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:
| No-Hitters |
Hits for Cycle |
|
| Total in history | 272 | 294 |
| Average per season (through 2010) | 2.01 | 2.19 |
| Mets accomplishing this |
0 | 9 Jim Hickman Aug. 7, 1963 Tommie Agee July 6, 1970 Mike Phillips June 25, 1976 Keith Hernandez July 4, 1985 Kevin McReynolds Aug. 1, 1989 Alex Ochoa July 3, 1996 John Olerud Sept. 11, 1997 Eric Valent July 29, 2004 Jose Reyes June 21, 2006 |
| Teams without one |
San Diego Padres New York Mets |
San Diego Padres Florida Marlins |
| Number this millennium |
21 | 45 |




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