Beyond the Cycle: Recognition and Establishment of the Cycle Hit

Notice

Although I wrote this manuscript three years ago, I have written another article related to it.

In addition to summarizing the findings of research conducted after this manuscript, it also includes additions and corrections to this text. I wish I had included a link when it was published last year... It is a long read, but I would appreciate it if you could take a look. (Added May 2, 2026)

On August 8, 1965, a doubleheader between the Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Nankai Hawks was held at Nippon Life Stadium. Compared to the previous day, when the Nankai Hawks, who were leading the league by a massive 23.5 games over the second-place Toei Flyers, lost to the last-place Kintetsu team that had been on a 10-game losing streak, the first game of this day unfolded exactly as expected.

In the top of the first inning, Nankai's leadoff hitter Motoakira Horigome hit a single, and while Masazo Higuchi was retired, Yoshinori Hirose hit to right-center, Katsuya Nomura to left, and Hadri to left-center, scoring three runs immediately with three consecutive doubles and knocking out Kintetsu starter Shigemasa Yamamoto in just 13 pitches.

Against the relief pitcher Osamu Tanabe, Kenji Koike walked, and after Seichin Morishita was retired, Yasuhiro Kunisada hit for another run, and pitcher Chikara Morinaka hit a double for two more runs. With six runs scored in one trip through the batting order, it felt like the game was decided right there.

Nankai continued to attack Tanabe after that. In the second inning, Hirose hit a triple and scored on a groundout by Nomura for one run. In the fifth, Hirose hit a home run, and in the sixth, Kunisada hit a home run, each adding one run. The final blow came in the ninth inning when, off Satomi Bando, Hirose hit an RBI single and Nomura hit a sacrifice fly to add two more runs for a total of 11. Morinaka also gave up four runs but completed the game without difficulty, resulting in an 11-4 blowout victory.

As you can see from the sequence of events, in this game, Hirose hit a double in the first, a triple in the second, and a home run in the fifth, putting him in a situation where he only needed a single to complete the cycle.

He was retired in his fourth at-bat in the seventh inning, but in the ninth, as if he didn't care at all, he smashed a triple, leaving a result that exceeded the cycle hit.

Given Hirose's craftsman-like nature, which did not obsess over records, he likely had no intention of stopping at first base if he hit the ball well, and he was probably satisfied with the fact that all four of his hits contributed to runs.

In the next day's newspaper, the topic of Nomura hitting his 300th career home run in the second game was featured prominently. Hirose's performance was naturally not featured prominently because he did not complete the cycle, and it was only mentioned in small subheadings like "Hirose's 12 Total Bases" or "Hirose Goes Wild," with his batting performance only picked up within the report of the game's progress.

Like Hirose, there are various other cases that could be called "beyond the cycle," where a player hits a better base hit than the one needed when they have already collected three types. However, most of these are cases where the player hit a second home run, and there are only four known cases other than Hirose where a player took an extra base on an infield hit.

Haruyasu Nakajima, in the third game between the Giants and Senators on May 24, 1940, was retired in his first at-bat, but hit a two-run homer in the fourth in his second at-bat, a double in the fifth, and a triple in the seventh. Reaching the ninth inning with a chance for the cycle, he saw his hit fly to right-center and ran to second base, exceeding the cycle. Nakajima also achieved a "beyond the cycle" feat in 1938 by hitting a home run while still needing a triple.

Kiyoshi Sugiura started in the 13th game between Chubu Nippon and Gold Star on September 7, 1946, hitting a solo home run in the second and a single in the fourth. Up until the eighth inning, these were the only hits Sugiura had, but the lineup, ignited by the second-inning home run, scored eight runs. However, as if that were just a long fuse, they exploded for another eight runs in the ninth. In that inning, Sugiura hit a triple to spark the explosion, leaving only a double to complete the cycle. When he came to the plate again during the same trip through the batting order, he hit a second triple, not only exceeding the cycle but also tying the Japanese record for two triples in one inning.

The most recent achiever, Hideki Matsui, in the 8th game between the Giants and Yakult on May 23, 2001, was retired in the first inning, but hit a two-run homer in the third, a triple in the fifth, and a double in the seventh. Heading into the eighth inning needing only a single, he didn't hesitate to turn a good hit into a double. Thanks to running to second, he was able to score on Kazuhiro Kiyohara's subsequent double, but although they closed the gap to two runs, they ultimately couldn't catch up and lost the game. After the game, Matsui commented, "Of course I knew. But I had to go to second base there" (Mainichi Shimbun), and Wynn commented, "I knew about the record, but if the team doesn't win, it means nothing. If I had stopped at that hit, I would have been scolded instead" (Weekly Baseball). In both cases, while they were aware of the cycle, they prioritized victory over the record and left a result that exceeded the cycle. For this reason, it was covered in newspapers and magazines and remains a record known to people to this day.

Table 4-1 Players who achieved 'Beyond the Cycle'

For the two players before Hirose, it was a time with few records before and after the war, so no comments were passed down, and similarly, no comments remain from Hirose's time. Thanks to this, this record was also buried in history, but one question remained here. On July 16, 1965, Spencer of the Hankyu Braves achieved a cycle hit. After the game, he was surrounded by reporters as the hero of the Hankyu victory, but no one mentioned the achievement of the cycle hit. Spencer asked, "Why don't you ask about the cycle hit?" The reason was that, in fact, the very concept of a cycle hit did not exist in Japan at the time, and no one knew about the record. This triggered an understanding that it was a rare and valuable record, and they began to retrospectively investigate achievers and started giving awards.

The above episode has been conveyed by Isao Chiba (Weekly Baseball, June 12, 1978 issue, etc.) and Tetsuya Usami (Professional Baseball Record Encyclopedia, etc.), and therefore, it is the accepted theory that July 16, 1965, was the day the concept of the cycle hit was established in Japan, and the concept of the cycle hit spread after this. By the way, the aforementioned record of Hirose occurred just three weeks after that memorable game. The question was, shouldn't it have been covered more in connection with the cycle hit?

Regarding this, Chiba states that the term "cycle hit" was not "immediately printed in all newspapers" even when Spencer achieved it, and that it was "still unfamiliar" (Weekly Baseball, June 15, 1981 issue).

Chiba continues by stating that in 1971, the term "cycle hit" finally appeared in print in the Yomiuri Shimbun, noting that "an article appeared saying it was 'a rare feat called a cycle hit even in the Major Leagues,' and thus the cycle hit finally gained 'citizenship'."

However, 10 years later, in the June 17, 1991 issue of Weekly Baseball, Chiba claims that in 1968, "an article appeared in the Hochi Shimbun stating '(since Spencer) it was the first cycle hit in about three years across both leagues,' and it finally gained 'citizenship' in Japan."

It is clear that Chiba evaluates the term gaining "citizenship" based on its appearance in newspapers. Furthermore, if we interpret this as meaning that the cycle hit had not yet gained "citizenship" at the time of Spencer, it serves as an answer to my question regarding Hirose's record. However, given that Chiba took 10 years to find an article that was only three years earlier, one might think that Chiba's research was by no means exhaustive.

Therefore, I decided to re-examine the newspapers of that time. The subjects were five general newspapers (Mainichi Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Sankei Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun), four sports newspapers (Sports Nippon, Nikkan Sports, Sankei Sports, Hochi Shimbun), and one magazine (Weekly Baseball).
I also checked regional sports newspapers (Daily Sports, Nishinippon Sports) depending on the achievement status. Please note that in this paper, the newspaper names are often abbreviated as "Nikkei," "Sponichi," "Nikkan," "Sanspo," "Daily," and "Nishispo."

The day after Spencer achieved the record, the July 17 general newspapers featured headlines such as "Spencer's Veteran Triple" and "Spencer's 25th Home Run Leads to Walk-off Win against Kintetsu." Although Yoneda's 2,000th career strikeout achieved in the same game was covered in a separate article, the cycle hit was not only ignored, but the word "cycle" did not appear anywhere in the text or surrounding content.
In other words, there was zero mention of a cycle hit in the general newspapers.

Even in the sports newspapers, only Sports Nippon and the local Daily Sports explicitly mentioned the cycle hit in their articles.

The Daily had an article with the headline "First Cycle Hit," stating, "One of each from a home run to a single. It's what they call a cycle hit," written as if it were already somewhat familiar, and included a comment from Spencer: "It's been a long baseball life, but this is the first time I've hit one of each from a single to a home run."

The Daily's writing is slightly ambiguous, but Sports Nippon is even more questionable. Quoting part of an article titled "Inspired by Mentor's Visit, Goes Wild with Cycle Hit," it says, "By the way, Spencer even had the bonus of a cycle hit today. The contents were a third-base infield single in the first, a right-center home run in the fifth, a left-center double in the seventh, and a left-center triple in the twelfth."
As an aside, the "mentor" in this headline refers to Leo Durocher, who was a commentator at the time.

The key point that a cycle hit is recording four types of hits in one game remained ambiguous in both the Daily and Sponichi, and one wonders how much the reporters understood the joy of Spencer, who commented to Sponichi, "I was lucky."

This is the extent of the coverage even in the two papers that mentioned the cycle hit. Even so, compared to the descriptions in other sports newspapers, it is clear that these were still much better articles.

In the Hochi Shimbun, Spencer's comment was, "Single, double, triple, home run. It's the first time in my long baseball life that I've recorded all the bases in one game. It feels great," while Nikkan Sports only wrote, "10 total bases. Single, double, triple, home run."
Although both mentioned that he hit four types of hits, the descriptions were merely to the effect that he had a great hitting performance, and it certainly does not convey the feeling that the reporters recognized it as what is called a cycle hit.

Well, since it appeared in print in two sports papers, if Chiba knew this, he might say, "It had already gained 'citizenship' at the time of Spencer." However, if we examine the expressions in the articles comprehensively, we can see that the content and value of a cycle hit did not click with the reporters of the time, even with Spencer's explanation.
Chiba, who was in the Pacific League records department, might have been surprised, but with the reporters' level of understanding like this, it is no wonder that the story did not spread to the general readership at the time, and it could hardly be said that the "concept was established" as it is today.

The next person to achieve it was Hirotami Wada three years later, on May 28, 1968, but the only sports newspaper to cover it as a cycle hit the following day was the Hochi Shimbun, which Chiba mentioned. Even then, it was just a brief mention in the body of the game report, with no headlines or separate articles. In that sense, it was actually a step backward from Spencer's time.

The local Nishinippon Sports pointed out in a small article that he had achieved four types of hits. It is typical of a local paper to convey the detailed circumstances, noting that because the ball hit to right field went into the bullpen, Wada, who had reached third base, was sent back to second for an ground-rule double, and it was thanks to this that he completed the four types.

However, it did not mention that this was a cycle hit, and in this respect, it is no different from the Hochi Shimbun or Nikkan Sports at the time of Spencer.

Other than that, Sankei Sports set up a small column for "Great Hitting Records" and meticulously recorded the contents of the four at-bats, but the term "cycle hit" did not appear at all.Nikkan Sports only used expressions like "Hit-maker Wada" and "100% including his 5th HR," and Sports Nippon, which had written an article at the time of Spencer, had no description other than mentioning Wada's at-bats in the body of the game report. This was the same for Daily Sports.

Given this situation in the sports newspapers, one might think general newspapers would be even less likely to cover it, but only the Sankei Shimbun mentioned Wada's record. In a small article separate from the game results, it described it as "a rare record of one of each from a single to a home run," and included Wada's comment: "This is the first time for something like this. I've never really heard of getting one of each. If it were mahjong, it would be like a Kokushi Muso (Thirteen Orphans)."

However, the term "cycle hit" did not appear at all, and the phrase used instead was "Department Store of Hits." Calling something diverse a "department store of [something]" was an expression often seen until the Heisei era, and it would be in the better category of Japanese-made phrases for a cycle hit.By the way, Nishinippon Sports titled its small article "Wada, a Trade Fair of Hits." There might have been a large trade fair in Kyushu at the time, but as a personal opinion, "Department Store of Hits" wins.

It received almost no attention in newspapers, and even if we expand this to books and magazines, we only find cases where the cycle hit is not mentioned at all.For example, there was no article on Wada in the issues of Weekly Baseball from that time that carried topics on record achievements (there was none for Spencer either). At the end of the year, the Nishitetsu Lions were also featured as part of a series called "Record Notebook: Special Series - Reflections on the 12 Teams in 1968," but while the topics column for the year included Takagi Kyo's Pacific League record-tying 4 walks in one game on April 20 and Wada's 1,000th career hit on May 31, the cycle hit recorded in between was not mentioned.

Looking back, even in "Twenty Years of Post-War Professional Baseball History," published by the same Baseball Magazine Sha in November 1965, there was no mention of Spencer's cycle hit, despite it being the year of publication.
Furthermore, in the "Official Baseball Guide," compiled by the Professional Baseball Commissioner and published by the same company, there was not a single mention of the cycle hit, neither during Spencer's time nor Wada's.

Given the uneven coverage by sports newspapers, the situation where the term "cycle hit" was not widely used as phrases like "department store of hits" were used instead, the fact that it did not become a topic even in specialized magazines, let alone official materials, and above all, the recognition by the players themselves as seen in Wada's comments, it is difficult to say that the cycle hit had taken root in Japan even at the time of Wada's achievement. It can be said that it was a situation where it was finally beginning to be discussed as a topic little by little.

Next, Hiroyuki Yamazaki achieved it on August 14, 1971, six years after Spencer. While I cannot confirm it in Sankei Sports, the other three sports newspapers all ran separate articles, regardless of size. In general newspapers, besides the Sankei Shimbun, it was also published in the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Nihon Keizai Shimbun in small articles separate from the game results.
However, in the Nikkei, the term used was surprisingly "circle hit." Since cycle and circle are naturally different words, it is more appropriate to view this as a lack of understanding on the part of the reporter rather than a variation in notation.

On the other hand, the Yomiuri Shimbun article is as Chiba wrote, and while I can understand the feeling of wanting to say that it finally gained "citizenship" around this time, there are three interesting points in this article.
One is that the headline of the article is "Yamazaki, 8th Rare Record," another is that Yamazaki's comment is written as "I didn't know it was a record, but I thought it would be interesting, so in the fourth at-bat, I hoped it wouldn't be an extra-base hit," and the third is that, as stated in the body of the article as well as the headline, "This is the 8th time in professional history in Japan," it is considered the 8th.

The first point is the expression "rare record." Depending on the nuance, it might change between curious or precious, but today, when mentioning a cycle hit, one would likely not write it as a rare record. It simply means that was how it was treated at the time. While there are many expressions of "rare record" in other papers, the Hochi Shimbun, which reported it in the most detail, wrote, "In the Major Leagues, it is called a 'cycle hit' and is highly valued."

Regarding the second point, it is the fact that, as with Wada, it had not yet fully permeated the players. Comparing Yamazaki's comments with other papers, Nikkan Sports wrote, "In the 4th at-bat, I thought it would be interesting if I got a hit here, so I hit without thinking too deeply," and Sponichi wrote, upon hearing it was the 8th achievement, "That will be a good memory. It came in order, so I thought it was interesting, and in the 7th inning, I aimed for a single from the start."
Also, in the Sankei Shimbun, he asked the reporter, "Is it something that will remain in baseball history?" and even synthesizing these, I do not think Yamazaki himself had a proper recognition of the cycle hit. Not only Yamazaki, but the surrounding players probably did not know either.

Regarding the third point, currently, Yamazaki is considered the 26th person to achieve it 25 times, and the 13th time in the Pacific League. There is a description of the number 8 in Sankei and Sponichi, and the latter writes, "'53 Harada (Chunichi), '54 Hiroshi Oshita (Toei), '57 Katsuragi (Mainichi), '62 Masaru Maeda (Chunichi), '63 Oh (Yomiuri), '65 Spencer (Hankyu), '68 Wada (Nishitetsu)."
It can be seen that even at the time of this article, which is 6 years after Spencer's achievement, the investigation of past achievers was still ongoing.

Also, Hochi says "9th person in 3 years" and "9th person since the two-league system," and the September 6th issue of Weekly Baseball, which was released after some days, says, "It is a very rare record, with only two people in the one-league era, three in the Central League, and the 5th in the Pacific League."
The breakdown of the 9 people in Hochi is unknown, but in Weekly Baseball, in addition to the achievers in Sponichi, Fumio Fujimura and Masayasu Kaneda are introduced. However, Fujimura is only for the 1948 record.

In this way, it can be seen that the recognition and reporting of the cycle hit had finally begun to spread at this point. Even so, there were mistakes like in the Nikkei, and it had not yet reached the state where general newspapers would all write articles about it, so it can be said that it was a situation where the word "in progress" fits well.

Next, Sumio Hirota achieved it on July 11, 1973, but since Lotte lost 8-9 in this game and Nankai's first-half championship was decided, the next day's paper was filled with topics such as Lotte's fierce battle and Nankai's joy.
Even so, articles about the cycle hit finally appeared in all four sports newspapers, and Hirota's comments were introduced, so it can be said that it had completely taken root at least for those interested in baseball.

On the other hand, in general newspapers, an article about Hirota's cycle hit achievement was published in the Yomiuri Shimbun, and the Asahi Shimbun also carried Hirota's comment, "Even if it's called a cycle hit, I'm not happy if we lose," after prefacing it with "(recorded a cycle hit of home run, triple, double, and single)."
However, there was no mention in any of the other papers.

Note that in the Yomiuri at this time, Hirota's record was written as "6th person in the Pacific League. 12th person in total since the one-league era," and all four sports newspapers also agreed on 6th person and 12th person. Hirota's record is the 27th (26th person) and 14th in the Pacific League, so although one new person was found in the two years since Yamazaki's record, it can be seen that the records after the start of the Pacific League, let alone the one-league era, were still under investigation.

As an aside, this one person is written as "'51 Osawa (Taiyo)" in Nikkan Sports, and it is thought to be Nobuo Osawa, but in reality, Osawa has never achieved a cycle hit. There was a game on August 26 where he had 6 hits in 6 at-bats, 3 singles, 1 double, and 2 home runs, and perhaps this was mistaken.
In this game, Tamaichi Yasui also had 4 hits in 6 at-bats, which was 1 double, 1 triple, and 2 home runs, so it was a game where two people exceeded the cycle hit in one game.

Following Yamazaki and Hirota, the person who achieved the cycle hit on April 17, 1976, was again Lotte's Takahiro Tokutsu, but this time it was introduced in all general newspapers. It was treated much more significantly than when Hirota achieved it, with the largest headline on the sports page or a separate column.

As written in the Asahi Shimbun, when Tokutsu hit a triple in the 3rd at-bat and only needed a home run, "Voices came from the bench saying 'Maybe he can do a cycle'," and in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Tokutsu's comment, "I knew about the cycle because I was talking about it with Choji (Murata) on the bench," shows that the players were aware of it in real-time during the game, that is, the recognition had taken root among the players.

Of course, Yamazaki and Hirota, who were predecessors, were on the Lotte bench at this time, so it is possible to think of this as a situation unique to the Lotte team, but that is not the case.

Even in the scene where Sachio Kinugasa and Tsutomu Wakamatsu achieved it one after another in July of that year, like Kinugasa's comment (Yomiuri Shimbun) that he thought, "When I hit a double in the 5th inning, oh, if I hit a triple after this, it will be a cycle," and Wakamatsu (Asahi), who unusually cheered on second base after hitting the final double, there is no doubt that the recognition of the cycle hit had taken root among players regardless of the team.

At this point, it can be said that the cycle hit has finally been widely recognized and established among newspaper reporters, the general public, and players. It might be said that it took 10 years since Spencer for the cycle hit to take root, but in fact, there was another event during this time that played a major role in its establishment.

On August 10, 1975, at the National High School Baseball Championship, the "Summer Koshien," on the 3rd day of the tournament, in the 2nd round match between Tosa High School and Katsura High School, Hisashi Tamagawa of Tosa High School achieved a cycle hit. As it is high school baseball that attracts nationwide attention, this was reported with large headlines in all general newspapers. It was an event the year before Tokutsu.

The Mainichi Shimbun includes a description stating, "Fans also knew that if a single was hit in this at-bat, a cycle hit would be achieved." Tamagawa, who achieved the feat, commented, "I didn't know about the cycle hit until the game was over," while Katsura pitcher Imaizumi, who faced him, commented, "I knew that if he hit a single at the end, it would be a cycle hit. This is the second time I've been beaten like this."

Also, while the Asahi Shimbun had introduced Hirota's achievement two years prior, this time they provided an explanation of the cycle hit again, perhaps with a wider range of readers in mind. According to this, "It is when a single batter hits a single, double, triple, and home run all in the same game, and it is also called a 'circular hit'."
The term 'circular hit' is far too stiff and doesn't even come close to the expression 'department store of hits,' making one wonder if it was ever actually used.

Setting that aside, in the Asahi, Tamagawa's comment is, "I never thought I could set such a great record at Koshien. I'm happy."
Looking at the fact that the articles written this time by the Mainichi, Asahi, and Nikkei were longer than any previous articles the three papers had written about cycle hits, one might conclude that Tamagawa, having been fussed over by those around him through interviews, recognized the cycle hit not as a 'rare record' but as a 'great record.' And perhaps this change in perception, spread to the public through newspapers, played a major role in the establishment of the cycle hit.

I would also like to point out two other points. One is that each paper mentions that Tamagawa was the second person in history to achieve this at the Summer Koshien, with the first record being in the 1949 tournament. By this point, it seems that the organization and reconfirmation of records were being carried out in high school baseball as well.

The other point is the gap between newspapers and television. (Author's note: This section is struck through due to loss of source material.)Although both are interviews from later years, Tamagawa testified, "In the post-game interview, I was asked about the home run, but the term 'cycle hit' never came up until the end."
AlsoNHK announcer Yasuyuki Onozuka stated in a later article, "I was watching the TV broadcast idly, so my memory is not certain, but I feel like there was no announcement of 'cycle hit achieved.' It wasn't mentioned in the post-game interview either." (“Longitudinal High School Baseball Archipelago (40) ~Kochi Prefecture~”(zakzak by Yukan Fuji, 2021). At this point in time, one can see a situation where newspaper reporters knew, but the television interviewer did not.

As described above, I have looked at the history of the cycle hit from various media. While I do not deny that the recognition of the cycle hit in Japan began with Spencer's achievement, I believe that Tamagawa's achievement and its extensive coverage in various newspapers contributed the most to its establishment.
Of course, there is no doubt that the nine years of maturation leading up to that point, and the steady research conducted by record officials during that time, provided the foundation.

Even so, the fact that the cycle hit was covered extensively in all general newspapers was due to an achievement in high school baseball, not professional baseball, which might be a blind spot for those who track professional records without knowing the history of that time.

The cycle hit, for which even Spencer's record achievement did not attract much attention at the time, let alone Hirose's record.