July 15, 1927: Sunny Jim Hits For The Cycle

     On July 15, 1927, "Sunny Jim" Bottomley hit for the cycle during a 9-7 Cardinals win against the Phillies at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. Bottomley's day was a perfect one, as he went 5 for 5 at the plate with two singles, as well as a double, a triple, and the homer.

     The club needed every bit of Bottomley's contributions, and then some, as the Birds starting pitcher Bob McGraw was tagged early and often. The hurler was charged with all seven of the Philadelphia runs in four and two thirds of an inning worth of work. Fortunately for the club from St. Louis the bullpen got the job done, with Hi Bell, Vic Keen, and Bill Sherdel holding the Philadelphia batsmen in check the rest of the way.

     Bottomley began his march toward the history books with singles in the first and the fourth, before doubling in the sixth, homering in the seventh, then putting the icing on the cake with  triple in the ninth. Surprisingly, the first baseman who always had a smile on his face only had one RBI in the game which came from his big fly. He did score three times in the tilt, while leftfielder Wattie Holms led the way in the RBI department with three. Holmes went 3 for 5 with two doubles, while every other position player on the Cardinals roster got in on the action in one form or another. The only position player who failed to get a hit was the backstop Taylor Douthit who came up with an RBI following Bottomley's triple in the ninth.

     Bottomley was just the second man to hit for the cycle as a member of the Cardinals during the modern era. Cliff Heathcote was the first, which came in June of 1918. Three players who were members of the team that would become known as the Cardinals had accomplished the feat before the turn of the century. Including those three men, and Bottomley as well, 18 players have hit for the cycle as a member of the St. Louis club that represents the National League, and each of them will not be forgotten in Cardinal Nation.

Check out the box score here:  http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI192707150.shtml

If you would like to learn more about the life and times of the man they called "Sunny Jim" check this out: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ea08fc60 and below is the list of Cardinals players who have hit for the cycle.

• Fred Dunlap, 5/24/1886
• Tip O'Neill, 4/30/1887
• Tip O'Neil,l 5/7/1887
• Tommy Dowd, 8/16/1895
• Cliff Heathcote, 6/13/1918
• Jim Bottomley, 7/15/1927 
• Chick Hafey, 8/21/1930
• Pepper Martin, 5/5/1933
• Ducky Medwick, 6/29/35
• Johnny Mize, 7/13/1940
• Stan Musial, 7/24/1949
• Bill White, 8/14/1960
• Ken Boyer, 9/14/1961
• Ken Boyer, 6/16/1964
• Joe Torre, 6/27/1973
• Lou Brock, 5/27/1975
• Willie McGee, 6/23/1984
• Ray Lankford, 9/15/1991
• John Mabry, 5/18/1996
• Mark Grudzielanek, 4/27/2005