighth brings no joy with a fly ball to right and the no-cycle streak lives on. There’ll be a game where he ends it, just not tonight. The Royals’ streak of not having someone hit for the cycle is the longest dry spell in the majors.

Amazingly, the Kansas City Athletics never had a player hit for the cycle. They never had a pitcher throw a no-hitter either. One of these days, one of these guys is going to hit for the cycle. When they do, crack open your favorite beverage and have a toast as it might be many moons before we see it again. And if a Royals pitcher should ever throw a no-hitter, go crazy. Break open that bottle of expensive champagne that you’ve been saving for your daughter’s wedding. Set off some firecrackers in the street. Go to your favorite bar and buy everyone a round. Go nuts, because it’ll probably never happen again in your lifetime.