Article: Geoff Jenkins (Almost) Home Run Cycle Game - 4/28/21

[James Zumstein]

The start of the 2001 season was one that many Brewers fans had been looking forward to for a long time.  Well, actually, the 2000 season was supposed to be the one they had been waiting for, but due to the infamous crane accident lifting part of the roof of new Miller Park into place, we were made to wait one more year to finally settle into our new home.  

 

To coincide with our shiny new toy, we also had something else that we had been waiting for (or should I say someone else).  Top-10 draft pick two years prior and 2000 Olympic gold medal game hero Ben Sheets also made the team out of spring training, and fans were already dreaming of All-Star games, Cy Young awards, and beyond for the young righty.  Before any of that could happen though, he would still need to get career victory number one, which he hoped to do on a Saturday afternoon at Miller Park against the Expos.

While this game featured two teams that would end up with identical 68-94 records on the 2001 season, each team had legitimate big-league hitters up and down their respective lineups.  The Expos starting nine had HOF’s at each corner outfield spot in Tim Raines and Vladimir Guerrero, along with Orlando Cabrera, Jose Vidro, Fernando Tatis Sr., and Milton Bradley.  The Crew countered with a slew of players that were All-Stars at some point in their careers, with the likes of Ronnie Belliard, Richie Sexson, Jeromy Burnitz, Tony Fernandez, Jeffrey Hammonds, and Jose Hernandez. 

However, this day came down to the herculean efforts of one Brewer bat in particular, and that was leftfielder Geoff Jenkins.  Batting in his familiar three-hole, Jenkins announced to the crowd of 40,877 that he came to play right away that day.  In the bottom of the first, following Belliard’s one-out walk, Jenkins hit a two-run blast to right, his fifth of the year, to tie the game at two.

Both lineups went silent over the next couple frames, until Jenkins led off the fourth with a solo shot to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead.  It only stayed that way for one inning before the Brewers put up a four-spot in the fifth.  It all started with a two out, bases empty rally ignited by the expert batting eye of none other than…Sheets? 

That’s right, a walk by Sheets, two wild pitches, a hit batter, and a single brought in one and left two on for the man with two dingers on the day already.  He couldn’t make it three-for-three, could he?

And how!  Jenkins crushed a 1-2 pitch to the opposite field, off the facing of the second deck in left-center for a three-run shot to give the Brewers a 7-2 lead.  That gave Jenkins six RBI on the afternoon, and it was only the fifth inning.

The other key component of the home team that day continued to do his part as well.  Through six innings, Sheets had given up two unearned runs on only four hits, facing the minimum in innings two through five.  He ended up going 6 1/3, giving up four runs (two earned), walking one and striking out five in his 105 pitches.

With the Brewers holding a 7-4 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, the victory had not been secured yet, so the Crew looked to add on some more insurance runs.  In this game, that meant get Geoff Jenkins to the plate.  Not only did they do just that, but they did it in a manner that gave Jenkins the potential to do something that had never been done in MLB history.

With a solo shot, a two-run blast, and a three-run homer already in his pocket for the afternoon, Jenkins came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded.  A four-homer game was not unprecedented, but hitting for the “home run cycle,” one each of a one, two, three, and four-run homer, was. 

Alas, it was not to be, as Jenkins struck out looking.  That had to be some serious pressure to hit a home run in that at-bat, and if it was nerves that caused him to not get the bat off his shoulder, who could blame him?  Regardless, it was one of the most impressive single-game performances in Brewer’s history.

However, Jenkins wasn’t done with the Expos (even if they were more than done with him).  He came back the next day and went four-for-six, with a single, a double, and two more home runs, and another six RBI.  That tied an MLB record of five homers in a two-game span, and gave him back-to-back six RBI games. 

Following up an almost-home run cycle game with an almost cycle game is unthinkable, but that’s exactly what Geoff Jenkins did the final weekend of April 2001.  Over the final two games of the homestand, he had seven hits in ten AB’s, with five homers, twelve RBI, and 23 total bases. 

Unfortunately for Jenkins and the Crew, he injured his thumb diving for a ball in left field in the first game of the road trip in Atlanta, and it lingered for much of the season, thus preventing him from building on his incredible start to the year.  He hit nine home runs in April alone, but ended the year with only 20.  A fully healthy Jenkins would have likely led to a few more victories, and many more positive memories for Brewers fans that season.

Being in Miller Park for the Brewer’s 8-4 win that afternoon was extremely special for me.  I got to see our new gem of a stadium, witness the first career victory for the pitcher that many felt had perhaps the most talent of any young pitcher in franchise history, as well as the first of a two-game stretch that should be considered to be among the greatest in MLB history. 

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

 

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