These are the coolest cycles ever

All cycles are cool. Hitting for the cycle isn't just one of baseball's rare feats, it's one of the most fun to watch as it happens.

The cycle produces a supremely aesthetic box score. There's something beautiful about hitting one of everything: a single, a double, a triple, a home run.

But some cycles stand out even among other cycles. Here are 11 of the coolest cycles ever.

Elly De La Cruz, Reds -- June 23, 2023
Why it was cool: He just made his debut

De La Cruz was just called up June 6 -- and less than three weeks later, he put on a show in Cincinnati against the Braves. De La Cruz opened his night with a 116.6 mph double in the second inning, then hit a two-run homer in the third. In the fifth, he snuck a broken-bat single up the middle to drive in another run. The 21-year-old completed the cycle with a triple into the gap in right-center field in the sixth inning. De La Cruz became the fifth-youngest player to hit for the cycle, and he did it in just his 15th game -- the third-fastest mark among players to debut since 1900. Oh, yeah -- and De La Cruz's cycle also helped power the Reds to their 12th straight win.

Luis Arraez, Marlins -- April 11, 2023
Why it was cool: First cycle in Marlins history

Over their first 30 years of existence, the Marlins had played 4,699 games in franchise history without a single player hitting for the cycle. Then Arraez pulled off the feat in only his 12th game with the club after the 2022 AL batting champ was acquired in an offseason trade for Pablo López. Just as remarkably, Arraez’s homer in this game was the only one he hit in his first 64 games with Miami, meaning he picked the perfect time to get all four types of hits.

Shohei Ohtani, Angels -- June 13, 2019
Why it was cool: He can pitch, too

Everyone knew Ohtani could hit, but hitting for the cycle was a great encapsulation of how amazing the two-way star's skillset is -- that someone with a 100 mph fastball and wipeout splitter on the mound also checks every box at the plate, with the power, speed and contact ability to stand up against the best Major League hitters. Ohtani started his cycle by slamming a 111-mph three-run homer in the top of the first inning at The Trop, then ripped a double, triple and finally the single in the seventh inning to cap it all off. He's the first Japanese-born player to hit for the cycle.

Brock Holt, Red Sox -- Oct. 8, 2018
Why it was cool: He did it in the playoffs

In the entire history of the MLB postseason, there's only been one cycle, and it took over a century. Holt finally made it happen in Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS -- against the rival Yankees at Yankee Stadium, no less, en route to Boston's latest World Series championship. Holt came to the plate in the ninth inning needing a home run for the feat … and with the Red Sox blowing out the Yankees, 14-1, he had the rare fortune of facing a position player pitcher, Yankees catcher Austin Romine. Holt took Romine deep to the right-field porch to complete his second career cycle and make playoff history.

Christian Yelich, Brewers -- Aug. 29 and Sept. 17, 2018
Why it was cool: He went 6-for-6 … and then he did it again

Yelich's pair of cycles in 2018 are some pretty nice adornments on his MVP crown. The first one, in August, was particularly impressive -- Yelich didn't just hit for the cycle, he went 6-for-6 to carry Milwaukee to a 13-12, 10-inning win over the Reds. That made him only one of four players with a six-hit cycle in MLB's Modern Era (along with Ian Kinsler in 2009, Rondell White in 1995 and Bobby Veach in 1920). But he wasn't finished. A few weeks later, Yelich hit for the cycle again -- also against the Reds -- to become one of only three players in the Modern Era with multiple cycles in a season (along with Aaron Hill in 2012 and Babe Herman in 1931), and the only player with two cycles against the same team in the same season.

Nolan Arenado, Rockies -- June 18, 2017
Why it was cool: A Father's Day walk-off

Arenado's cycle had all of the drama. Arenado stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth at Coors Field with the Rockies down one and the winning runs on base. He needed the home run. He'd swung for the fences two innings earlier and struck out. He was facing Giants closer Mark Melancon. And for good measure, it was Father's Day. How did the story end? With one big swing. Arenado belted a walk-off homer to left for the win and the cycle. It was the first cycle-completing walk-off home run with the batter's team trailing in MLB history. As Rockies radio broadcaster Jack Corrigan called it: "A cycle for the ages!"

Bengie Molina, Rangers -- July 16, 2010
Why it was cool: Catcher triples

Catchers are not speedsters. The Molinas really aren't speedsters. The Molina Bros. are the last people you'd imagine hitting for the cycle, which, as you might recall, requires a triple to complete. Bengie had exactly six of those in 13 years (Jose had three in 15 years; Yadi has seven in 16 years). Luckily, you don't need to imagine what a Molina cycle would look like, because the stars aligned in reality for one amazing day at Fenway Park. Bengie, 35 years old and playing his final season, was the proverbial triple shy when his drive to the center-field wall eluded Eric Patterson and bounced into the deepest corner of Fenway. The big man chugged into third to become one of only a handful of catchers who have hit for the cycle. His home run was a grand slam, too, which is also a rarity.

Adrian Beltré and Stephen Drew, Mariners/D-backs -- Sept. 1, 2008
Why it was cool: Same-day cycles

A thousand miles apart, Beltré and Drew made a rare cycle connection when they accomplished the feat on the same day -- Beltré at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Drew at Chase Field in Arizona. Only once before had two players hit for the cycle in one day, and it was all the way back on Sept. 17, 1920, when the Tigers' Bobby Veach and the Giants' George Burns both did it. This was Beltré's first of three career cycles -- he's one of only three Modern Era players to hit for the cycle three times. And fun fact: all three were in the same ballpark. Beltré's second and third cycles came after he joined the Rangers, and both were at home.

Craig Biggio and Cavan Biggio, Astros/Blue Jays -- April 8, 2002, and Sept. 17, 2019
Why it was cool: Family cycles

It's always cool when an MLB father and son parallel each other on the baseball field, whether it's Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. hitting back-to-back homers, Vlad and Vlad Jr. having the same violent swing or, in this case, Craig and Cavan Biggio hitting for the cycle 17 years apart. Craig did it as a 36-year-old veteran in the 15th season of his Hall of Fame career. Cavan -- who has the ticket stub from his dad's cycle on the wall of his childhood bedroom -- then did it himself as a 24-year-old rookie. Pretty awesome. The Biggios are one of only two father-son duos to hit for the cycle, along with Gary and Daryle Ward.

Mike Lansing, Rockies -- June 18, 2000
Why it was cool: He did it in the first four innings

This might be the craziest cycle of them all. A lot of players need until their last at-bat to complete a cycle. Some need extra innings. Lansing did it in four. At the hitter-friendly Coors Field, the Rockies' second baseman tripled in the first inning, homered in the second inning, doubled in the third inning and singled in the fourth to polish off the fastest cycle of all time. Four innings, four hits, one of each hit, one in each inning. Amazing.

Dave Winfield, Angels -- June 24, 1991
Why it was cool: He was 39 years old

Nothing shocking about a Hall of Famer hitting for the cycle, especially someone like Winfield, one of the greatest all-around athletes to ever play the game. The surprise is how old Winfield was when he did it. Thirty-nine years and 264 days old, to be exact. Winfield became the oldest player to hit for the cycle when he did it at Royals Stadium midway through the 1991 season. The only other 39-year-old to hit for the cycle was Cy Williams, all the way back in 1927, and he was 37 days younger than Winfield.

Leon Culberson, Red Sox -- July 3, 1943
Why it was cool: An inside-the-parker, and a natural

No one has hit for a cycle like Culberson's in the near-80 years since it happened -- that is, a cycle with an inside-the-park home run. Leading off the eighth inning at Cleveland Stadium, the Red Sox rookie needed a homer for the cycle, and he got it when his drive to left field glanced off the glove of the Indians' Pat Seerey. By the time the ball was relayed back to the infield, Culberson had already circled the bases. The other cool thing about Culberson's cycle: it was a natural cycle. He got each hit in order: first the single, then the double, then the triple, then the home run. That's rarer than you might think; there have only been 14 natural cycles in MLB history, most recently Gary Matthews Jr. in 2006.