Player Analysis: The Six Milwaukee Brewers Who Have Hit for the Cycle

On Saturday, May 8, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers utility man Jody Gerut became just the sixth player in franchise history to hit for the cycle.

I checked out the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to find who the other five Brewers were that have hit for the cycle.

I found it interesting that two of the players on the list are Hall of Famers, one was above average, and the others weren't even full-time starters.

For this list, I examined the careers of all six Brewers.

Mike Hegan

On Sept. 3, 1976, Brewers first baseman Mike Hegan became the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle.

After making his Major League debut with the New York Yankees in '64, Hegan put together a pretty solid career. But by '76, the 33-year-old Hegan was nearing the end of his playing days.

However, Hegan still had a little magic left in his bat, and it showed in a late-season game against the Detroit Tigers. Besides hitting for the cycle, Hegan went 4-for-5 and drove in six runs as the Brewers cruised to an 11-2 victory.

Hegan retired in '77 after 12 seasons and 965 games. He finished with 504 career hits and 229 RBI. Besides suiting up for the Yankees and playing seven years with the Brewers, Hegan was also a member of the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Pilots.

Hegan's best season was '69, when he was named to the American League All-Star team as a member of the expansion Pilots. He won a World Series ring with Oakland in '72.

Charlie Moore

Just four years after Hegan became the first Brewer to hit for the cycle, longtime catcher/outfielder Charlie Moore became the second.

Moore reached the cycle on Oct. 1, 1980 (just two days before yours truly was born, by the way). According to Baseball-Reference.com, Moore pounded out four hits in a 10-7 win against the California Angels. Moore went 4-for-5, knocking in three runs and scoring three times.

After reaching the cycle in '80, Moore would go on to play a vital role in the Brewers' run to the World Series in '82. After leaving the Brewers in '86, Moore played sparingly for the Toronto Blue Jays before retiring in '87.

Moore's career spanned 15 seasons and 1,334 games. He finished with 1,052 hits, 408 RBI, and a .261 lifetime batting average.

During his time with the Brewers, Moore played multiple positions. As a right fielder in '82, Moore posted an impressive .992 fielding percentage, second best in the American League.

Robin Yount

During his 20-year career, Robin Yount did just about everything as a member of the Brewers, including hitting for the cycle.

It took 14 seasons, but "Rockin' Robin" finally got his cycle on June 12, 1988 in a 16-2 romp of the Chicago White Sox. Yount was a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBI and four runs scored. In that game, Yount cracked one of his league-leading 11 triples.

After making his Major League debut as a fresh-faced 18-year-old in 1974, Yount would earn two American League MVP awards ('82 and '89) and reached the prestigious 3,000-hit club in '92.

His lifetime stat line is eye-popping: 3,142 career hits, 1,406 RBI, 583 doubles, 251 homers, a .285 lifetime batting average, and a .430 slugging percentage to go along with a .772 OPS. Oh, and he also accumulated 4,730 total bases.

Yount is the all-time greatest Brewer—a truly complete player who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Paul Molitor

Molitor, the second Hall of Famer on this list, reached the cycle on May 15, 1991. In a 4-2 win against the Minnesota Twins, "The Ignitor" went 4-for-5, drove in one run and scored twice.

While he didn't finish his career in Milwaukee, Molitor is considered the second-best player in franchise history, behind Yount.

He played 15 seasons for the Brewers, three seasons with Toronto (where he won his only World Series ring in '93) and finished his career with three productive seasons with his hometown Twins. In his first season in Minnesota, Molitor led the league in hits with 225, as a 39-year-old.

In 21 seasons, Molitor amassed 3,319 hits, 1,307 RBI, 605 doubles (11th all-time), and a .306 lifetime batting average. He collected 4,854 total bases and held an .817 on-base percentage. He entered the Hall of Fame in 2004.

Chad Moeller

After Molitor's feat, there was a long gap between cycles for the Brewers. However, after 13 years, catcher Chad Moeller would reach the cycle on April 27, 2004 in a 9-8 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

Moeller reached the accomplishment by going 4-for-5, with four RBI and one run scored.

In 10 seasons—mostly as a backup—Moeller has bounced around the league, spending time with eight different clubs. After being released by the Baltimore Orioles on April 1, Moeller signed with the Yankees on April 3. It's his second stint with the Bronx Bombers (2008).

Moeller spent three seasons in Milwaukee (2004-06), splitting time at catcher with Gary Bennett and Damian Miller. The year Moeller hit for the cycle, he played in 101 games, the most by far in his career.

In 10 seasons, he's played 492 games, has 312 hits, and carries a .226 lifetime batting average. Yeah, the numbers aren't impressive, but on April 27, 2004, the stars aligned for Moeller.

Jody Gerut

After Moeller did it six years ago, another unlikely Brewer reached the cycle: reserve outfielder Jody Gerut.

On May 8, in a 17-3 pounding of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Gerut became the sixth Brewer to hit for the cycle and the first player to do it this season.

Last season, eight players reached the cycle. Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer did it for the same team (Twins), and three players (Orlando Hudson, Ian Kinsler, and Kubel) did it in the same week (April 13-17).

Against Arizona, Gerut went 4-for-6 with four RBI and three runs scored.

In his six-year career, Gerut's collected 468 hits, 226 RBI, and holds a respectable .263 batting average. His best season was his rookie campaign with the Cleveland Indians in 2003, when he bashed 22 homers and batted .279 in 127 games.

Players like Gerut and Moeller prove that while it's nice to have the hitting prowess of Yount and Molitor, you don't have to carry Hall of Fame credentials to hit for the cycle.