Phillies' Star Trea Turner Considered Extreme Measure To Hit For The Cycle, Make MLB History

Hitting for the cycle is one of the coolest feats in sports, and Trea Turner has done it more than most.

The Philadelphia Phillies shortstop had hit for the cycle three times in his career, and was looking to become the first player to ever do it four times after hitting a home run, a single, and a double in the Phillies' unholy 13-0 beatdown of the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

So, just needing a triple to make MLB history, Turner stepped up to the plate in the top of the ninth for his final at-bat.

"A lot of things were going through my head," Turner said, per MLB.com. "I was trying to hit a line drive down the right-field line on the first two pitches. Once I got to two strikes, I was like, 'All right, I just don't want to strike out.'"

He took the 0-2 offering from Braves righty Luke Williams deep to left center field.

Just a bit too deep to maybe race around the bases to third, and instead, the ball cleared the outfield wall to give Tuner his second homer of the night.

Bummer.

So, no cycle for Turner. However, for a brief moment, he thought about taking drastic measures to make it happen.

"After I touched home plate — and this thought never crossed my mind before that," he said, "but you know, the thought of missing the plate — I think that'd be a triple.

"It would have been probably the most selfish thing to do in the history of baseball."

It would have been a triple had he not touched home. Can you imagine that? I mean, the game was pretty much in hand, but I feel like he'd be getting an earful from traditionalists. 

Still, I think it would've been cool to see it play out like that. I mean, he could just lie and say it was an accident, and no one would be the wiser.

But, nope, Trea Turner went the honest route.