Error Streak

[TonyK]

I am bringing this one over from the Trivia area because someone might know how to go about it:

Who holds the record for making an error in the most consecutive games?

This is sort of like Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak except the record holder probably was a very poor fielder. It is likely whomever it is did it in the 19th Century, and may have played either SS, 2B, 3B or C. Many infielders back then averaged more than one error per game in a season, with some even averaging two errors per game. My guess is the record is close to 56 games.

Is there a shorter way to find it besides looking at every boxscore of every team from 1871 to 1900? Would national newspapers or the NY Clipper be the best sources? I appreciate your help.

[ipitch]

Number of 80+ hit seasons: 19,204
Number of 40-game hit streaks: 6

Number of 80+ error seasons: 30, perhaps?
Number of 40-game error streaks: Who knows, but any math teacher will tell you that the most likely number is zero.

A 56-game error streak would be off-the-charts unlikely.

[TonyK]

Number of 80+ hit seasons: 19,204
Number of 40-game hit streaks: 6

Number of 80+ error seasons: 30, perhaps?
Number of 40-game error streaks: Who knows, but any math teacher will tell you that the most likely number is zero.

A 56-game error streak would be off-the-charts unlikely.

There will be a carryover in some error streaks from one year to the next. The lousy SS who made errors in his last 10 or 20 games one season is likely to start his next season making more errors too. At least that's what the stats of most 19th Century players suggest.

If you restrict your first stat to only the 19th Century then how many 80+ hit seasons do you have, and how many 40-game hitting streaks do you have? Those numbers are worth knowing.

I don't think we know how many players made 80+ errors in a season. If 100 or more errors in a season was done 17 times then it is likely that making between 80 to 99 errors in a season was done far more than only 13 times.

[treant985]

I'll try to find the details, but I recall a streak from the late 19th century where a SS had an error in about a dozen straight games, which was the longest I'd ever seen.