A half-decade ago in the early days of this website, long before ABS or "The Big Dumper," I became obsessed with a very rare and unexciting way to play baseball. Frustrated by the prevalence of the long ball over small ball in MLB, I imagined a different world: one where players chose to sacrifice themselves for their team. I wished for a way to honor those selfless players who worried not about their own stats but instead about the good of the club.
To hit for the Saint Cycle (which I made up), a player must only sacrifice themselves in every plate appearance. They cannot be glorified with a hit, and in each trip to the plate, they must be saintly in a new way. Specifically, they must get four of these five outcomes: hit by pitch, walk, sacrifice bunt, sacrifice fly, and productive out. A productive out, in case you forgot, is when the batter gets out but the other players on the bases move into scoring position.
When I conducted my initial research in 2021, only three men had ever managed to hit for the saint cycle in all of baseball history: Tim Flannery, Jose Morales, and Biff Pocobora. At the end of the 2021 season, I checked to see if there were any new saints. There weren't, and I promptly forgot about my obsession entirely.
But last weekend, Bruce Binder emailed me. He made up his own kind of cycle, which he calls Appearing for the Cycle. "I check every year when the new data is released," Binder said. And he found my email because last season a player who fit his criteria also fit my criteria. A new saint? The first potential new saint since 1988?
I confirmed with Frank Lombombarda at Elias Sports Bureau, and sure enough, last summer, baseball got a new saint. Today, we canonize him.
Saint Liam Hicks
Liam Hicks, a rookie last year for the Miami Marlins, completed The Saint Cycle on July 25, 2025. In the top of the second, he walked. He ended up left on third base, but he tried! In the top of the third, our beautiful saint took a 95-mph four-seam fastball to the body. He was also left on base for this at-bat. In the top of the sixth, he laid down a sacrifice bunt to move a runner to third. Did that run score? No! Someone else again ignored Hicks's sacrifice. Finally, in the top of the seventh, his sacrifice could not go ignored. He hit a sacrifice fly to right field and scored a run.
The Marlins beat the Brewers 5-1. In all four situations where a player has hit for the Saint Cycle, their team has won the game. Sacrifice does not go unrewarded.
Today, we canonize Saint Liam Hicks! Congratulations, Liam!!
