This Day In Baseball
History: July 2, 1941
It was on this date in 1941 that
New York Yankees centre-fielder, Joe DiMaggio, broke the record for the longest
hitting streak in MLB history. In front of a crowd of 52,832 fans at Yankee
Stadium, DiMaggio hit a two-run home run off of Boston Red Sox pitcher Dick
Newsome in the fifth inning, to extend his hitting streak to 45 games. The
previous record of 44 straight games was set by Wee Willie Keeler, who
accomplished the feat back in 1897.
The Yankees would go on to beat
the Red Sox by a score of 8-4, while DiMaggio would go on to get a hit in the
Yankees next eleven games to set the new record for consecutive games with a
hit to 56. After failing to extend the streak to 57 on July 17 at Cleveland’s
Municipal Stadium, the Yankee Clipper would start a new hitting streak that
would last 16 games, meaning that he would get a hit in 72 of 73 games, a
remarkable achievement.
During the 56-game streak,
DiMaggio batted .408, hit 15 home runs and 55 RBIs. Remarkably, while playing
with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1933, he would get
a hit in 61 consecutive games, setting the Minor League record.
DiMaggio would finish 1941 with
a .357 batting average, 193 base hits including 30 home runs, 43 doubles and 11
triples, and have an American League-leading 125 RBIs in capturing the AL’s
Most Valuable Player Award, one of the three times he won the Award (1939 and
1947 were the other years he won it).
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