Earlier this week (August 10 to be exact), second baseman Chandler Redmond of the Double-A Springfield Cardinals became just the second player in baseball history to hit for the “Home Run Cycle” – a solo, two-run, three-run and Grand Slam home run all in the same game. More on that in just a bit, but (spoiler alert), this is one of those Baseball Roundtable posts when I start researching a baseball and “one thing seems to lead to another.”
Redmond’s offensive outburst seemed unlikely to me. He was a 32nd round pick (965 overall) in the 2019 draft, hit just .267 (but with 50 home runs) in four college seasons (Gardner-Webb of the Big South Conference) and was hitting .228 (with 13 home runs) for Springfield at the time. Well, that started me thinking about (and looking into) other unexpected (and at least somewhat extraordinary) minor-league accomplishments. Boom! Among others, I found one that occurred on this date (August 13) in 1913.
On that day, 24-year-old southpaw Harry Hedgpeth of the Petersburg Goobers of the Class-C Virginia League blanked the Richmond Colts twice‚ by scores of 1–0 and 10–0‚ both games going nine innings. He gave up only one hit in the opener and improved on that in Game two, tossing a no hitter.
Hedgpeth’s opponent in the first game was the ace of the Richmond staff, 22-year-old righty Yancey Wyatt “Doc” Ayers – on his way to a 29-8 season (and coming off a 25-12 season for the Colts in 1912). Ayers gave up just six hits and fanned 13, while Hedgpeth (himself on the way to a 21-10 season) gave up just one hit and one walk, while fanning six. The only hit was a single by Richmond SS and cleanup hitter Eugene Newton.
The Goobers jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning of Game Two and Hedgpeth again went the distance giving up no-hits and two walks, while fanning two. The closest any major leaguer has come to Hedgpeth’s big day is the time the Cubs’ “Big Ed” Reulbach became the first (and still only) only major leaguer to throw two complete-game shutouts on the same day. It came on September 26, 1908, as Reulbach and the Cubs topped the Brooklyn Superbas 5-0 and 3-0. Reulbach gave up eight hits in his 18 frames of work.
Here, recreated as accurately as I can, are the box scores from Hedgpeth’s one-hit doubleheader sweep (first names can be a problem in some old minor-league accountings).
New reports at the time indicated Clark Griffith of the Washington Senators had purchased both first game starters; and Ayers and Hedgpeth both pitched in Washington that season. Hedgpeth got into a game for the Senators on the final day of the 1913 season, pitching one scoreless inning. It was his only MLB appearance. A shoulder injury the following spring apparently dampened his chances for an MLB career. Ayers went on to pitch in nine MLB seasons, going 64-78, 2.84.
Yancey “Doc” Ayers started for the Washington Senators in the June 23, 1917 game (versus the Red Sox) in which Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore pitched MLB’s first combined no-hitter. Ruth walked the first batter and then was ejected for accosting the umpire. Ernie Shore came on in relief and, after the base runner was caught stealing, retired the next 26 batters in order – as the Rd Sox won 4-0.
Now, back to Redmond’s Home Run Cycle. Notably, at least for the Roundtable, Redmond tied the record of another Cardinals’ farmhand – Tyrone Horne, who hit for the Home Run Cycle on July 27, 1998 – as his Double-A Arkansas Travelers topped the San Antonio Missions of the Texas League 13-4. (For the complete story on Horne’s big day, click here.)
Redmond’s big game came as the Springfield Cardinals topped the Amarillo Sod Poodles 21-4. He hit his four history-tying round trippers in a four-inning stretch off four different pitchers. His day went like this:
First Inning – RBI single off Slade Cecconi;
Third Inning – Strikeout (Cecconi);
Fifth Inning – Two-run home runs off Brent Teller;
Sixth Inning – Grand Slam off Josh Green;
Seventh Inning – Solo homer off Justin Lewis;
Eighth Inning – Three-run home run off Austin Pope.
—–Other Eye -Catching Minor-League Stats—–
N0w, here are a a half dozen other professional (minor-league) baseball achievements that have caught The Roundtable’s eye.
- Outfielder Joe Wilhoit hit in a professional-baseball record 69 straight games in 1919, while with the Wichita Jobbers of the Class-A Western League. His streak included 50 multi-hit games and a .515 average. He finished the season hitting .422 for Wichita, collecting 222 hits in 128 games. Wilhoit played in four MLB seasons, hitting .257-3-74. For the full Wilhoit story, click here.
- Outfielder Bob Crues drove in a professional-baseball record 254 runs (in 140 games) for the Class-C Amarillo Gold Sox in 1948; while hitting .404 with 69 home runs. Crues played in 11 minor-league seasons, but never made it to the major leagues.
- Twenty-year-old righty Ron Necciai pitched a no- hitter for the Class-Bristol Twins (Appalachian League) in 1952 – and struck out a professional-baseball record 27 batters in the game. Necciai played in just one MLB season (1952), going 1-6, 7.08 for the Pirates. For the full Necciai story, click here.
- Buzz Arlett, P-OF-1B, is often described as the minor-league Babe Ruth. He started his minor-league career as a pitcher and racked up 99 wins in his first five seasons. Arm issues forced him from the mound and into the outfield. He went on to hit .313 with 432 home runs over 19 minor-league seasons – hitting 30 or more home runs in eight seasons and hitting better than .300 in 14. Arlett played in just one MLB campaign, hitting .313-18-72 for the 1931 Phillies. For the full Arlett story, click here.
- Walter “Smoke” Justis went 25-17 for the Class-D Ohio State League Lancaster Links in 1908 – and he threw four no-hitters during the campaign. Justis won 20 or more games in three minor-league seasons. He appeared in just two major-league games, giving up three runs on four hits and six walks in 3 /13 innings.
- Speaking of stats, Arnold “Jigger” Statz recorded 11 professional seasons of at last 200 hits – the final ten of those in the minor leagues. He had 209 hits (.319 average) for the Cubs in 1923. Then, between 1926 and 1938, he had ten more 200+ hit seasons for the Pacific Coast League Los Angeles Angels. Statz retired, (at age 44) after the 1942 season, with 4,093 professional hits – 3,356 in the minor-leagues, 737 in the majors. (His totals were, of course, helped by the PCL’s long season of the time.) Side note: Ichiro Suzuki also had 11 200-hit seasons, ten in the U.S. major leagues, one in the Japan Pacific League.
Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; National Pastime.com; MLB.com; Richmond News Leader, October 15, 1925 (via VirginiaChronical.com); The Day Book (Chicago newspaper) , Volume 2, Number 281, August 25, 1913 (via the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection); other sources cited in links.
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