E30: MLB’s Greatest Hitting Streaks & The (First) World Series That Wasn’t

A World Series disappears from baseball history, and it has nothing to do with war. We start with the odd, dramatic story of 1904, when the New York Giants refuse to face the Boston Americans, turning the sport’s biggest prize into a feud about leagues, rivals, and pride. It’s a reminder that MLB history isn’t just stats; it’s people making stubborn decisions that end up shaping the rules for everyone else. 

From there, we get obsessive about one of the most fun corners of baseball trivia: the hitting streak. We break down what officially counts, why a day off doesn’t kill a streak, and why 30 games is the unofficial line where the record books start paying attention. Then we walk through the names that held the crown before 1941, including the strange one-season rules that created “records” that don’t really belong in modern lists. 

The heart of the show is the gold standard for baseball records: Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. We track how it starts, when the country catches on, how pitchers try to work around him, and why the streak becomes a daily headline. Then we relive the closest true chase in the modern era, Pete Rose’s 44-game run, complete with bunts, bad blood, and the kind of competitiveness that doesn’t quit even after the streak ends. We close by asking the big question: with today’s strikeouts, elite bullpens, scouting reports, and nonstop media pressure, will anyone ever touch 56? 

If you love baseball history, MLB records, and the stories behind the numbers, subscribe, share this with a friend who argues about stats, and leave us a review. What do you think is the most unbreakable record in baseball?

Email us at fungosandfastballs@gmail.com

Transcript

Giveaways, Gripes, And Cold Remedies

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome to Fungos and Fastballs. On today's episode, we discussed the World Series that never was before diving into some of the longest hitting streaks in Major League Baseball history. But I'd first have to apologize for my voice today. It's a little scratchy. I I feel like I'm I'm I'm fighting something here. A little bit of a a little bit of a little bit of a cold. Yeah, a little some airplane guck you got. But you know, it's the uh devotion to my craft that makes me want to do this episode today. I've got some water that's gonna wet my whistle. Although um Brooke, you really should what why you should be making me a hot toddy or something. A little honey, a little lemon. I can do that.

Brooke 0:42

How about without the lemon?

SPEAKER_01 0:44

All right, well, go now. We'll we'll listeners await.

Brooke 0:46

No problem. Yeah. Boiling water, you know, just waiting for water to boil. That's always that always works out well.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Listeners have that time. Well, before we get into I gotta riff about something with the game the other day.

Brooke 0:59

Is this a new segment, Jerry's Complaint of the Week?

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Yeah, old man Jerry riffs about baseball.

Brooke 1:04

What's your problem? What's your problem?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

So I'm watching the Yankees' White Sox game the other day, and you know, I I'm a big fan of giveaways and and you know, little stadium promotions, but they had a House of Dragons promotion, and I just thought it was kind of like a money grab tie-in it tie-in. It was really weird. Star Wars, I'm okay with, yeah. You know, I think it's going a little crazy, but but yeah, I mean, it not only did they give away a hat with a House of Dragons symbol, which everybody tells me looks pretty good. It was pretty cool. It's a nice looking hat. But then when the players went up on the scoreboard, you know, now batting Paul Goldschmidt, they had Paul Goldschmidt in like a House of Dragons outfit, high high-backed and you know, embroidered, and and one guy Well, was he wearing it or did they AI him? No, they uh they used computers to do it. Okay, and uh one one White Sox batter had an eye patch on, and he doesn't really wear an eye patch. So is he a pirate? I just yeah, exactly.

Brooke 2:03

I I just I didn't like it. Well, I looked up some of the future Yankee giveaway nights that you can complain about in future episodes. Uh coming up soon is a Harry Potter night, which in itself it's like, oh, that could be cool, but it's all Aaron Judge bobbleheads, four of them in each of the different Harry Potter houses. It it just was, I mean, I guess it's gonna bring people in. And then, of course, you're gonna you have the Hello Kitty night, which I've been there once before where they have pocket books. This one is a bobblehead, which she's got a Yankees uniform on. Then they have one called the Naruto night, and that one requires a special ticket. Although Naruto the anime and manga, right? Yes, yeah, I'm not sure which is which, but yes. And our son's not here to to to judge us, and he doesn't listen, so I'm not worried about it. But you have to have a special ticket, but they have a jersey that they give, it's combined jersey with the team. Uh Yankees are doing it, but they've already Mets have already think have already done it. The Marlins are doing it. I think Seattle did it, and it's a pretty, it's a pretty sweet jersey, let me tell you.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Yeah, I I mean, look, I mean, you have to get younger fans. Then again, I can't picture those old fans from the 60s with the cigars and and the you know the vintage shirts on, just kind of you know, you hand them a Naruto. What the heck is that? Well, enough of this banter.

Trivia Setup: The Worst Slump

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Yes, but let's get to the trivia question of the day. Uh today we are talking about hitting streaks. So we're gonna do a twist with the trivia question. Who has the longest hit-less streak in Major League Baseball history? The most consecutive at-bats without a hit. Oh, poor guy. Well, we'll get to our answer later on.

Brooke 3:48

Oh, I wouldn't want that record.

1904 And The World Series Boycott

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Today's first pinch discusses the World Series that never was. Since the first World Series in 1903, there have only been two years where a World Series has not been played. Of course, the most recent was 1994 due to the player strike. I I don't even want to think about next season with a possible work stoppage. But the other, you would think maybe it was during the World Wars, it was not. You have to go all the way back to 1904, which was the year right after the first World Series in 1903. Uh so when the first series occurred a year earlier than that, the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates and the American League champion Boston Americans, now the Red Sox, it wasn't really a formal league agreement. It was just an agreement between the two championship clubs who won their respective leagues that year. Now, Boston won the American League once again in 1904, but in the National League, in kind of a lead up to this, the New York Giants had run away with a pennant. There were 13 games over the Chicago Cubs. Giants owner John T. Brush had indicated even early on in the season that he was not interested in an interleague series. The thought being that there was a good chance of New York's rival team in the American League, the New York Highlanders, could win. Uh, you know what became of the Highlanders, Brooke?

Brooke 5:14

I I'm still stunned that there was a Boston Americans. What were they? That was again the team that would become the Red Sox. Oh, okay. So all right, not just a different name. But no, the Highlanders, go ahead. Enlighten me. Well, the Highlanders are the original name of the team we now know as the New York Yankees. Ah, the New York Yankees. Yeah, see, trivia. Yeah, well, I it's uh we haven't gotten to the the American League. We studied, we did the National League. So I don't know all the American League original team names yet. So we're gonna have to do an episode on that, Jerry. Yes, absolutely. Was there s was their mascot a little Scotty?

SPEAKER_01 6:01

No, but they were at a high point in New York City. Yes, on Hilltop Stadium in in Washington Heights. So well, the Highlanders, it was close, and there was that fear by the New York Giants that they'd win the pennant. But Boston once again won the pennant, the American League pennant, one and a half games ahead. But even without a New York team winning uh brush, the Giants owner, he had no intention of the Giants participating in a championship series. In addition, Giants manager John McGraw, who was just a scrappy, pugnacious five foot seven firebrand, uh, he could not stand the president of the American League, Ben Johnson. Prior to managing the Giants, uh McGraw had managed in the American League the Baltimore Orioles, not the current Orioles.

Brooke 6:52

Do you know what happened to those early 20th century Orioles, Brooke? No. This is getting silliness. So I think you only get to ask me one team history per episode. And now we're on like team number three. How about how about this? I got an idea. How about we only deal with teams that have only one change in name or city? So, for example, we are limited to San Diego, Arizona, Colorado, Seattle, Toronto, Kansas City, the Mets, and of course our OGs, the Detroit Tigers. You only want to talk about those teams. Those are the only teams because they don't have a history. They don't have history. But for the listeners out there, I'm sure you will tell me about the Orioles. Must be a popular bird at the time.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Well, those Baltimore Orioles disbanded, but then became the New York Highlanders.

Brooke 7:46

Oh, you're kidding me.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

As we said earlier, became the New York Yankees. Though technically, the Yankees do not count those Orioles as part of their history.

Brooke 7:56

All right. All right.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Eventually we're going to get back to this World Series. Yes, go on. So John McGraw as manager of the Orioles then clashed with Ben Johnson, the president of the American League, just a lot. Johnson fined him, he suspended McGraw. Finally, McGraw would leave, become long-standing manager of the Giants, and he took several of those Orioles players with him. So although John Brush, the owner of the Giants, didn't want an interleague championship, many people felt it was McGraw's hatred of Ben Johnson that really stopped the series from happening. McGraw felt that his Giants did not play, need to play a series as his team was a champions of the quote, only major league. So there were no there was no series in 1904. But there was such a backlash from fans and the press that Giants owner John Brush, he would actually be involved in drafting the rules that would be adopted by both leagues for the next season agreeing to participate in the fall classic.

Brooke 8:53

All right. Fall classic, it was not actually called that until 1912.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

So little F, little C.

Brooke 9:00

Because it was in the fall. Yeah, it was in the fall. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

But good point. So the next year in 1905, indeed there was a World Series between the Giants and the Philadelphia Athletics. But it's a shame there was no 1904 World Series because it could have been quite a matchup. On Boston, you had Cy Young, Hall of Farm, Hall of Fame third baseman and manager Jimmy Collins, and on the other side, Giants pitchers Christy Matheson and Joe Ironman McGinnity.

Brooke 9:26

Wow. Well, enough talking. You need to save your voice, get a quick drink, and let's start the episode.

What Counts As A Hitting Streak

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Hello and welcome to Fungos and Fastballs, the podcast of baseball history and trivia. I'm your host, Jerry Dines. Let's jump into today's episode. Our main topic today is some of baseball's longest hitting streaks.

Brooke 9:50

Okay, you know I'm gonna ask. Give me the details of what makes a hitting streak.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

There are no rules. It's like Thunder Dome. Oh no. I mean, in theory, a hitting streak could be like two games in a row. Uh but that would just be silly. Sure. It's probably okay to start regarding a hitting streak, I don't know, maybe ten games or something like that. Well, okay, well, that's not quite what I mean. Well, I said there's no rules, but there kind of are a few. You do have to reach base on a hit, not an error or fielder's choice. Okay. And you do have to participate in a game with one official at-bat. So if you're taking the day off resting, it does not break your streak. Okay. Now remember, an at-bat only counts if it's a hit, an out, or an error. Wait, an at bat only counts. An at-bat only counts. Okay. That's why, you know, when a guy gets walked three times, you might only see 0-1 in his stats, for example, on the little the game.

Brooke 10:48

So a walk is not part of the hitting streak.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Well, a walk does not count as an at-bat, nor does when you get hit by a pitch, nor do you get when you get on base from interference.

Brooke 10:59

So if you were walked three times in a game, that was all the times you got up, that would not affect your streak. Right. It would just the next game would. I understand.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

So in retrospect, maybe there are some rules. So no thunder dome, maybe like a rumble dome or something like that. So I I I guess a better question is when does a hitting streak really matter?

Early Records And A Weird 1887 Rule

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Uh a lot of the standard lists of longest hitting streaks kind of start at 30 games. And if you look at those lists, you know, of 30 or more games in a row, uh, there are only 57 of them in Major League Baseball history. And in the past 20 seasons, there have really only been five over 30. The most recent being Freddie Freeman's 30-game hitting streak in 2016. No streak of 40 or more since 1978. We'll discuss that one later. Now, what's often interested in hitting streaks is the longest ones are not always by some of the league's most consistent hitters. So none of the streaks of 30 or more are, for example, by Wade Boggs or Tony Gwynn, um, Ishiro, Rod Carew. Now, this year, at the beginning of the year, we had a little bit of a cool hitting streak I was following. Uh Ildamaro Vargas of the Diamondbacks. He reached 27 games, not quite there. That ended on May 2nd. I was rooting for him. You know, you get excited about these things. I am going to spare you a discussion of all 57 hitting streaks over 30.

Brooke 12:30

I think a listener thanks you.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Well, we will go into some of the big ones and some cool history. Now, one interesting streak that is not on the list, but it deserves mentioning. Back in 1887, playing for the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association, Denny Lyons recorded a 52-game hitting streak. But 1887 was weird. There was a new rule that counted walks as hits. And that rule was dropped after one season. So it's like, whoops, that didn't work out. And two of Lions' games had really only what we consider walks. So his streak is not on the list. So let's get into some hitting streaks that count. In 1894, Bill Dolin of the Chicago Colts. I know who they are. You know who they are. Yeah, they became the Cubs, right? Yes, yes, I know that one. 42 games. He's still number four on the list. He had broken a 33-game streak just the year before by George Davis of the Giants. So in those early days, hitting streaks were breaking each other quickly. But only a year later, We Willy Keeler had a 45-game hitting streak between the 1896 and 97 seasons that would remain the longest hitting streak until 1941. It's still number two on the list today. Now, as a side here, I'm am I the only one when I hear We Willy Keeler thinking the old nursery rhyme? We Willy Winky, you know, running through the town in his nightgown, making sure the kids are asleep.

Brooke 13:56

Considering it was published in 1841, yes, you are the only one.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

I'm the only one. We're grabbing those younger listeners. I don't think young young folks today learn their nursery rhymes.

Brooke 14:06

No, probably probably not. I know his other nicknames were We Willy Hidem Where They Ain't, Keeler. And they also called him the Brooklyn Aster. Ah. Because he was paid handsomely by the Highlanders at $10,000 a year. So the Highlander, Astor being the wealthy family in New York. So those Highlanders are coming up twice today. I've never heard of them until today, and it's twice.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

I mean, his streak was the standard. Up to, again, later on. A final winner heard about Keeler. He accomplished his hitting streak while playing for the Baltimore Orioles. But not those Orioles. As you might have guessed, these Orioles are a different team than John McGraw's old Orioles and today's Orioles. Well, three Orioles teams. Who knew? Actually, I think there's one or two more if you include minor leagues. So going onward, Ty Cobb had a nice 40-game streak in 1911 with the Tigers that set the American League record, which would be broken in 1922 by St. Louis Brown's first baseman George Sisler, or as they called him Gorgeous George with 41 games. Are we going to do an episode on Sisler, Brooke?

Brooke 15:22

Well, if he's gorgeous, I just might want to. Is he a Hall of Famer? He is indeed. Ooh, check another one off the list. We'll do them.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

So Sizzler's 41 games would stand as the American League record, Killers 45 as the National League record, until one Jolton Joe DiMaggio. Where has he gone, Jolton Joe DiMaggio?

Brooke 15:41

Nation cries in the nation's.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Lation turns its lonely.

Brooke 15:45

Nation turns. Yeah, there we go. Ooh.

DiMaggio’s 56 And The Moment It Ended

SPEAKER_01 15:48

What harmony. Just like an organ. Oh, yes. But let's go back to 1941 with a 26-year-old DiMaggio playing center field for the Yankees and the 56-game streak that still stands 85 years later as the longest hitting streak in Major League Baseball. Now, DiMaggio actually, when playing minor league baseball in the Pacific Coast League, he played for the San Francisco SEALs, great name, and actually had a 61-game hitting streak. Now, as incredible as that is, there's actually a minor league record 69-game streak by Joe Wilhoyt in 1919, playing for the Wichita Jobbers of the American League.

Brooke 16:28

The Jobbers, not the Jobbers, the horse riding pants. Yeah, the Jobbers. That would be a good name, too.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

No, they are jobbers, what they call kind of wholesale merchant by then. Not the term for losing wrestlers in professional wrestling. Is that a term? It is a term. The jobber, yeah. The guys who lose to people like John Cena who make them look good. Oh. I didn't know that. Thank you. Wrestling trivia. And baseball trivia. All in one episode. This is a keeper. Oh, yes. Well, back to DiMaggio. Prior to him starting his 56-game streak, Demagio, he was in a bit of a slop. He was hitting 197 over the 21 games prior, but he sure picked it up, hitting 408 over the streak. It all started May 15th with a single off White Sox pitcher Eddie Smith. It was actually a 13-1 Yankees loss, so it was very inauspicious. And then about 13 games in, 19 games in, the press really started to take notice. In game 20 on June 2nd, Joe hit a home run in Detroit, though that day's baseball news was taken up really by the death of uh Yankee great Lou Garrick. In game 34 on June 24th, St. Louis Brown's manager Luke Sewell, he ordered pitcher Bob Moncrief to walk Joe DiMaggio, and Moncrief refused. So, and he got a hit. In game 40 on June 28th, facing the Philadelphia Athletics, the pitcher Johnny Babich told the press that he was going to get DiMaggio out on the first the first time at plate, at the plate, and then walk him, all the others at bats, to blow his hitting streak. He did, I think, fly out in the first time at bats. But then in the third, uh, sure enough, three balls. It was pretty clear Babich was going to walk him. And the fourth pitch was outside the strike zone. Joe lunged at it, hit the ball inches from Babish's head into center field and got a double. Joe would later refer to that as the quote, most satisfying hit of the streak. Now, what's interesting is Babich had actually faced DiMaggio during his old minor league PCL uh streak. Well, in July 2nd, he broke Keeler's record with his 46th game in Yankee Stadium versus the Red Sox. He had hit a homer over Ted Williams, great uh Red Sox uh head. The streak finally ended in July 16th versus the Cleveland Indians at Municipal Stadium. The pitcher was Al Smith. So things ended at 56 games. The whole nation was just focused on this streak in the news every day. It was a nice distraction. The U.S. was not in World War II yet. They would enter later that year, but it was going on in Europe, and that dominated the news. So again, the Demaggio streak uh distracted America from that a bit. He would go on to win the American League MVP that year, which was really saying something. 1941 was also the year that Ted Williams uh hit over 400, 406, uh, which was the last time that someone would have a batting average over 400 to this day. Uh so two great streaks that still exist today. Over the course of the whole streak, Joe would only strike out five times. In fact, he only struck out 13 times over the entire 1941 season, which today's you could strike out 13 times in a week. He also never bunted during the streak. So a good way to remember the trivia of how long the longest hitting streak is at 56 is the fact that Heinz, uh, you know, the ketchup company reportedly offered him a $10,000 bonus if he reached 57 and endorsed the Heinz 57 line of products. Joe would miss by one and not get that endorsement. Although there was an all-star game in there, and Joe did get a hit in the All-Star game. It was one for four. So technically he kind of did hit for 57 games straight. Heinz didn't cough up then.

Brooke 20:29

Well, after after the streak was over, he in the next game, he did get another hit and then started another streak for 16 games. So in essence, he went 72 out of 73 games, if you look at it that way with a hit.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Yeah, I mean still amazingly impressive. Tremendous, tremendous hitter, tremendous plate discipline, and trivial art. Joe's brother Dom DiMaggio, who played with the Red Sox at that time, had a hitting streak of his own in 1949 with 34 games. So he's on the list too. Now, for the next 35 years, no one had really sniffed close to DiMaggio. The longest streak after the 40s was Dom's and Tommy Holmes is 37 in 1945. Uh several players were 31 in the late 60s, but but no one, no one's sniffing close.

Brooke 21:18

Did you say sniffing close?

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Yeah, sniffing close to that record.

Brooke 21:23

Did he not shower? I've never heard that term, sniffing close. Did you make it up? No, it's a term, sure.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Yeah.

Brooke 21:32

Listeners, listeners, this is my life. It's gonna it's gonna pick up. It's gonna be the next start using it, please.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

It's gonna be the uh 2026 Collins word of the year.

Pete Rose’s 44 And A Bunt Debate

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Well, in so this brings us to 1978, when at 37, one Pete Rose in his last year with the Cincinnati Reds, challenged DiMaggio with what eventually would become the third longest hitting streak of all time after DiMaggio and Keeler. With 44 games. Though I was young, I remember the hullabaloo. You know that word. I do know that word, yes. You use that quite frequently. I remember the hullabaloo with Rose's hitting streak. Uh I was an American League kid, Yankees fan. Uh, really only saw Reds games kind of during the playoffs, but Rose was just one of my favorites as a kid given his resolve and doggedness, another great word. Let's just say Rose's name evoked uh different images back then than they did now.

Brooke 22:28

True, true. He was 37 at the time, so that's still really impressive. And and I do remember Pete Rose, he was always in the news, sports news. I mean, back well, he did date ourselves, but back then, you know, you watch the news every night. We're we're from the East Coast, so the news was on at six o'clock, and you watched it while you ate dinner, and there was always the sports section. And I recall how he would just run over, you know, infielders, first base, second bases, well, not first base because you don't have to do that, but second and third base all the time. So I still remember when that streak, you know, was was going on.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Oh yeah. Charlie Hussle was great.

Brooke 23:06

Yeah. What? Isn't it Pete Hussle?

SPEAKER_01 23:09

No, Charlie Hussle. Why Charlie? That's a good question. It was actually originally an insult from uh the Yankees, actually, when Rose got his start. Uh Mickey Mannle and Whitey Ford. Rose would do kind of these things that some people would think were showboating, like you know, run to base after he walks and stuff. And and they used to say oh, look at look at Charlie Hussle, go there. And Rose actually liked the term. All right, we'll go with that.

Brooke 23:34

Now, why Charlie as opposed to Bill Hussle or Tom Hussle? I have no idea. I guess it was a generic term at the time. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

You always ask the tough questions.

Brooke 23:43

I do. Someone wants to know.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

Well, a pretty historic year, 1978, for Rose. He also hit his 3,000th career hit on May 5th in Cincinnati. Rose's 44-game streak began June 14th, 1978, with a couple of singles versus the Cub. Like DiMaggio, he had been in a bit of a hitting slump prior. The newspapers first noted this streak at about 10 games. At All-Star Break, he was up to 25. And when he was asked about it, Rose said, quote, I might go on forever. After game 29, they asked DiMaggio what he thought about Rose's streak. And DiMaggio said, someday someone will break it. And if that's the case, I hope it's Pete Rose. Uh Rose's response to hearing that was, that's pretty great. I hope it's Pete Rose, too. Now, game 32 against the Phillies, Rose was hitless. He walked in the eighth, despite a bit of a contention there. The Phillies felt he actually swung. There were actually ejections over that argument that ensued. It looked like Rose was done for the day. It was the eighth inning, and the streak was over. But the rotation went all the way around to Rose again with two outs in the ninth. Rose laid down a bunt down the third baseline, and Mike Schmidt, in a rare moment, wasn't prepared for the bunt. Now, in response to that bunt, DiMaggio, as you recall, never bunted. Rose says, I know they might be mad about me bunting with a five-run lead, but it's taken me 16 years to get to 31 in a row, and if they'll give me a bunt, I'll take it. Well, by the mid-30s in the streak, Rose was featured on the front page of sports sections. Reporters everywhere was hounding him. For game 37, Shea Stadium to play the Mets had the largest crowd in years. Just to watch Rose versus the Mets. Rose would get three hits. Mets fans actually wore t-shirts. I saw Pete Rose do it. He would pass Ty Cobb's streak of 40. He would pass George Sisler's 41. And then the streak ended August 1st, 1978. They were facing off against the Atlanta Braves, and Braves pitcher Gene Garber struck him out. Rose was salty. Garber was trying to pitch too hard to him. He said, you know, he's pitching like it's Game 7 of the World Series out there, even though it was a blowout. But Rose could respect game two. Earlier that game in the second, he had a nice line drive up the middle, almost continued the streak, but pitcher Larry McWilliams made an incredible grab. Rose stopped on his way running to first and actually applauded the play. Now the reporters afterward asked Pete if he were relieved. And he said, No, I feel pissed off. I just went 0-4. We got beat 16-4. I don't feel relieved about anything. Now Rose remained chuffed at Garber decades later, you know, because Garber chose to throw a change up there instead of, as Rose put, a quote, honest shot, like being challenged with a fastball. Now, some interesting things about Rose's streaks. He did not have any homers throughout the whole streak. He did resort to some bunts, but he only struck out five times with an average of 385 across the streak. Now, since then, there's only been a couple of streaks within 20 of DiMaggio's 56.

Why 56 Feels Unbreakable Today

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Paul Molliner for the Brewers got up to 39 and 87. Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies made it to 38 across the 2005 and 6 season. Will anyone ever break DiMaggio's record? Well, never say never, but many think it's an unbreakable record.

Brooke 27:13

Yeah, even with all the advanced training and AI on both sides, the pitchers and the hitters, even I read that even the best 350 hitter has a one in a billion chance to match the streak. Yep. Jeez.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Yeah, relievers were not used as often as today. Certainly the relievers weren't as strong as today's relievers and closers. Jolton Joe would get the chance to see the same pitcher, you know, late in the game in his fourth, fifth time around the rotation there. Uh plus the league average strikeout rate in 1941 was 9.2%. Last year was up to 22.2%. So it's been increasingly increasing consistently over the past 20 years.

Brooke 27:57

Yeah, and and Joe's fastballs then are not the fastballs of today. Right. They also didn't throw as many types of pitches that they can today. You mentioned the pitcher rotations. Plus now, every defensive play, they know how the hitter's gonna hit based on the pitcher that's pitching. They have those, you know, little things on their arm.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

Yeah, wristbands.

Brooke 28:23

Yeah, the way that they flip up. Um not to mention the there's media pressure today. You know, after every game, these days when a player goes to the locker room, the media's right there in their face, ten reporters, and they follow them home. Then they have to look at all the critique on social media. It just was it's a different time today to put up to the pressure of trying to have a hitting streak.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

Well, very true, but that's not a knock against Jolton Joe. You play in the area you play in. Demagio was an incredible hitter. He was a smart hitter. His contemporary, Ted Williams, often referred to him as the greatest overall player he had ever seen. Plus, Joe got to marry Marilyn Monroe, so I'm not sure what that has to do with baseball, but it deserves stating. Hey, here's a final trivia alert. Three players, all Hall of Famers, are on the list with multiple streaks in more than 30 games. Ty Cobb, uh, Sam Rice of the Washington Centers, and George Sisler.

Brooke 29:16

I actually have a trivia one too. Oh. Pete Rose is number one on the list if you look at players who have hit over 3,000 for the hitting streak. So his hitting streak is number one in that category. Because you know baseball has every category out there. Yes. So he is a number one player.

SPEAKER_01 29:35

Well, let's end with the opening trivia question.

Trivia Answer, Next Episode, And Farewell

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Who has the longest hit less streak in Major League Baseball history? The answer: Chris Davis, who over the 2018 and 19 season went 54 at bats without a hit. First baseman Davis started his career with four seasons on Texas Rangers. Most of his career until retiring in 2020 was with the Baltimore Orioles, which is the team he was with when he had the inauspicious streak, the Baltimore Orioles again. A more positive memory about Davis, he was a two-time home run leader in the league in 2013 and 2015. Oh, that's good. Yeah. I'm trying to remember back then, Brooke, if I had Davis on my fantasy team during this Hitler streak, that would be for me. Yeah, exactly. Well, that's our show today. And check us out Monday for our next episode. We're now on a weekly schedule, you know, some busy summer commitments, but gives you some time to catch up and, you know, germinate on each episode. Listen to him twice if you want. Yeah, absolutely. But check us out Monday for our next episode, Hall of Fame Orioles manager Earl Weaver, as well as a review of the new biography on Weaver. Well, thanks always to Brooke, my producer. You're welcome. And shout out especially to George, another of my California music-loving butts, who assured me he'll be listening. We're always happy you're listening and hope you'll keep listening. Uh, don't forget to subscribe on YouTube where you can watch us on video or see photos of the players we mentioned, or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Heading back to the locker room, this is Jerry Dines and Fungos and Fastballs.