Dimaggio's 56 the best sports streak ever?

[Blackout]

Foxsports 'The Sportslist' had an episode of best sports streaks ever and rated Dimaggio's #1

who else agrees?




half the streaks on the list were baseball:

#1-Dimaggio
#2-Ripken
#4-Orel Herscheiser
#5-Greg Maddox
#6-Eric Gagne

along with Brett Farve's consecutive starts, which was #3, #9 Jerry Rice's games with a catch, and a few others I forget

[runningshoes]

In 1979 the Philadelphia Flyers went 35 games without a loss and they were by no means the best team in the NHL at the time.

The Pittsburgh Penguins' 17 game winning streak in 1993 is probably in the top ten and they came no where near the Flyers.

[Myankee4life]

Would Whitey's Ford consecutive scoreless innings count? If so it should have gotten consideration.

And Mattingly's HR streak is pretty nice.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

I agree with their #1 but not their #2

A couple other streaks:

In 1912 Rube Marquard won 19 straight games

Jack Taylor threw 187 consecutive complete games, ending in 1906.

[GiambiJuice]

I agree with their #1 but not their #2

A couple other streaks:

In 1912 Rube Marquard won 19 straight games

Jack Taylor threw 187 consecutive complete games, ending in 1906.

didn't Clemens have 20 or 21 in a row a few years ago with the Yanks?

[Sultan_1895-1948]

didn't Clemens have 20 or 21 in a row a few years ago with the Yanks?

Not sure, but pretty sure those were "decisions," and this was 19 straight "games started." Both impressive nonetheless.

[csh19792001]

Foxsports 'The Sportslist' had an episode of best sports streaks ever and rated Dimaggio's #1

who else agrees?

Joe Dimaggio
2150 Beach Street
San Franciso, CA 94123

January 3, 1985

Dear Joe,
My best wishes to you for a happy 1985. I hop you had a chance to see the NOVA show in which you so kindly participated. I have received so many favorable comments, with unanimous agreement that your appearance mad eth show.

I mentioned to you in San Francisco that my colleague Ed Purcell, a Nobel Laureate and one of the world’s greatest physicists, had determined that your fifty-six-game hitting streak was, statistically, the most unusual and unexpected great event in the history of baseball. Ed recently sent me the enclosed note in which he derives the reason for his statement. The mathematical details need not be perused, but the chart on the back of the second page will give you some idea of how remarkable and unpredictable your achievement was in statistical terms. The top row labeled b represents lifetime batting averages of .400, .380, and .300. The first column, labeled n at the left indicates the number of games in a hitting streak- 40, 50, and 60 in this example.

The nine numbers in the chart itself give you the probability that a batter with lifetime batting averages of b will have a hit streak of number of games n over a career of 1,000 games. Just consider the .0096 value for a .350 lifetime average, and a 50 game hitting streak. This means that a lifetime .350 batter has only nine chances in a thousand to have a 50 game hitting streak in a career of 1,000 games. To make it more likely than unlikely that such a hitting streak would exist, the number in the chart must be great than .5- for a probability of greater than one-half.

Thus, there would have to be fifty-two lifetime .350 hitters in order to make the probability of a 50 game hitting streak more than likely (.0086 times 52 equal the crucial value of one-half). I don’t have my encyclopedia handy, but I think that only 3 people actually have lifetime averages exceeding .350 (Cobb, Hornsby, and perhaps Joe Jackson). But your streak went for 56 games, a value that would only become more likely to happen (than not to happen) if baseball included more than 100 lifetime .350 hitters.

You asked me jokingly if this analysis meant that your record would never be broken. Even us pompous academics wouldn’t dare to make a statement like that. But Ed Purcell’s analysis does suggest that of all baseball records, your hit streak is surely the one least likely to ever be broken.

Thanks again for you time and, especially, for your kindness to my son Ethan.

Sincerely,
Steven Jay Gould

Gould (2003), Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville (188-189).

Dimaggio struck out 13 times in 541 AB's that year, yet hit 30 homeruns in the worst park in baseball for right handed hitters. At his best, he truly was a perfect baseball player.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Love that letter Chris, thanks for bringin' it back. To think it took two great plays to end the streak, and then he picked right back up and hit in like 17 more straight games. What a freak.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Thus guy was consistent, lots of contact, low strikeout totals. It may have been in the minors Pacific Coast League but still..... he had a 61 consecutive game hitting streak.

A while back I checked some stats on some of the longer consecutive game hitting streaks in the history of the game. All except one if I recall had low strikeouts, I think Paul Molitor had a fairly high number, high that is compared to the rest on that list.

Makes sense to me, if a hitter strikes out twice in one game, theres two at bats with no chance of getting a hit.

In 1941 Joe Dimaggio had a total of 13 strikeouts for the entire season and I believe only 5 strikeouts during that 56 game streak.

Some others, Sisler 41 games and 5 strikeouts during the streak.
Tommy Holmes 37 games and ony 9 strikeouts for the entire season.
Molitor 39 games and a high 22 strikeouts during the streak. How did he do it, he had as many strikeouts in those 39 games as Joe Dimaggio and Tommy Holmes had combined in their entire seasons, 293 games.

[KCGHOST]

And Mattingly's HR streak is pretty nice.

Uh, yoiu mean Dale Long's HR streak??

How about the Lakers winning 33 streak??

[Sultan_1895-1948]

That's pretty impressive. What year was that, in the Jerry West days yeah?

The '27 Yanks beat the St. Louis Browns 21 straight times that year. Not too impressive, but you'd think just one time they'd get lucky in there. Actually they did the 22nd time they met. 21-1 final record against them.

[Captain Cold Nose]

That's pretty impressive. What year was that, in the Jerry West days yeah?

The '27 Yanks beat the St. Louis Browns 21 straight times that year. Not too impressive, but you'd think just one time they'd get lucky in there. Actually they did the 22nd time they met. 21-1 final record against them.

West and Chamberlin, shortly after Elgin Baylor retired in 1972.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

That's pretty impressive. What year was that, in the Jerry West days yeah?

The '27 Yanks beat the St. Louis Browns 21 straight times that year. Not too impressive, but you'd think just one time they'd get lucky in there. Actually they did the 22nd time they met. 21-1 final record against them.

Not sure of the seasons, some time in the early 1930s the Yanks went 308 consecutive games without being shut out. Break it down with the 154 game schedule that equals two seasons.

[Tigerfan1974]

Foxsports 'The Sportslist' had an episode of best sports streaks ever and rated Dimaggio's #1

who else agrees?




half the streaks on the list were baseball:

#1-Dimaggio
#2-Ripken
#4-Orel Herscheiser
#5-Greg Maddox
#6-Eric Gagne

along with Brett Farve's consecutive starts, which was #3, #9 Jerry Rice's games with a catch, and a few others I forget

I think the '72 Dolphins perfect season was a pretty good streak!!
But I am still partial to baseball of course and Joe D. is among the best!!

[Twisted Wicker]

The Laker's 33 game winning streak and Favre's games started streak are up there with DiMaggio's streak.

Hershiser's is pretty tough too. Throwing that many (not sure of the exact number) of scoreless innings takes a bit of skill.