By Louis Addeo-Weiss
On May 15, 1941, New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio singled off of White Sox pitcher Edgar “Eddie” Smith in the bottom of the first inning. And while DiMaggio would end the day 1-4, and the Yankees losing 13-1, what DiMaggio didn’t know was that he just began the longest consecutive hitting streak in baseball history.
When all was said and done, DiMaggio had hit in 56-consecutive games, and in the process, carried the Yankees back into contention, with the team going 41-13-2 in that span.
At the outset of the streak, the Bronx Bombers entered that May 15th matchup against Chicago at 14-14. At the end of DiMaggio’s historic run of bat-to-ball, the Yankees were 55-27 and sitting atop the American League, a position they would hold the rest of the season, en route to their ninth World Series title.
During those 56 games, DiMaggio hit .408, clubbed 15 home runs, drove in 55 runs, walked 21 times, all while striking out merely five times. For the entirety of the 1941 season, DiMaggio struck out a total of 13 times in 622 plate appearances, just a 2.1 K-rate.
For Philadelphia Phillies right fielder and baseball’s new $330M man Bryce Harper, he has struck out 16 times alone in the past 14 days.
During the duration of the streak, DiMaggio would see his batting average climb, from an already respectable .304 to a robust .375. The 1941 season would see the Yankee Clipper slash .357/.440/.643, on his way to capturing his second career MVP-award.
Also of note in 1941 was the historic hitting of another American League outfielder, the great Ted Williams.
Williams, the Red Sox left fielder who many felt should have won the league’s MVP over DiMaggio that year, became the last man to hit .400, when he hit .406 over the course of the 1941 season. Finishing second to DiMaggio, whose stock was arguably increased due to his team being in contention, while the Red Sox went 84-70 behind the 101-win Yankees, Williams led the sport in runs (135), home runs (37), walks (147), average (.406), on-base percentage (.553), slugging (.735), ops (1.287), and ops+ (235), all barometers of a bonafide MVP.
But we can honor Teddy Ballgame, arguably the greatest hitter who ever walked the face of the earth, another day. Today, the lights are shined on DiMaggio and a streak that we’ll more-than-likely never see again.
