Orioles left fielder Felix Pie's cleats are going to Cooperstown.
And he hopes to visit them this offseason as part of the Baseball Hall of Fame's exhibit on players hitting for the cycle.
"I'm excited, happy. I never knew that anything was going to happen in my life like that," said Pie, who has not stepped foot in the Hall of Fame. "I'll go check it out this year."
On Friday night, Pie became the fourth player in franchise history - and the seventh major leaguer this season - to hit for the cycle, joining teammate Aubrey Huff and Orioles Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr. Pie, who has played sparingly this season, doubled in the first, homered in the third and singled and tripled in the seventh.
Pie said he didn't get to sleep Saturday morning until about 3:30, fielding text messages and phone calls from friends and family. Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano, New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano and Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez were among those who contacted Pie.
He said he spent an hour talking to his best friend in the Dominican Republic.
"He cried, man, and he made me cry, too," Pie said.
Pie received Friday night's lineup card as a souvenir, and hitting coach Terry Crowley presented him with the ball he hit for the triple. Pie asked Crowley, who has become his mentor, to sign it.
"I said, 'I appreciate you because everything I got wrong, you fixed it. Thank you,' " Pie said.
Pie was in the starting lineup Saturday, and Orioles manager Dave Trembley hoped the cycle was the start of something big for the 24-year-old.
"He's always been a guy who's been labeled a 'tools guy,' " Trembley said. "There comes a point in time when you have to take those tools and apply them to the game. He certainly is making progress."
O's pick up 1st baseman
The Orioles received first baseman Rhyne Hughes to complete the Aug. 7 trade that sent catcher Gregg Zaun to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Orioles also sent the Rays more than $300,000 in the deal.
Hughes, 25, who bats and throws left-handed, hit .313 with seven homers and 26 RBIs in 56 games at Triple-A Durham and .252 with 15 homers and 46 RBIs in 58 games at Double-A Montgomery this season. He struck out 149 combined times in 440 at-bats this year.
"We like him," Orioles president Andy MacPhail said. "We have liked his bat since the [Arizona] fall league last year. He really has come into his own. The strikeouts are a big concern, but we like everything else we've seen."
