2009: Hitting for the cycle, and joining the 30–30 club Ian Kinsler

— teammate chris davis, commenting on kinsler s 6–6 game.

on april 15, 2009, in game against baltimore orioles, kinsler hit cycle, becoming fourth ranger (and, @ time, right-handed ranger). in same game, kinsler became second player in ranger history 6 hits in single game (the first having been alfonso soriano, on may 8, 2004), , first in 9-inning game. 5 runs , 4 base hits in game matched 2 other team records.

thing of beauty , teammate marlon byrd said. loved it. kinsler s dual feat first in modern baseball era. last major league player have 6 hits in game while hitting cycle william farmer weaver, louisville colonels on august 12, 1890. kinsler s 13 total bases 1 base shy of jose canseco s june 13, 1994, team record. 3 other players in prior 55 years had had 6 hits, 5 runs, , 4 extra-base hits in game, recent having been shawn green of los angeles dodgers in 2002.

kinsler named al co-player of week on april 20, 2009. week, in 30 plate appearances led major leagues in batting average (.556), hits (15), base hits (7), , runs (9), , tied lead in doubles (4). had .600 on-base percentage , 1.000 slugging percentage, triple, 2 home runs, , 6 stolen bases. s incredible , said teammate hank blalock.

on june 16 against houston, kinsler opened first inning ninth career leadoff homer, surpassing club record of eight, shared mike hargrove, oddibe mcdowell, , michael young. on may 21, kinsler stole third base in fifth inning, setting club record career steals of third @ 18. furthermore, @ time kinsler had never been caught trying steal third. rick paulas of espn called kinsler first quarter mvp.

through july 1, kinsler led al in power-speed number (17.5), third in home runs (19), fourth in runs (55) , total bases (160), sixth in base hits (38) , @ bats (307), seventh in sacrifice flies (4), , ninth in stolen bases (16) , sacrifices (8), while batting .359 against left-handers , .333 runners on base.

kinsler narrowly missed making al all-star team. first, though had led al second basemen of june 30, 2,170,100 fan votes (fifth-most votes of al players, ahead of dustin pedroia s 2,163,270), pedroia passed him on last day in last-minute voting. then, missed making team reserve in player voting, coming in second again, time toronto s aaron hill. missed in third chance, al star team , tampa bay manager joe maddon did not pick him reserve. missed fourth opportunity make team, in sprint final vote competition final spot on team, coming in second brandon inge of tigers. fifth opportunity presented when pedroia pulled out of star game spend time pregnant wife—and kinsler had finished second in fan voting, in player voting, , in final vote competition, appeared candidate replace fellow second baseman. maddon went 1 of own replace pedroia, tampa bay s first baseman carlos peña, leading league in homers batting .228 (and had come in fourth in final vote competition, behind kinsler , chone figgins). sixth , final opportunity presented when evan longoria withdrew because of finger infection; again maddon (a former angels coach) chose else replacement, time figgins of angels, had come in third in final vote competition (behind kinsler).

bleacher reports andrew nuschler observed: maddon spent tenure al star manager finding new , inventive ways give ian kinsler middle finger. , sports illustrated s jacob osterhout took note, writing:

it absolute travesty ian kinsler not starting second baseman american league. dustin pedroia, starting second baseman, has hit 3 home runs , has 36 rbis. kinsler, on other hand, has hit 20 home runs , has 63 rbis. fact kinsler isn t reserve makes hard take star game seriously.

at star game, tribute kinsler, teammate , close friend michael young wore wristbands kinsler s number 5.

on july 11, kinsler stole third base 21st time in career, building on team record, without ever having been thrown out. on july 19, led off bottom of first inning home run, , 12 innings later broke 3–3 tie two-run, walk-off home run. 4 times before in major league history had same batter led off bottom of first inning home run, , ended game homer. kinsler suffered strained left hamstring on july 28, , missed 11 games while on disabled list.

kinsler, had 30 stolen bases, hit 30th home run on september 25, becoming major leaguer join 30–30 club in 2009, , 34th major leaguer ever. became second player in rangers history have 30–30 season (joining alfonso soriano, did in 2005), , joined soriano (who had 30–30 seasons in 2002 , 2003 yankees) , brandon phillips (2007) 30–30 second basemen in major league history. s incredible accomplishment , said michael young. ve played guys have had incredible seasons here, 30–30 special. deserves lot of credit. battled season long. s separates great players ones.

he led al in power-speed#, 31.0. through 2009, had second-highest steal success rate among active players @ least 100 attempts, @ 87.5% (91-of-104). carlos beltrán best, @ 88.3%. sharing philosophy on stealing bases, said: takes art of stealing away if when re 4 runs or 4 runs down, , opposing team worried getting outs, not stolen bases. idea steal them when need them.

he showed eye @ plate. of 15 rangers had @ least 100 @ bats, rate of 1 strikeout per 8.31 at-bats best on team. similarly, made contact on 87% of swings, best contact rate on team.

playing 144 games, had 13 home runs against lefties (2nd in league), stole third base 11 times (3rd), hit 47% of hits bases (7th-best in al), 7th in al in stolen bases, scored 101 runs (10th), , had 5 bunt hits (10th). on defense, led al second baseman in zone runs s (17), 2nd in assists (451) , range factor/game (4.86), , 5th in putouts (249).