Chase's Chase
Chase Utley's hitting streak ended last night, 35 games after it began.
Whenever a baseball player runs a consecutive-game hitting streak past, say, 20, the media and fans build a bandwagon and all bound on. Every evening, that player's box score becomes the most-read item in sports reporting. (I have no data to back that up — but so what?) The daily observance is not surprising; Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak of 1941 remains baseball's most awe-inspiring and bat-challenging record.
And as close as Utley came to besting that achievement, he really wasn't close at all. Thirty-five consecutive games of hitting — over a month of daily consistency — is still three weeks short. Three weeks is an impressive streak all on its own.
No player can be considered close to breaking DiMaggio's record until he's surpassed 50. And that's still only 90 percent of the chase.
Whenever a baseball player runs a consecutive-game hitting streak past, say, 20, the media and fans build a bandwagon and all bound on. Every evening, that player's box score becomes the most-read item in sports reporting. (I have no data to back that up — but so what?) The daily observance is not surprising; Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak of 1941 remains baseball's most awe-inspiring and bat-challenging record.
And as close as Utley came to besting that achievement, he really wasn't close at all. Thirty-five consecutive games of hitting — over a month of daily consistency — is still three weeks short. Three weeks is an impressive streak all on its own.
No player can be considered close to breaking DiMaggio's record until he's surpassed 50. And that's still only 90 percent of the chase.
posted by Chris | 12:32 AM
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