Nolan Arenado hit for the cycle on Sunday. He finished it off by hitting the home run last—a three-run walk-off home run.
That's the fourth cycle of 2017 and the third to occur at Coors. Since its opening in 1995, there have been 17 cycles at Coors (out of 85 total). What Arenado did was still really impressive, though. On Twitter, I compared it to hitting a buzzer beater to score your 50th point. And then I followed it up by asking if anyone had ever done that.
The answer is definitely yes. I can find two instances of a 50-point (or more) game ending in a buzzer beater from that player. Russell Westbrook scored his 50th point (and a triple-double) to beat the Nuggets, 106-105, on April 7 this past season.
And Michael Jordan scored his 50th point to beat the Bucks, 117-116, on February 16, 1989.
Many other greats have come close, including Jordan's 44-point game with "The Shot" a couple months later against the Cavs. Magic and Larry almost did it. Kobe, too. But, as far as I can tell, none of them—or anyone else—has scored 50 with a buzzer beater with his team trailing. If you can prove me wrong, I will be very impressed.
Since the NBA really started in 1950, there have been 471 50-point games. However, if you take away Wilt's laughable 118, the number is 353, or about five per season. Since 1950, there have been 176 cycles hit in baseball. The only other walk-off homer to complete a cycle came from Carlos Gonzalez at...Coors Field. Do yourself a favor and watch this home run.
Baseball is here! And more importantly, that means the over/under game is back. It seems as though everyone is an expert this time of year. Somehow we convince ourselves that we are better at predicting baseball outcomes than everyone else. Well, AFITB is putting that to the test for the third year in a row. Think you know more about baseball than us? You probably do. But go ahead and prove it anyway.