No-hitter vs. hit for cycle

Which is more rare, a pitcher throwing a no hitter or a batter hitting for the cycle (a single, double, triple and home run in one game)?

Turns out that throwing a no hitter is slightly rarer than hitting for cycle, at least since a Major League Baseball committee tightened its definition of a no hitter in 1991, knocking 50 of such feats off the record books.

So why have nine Mets players hit for cycle, yet not a one has hurled a no hitter?

Players have had 294 hits for cycle in Major League history, while there have been 272 sanctioned no-hitters thrown in Major League history (249 in the N.L. and A.L., with the others in the American Association, United Association and the Federal League). The 50 no-nos thrown out the the Committee for Statistical Accuracy either involved games not lasting the full nine innings or games in which the pitcher yielded an extra-inning hit after no-hitting through nine.




Here’s a side-by-side comparison of these two rare feats: