75 Years Since The Start of “The Streak”

On this day one of the greatest feats in baseball history began. The year was 1941 and New York Yankees outfielder “Joltin” Joe DiMaggio began his record 56-game hitting streak. It’s a record that still stands today, 75 years later.

Paul Molitor of the Brewers had a 39 game streak in 1989 and Pete Rose got to 44 games with the Reds in 1978, but nobody has really ever come close.

Between May 15 and July 17 the “Yankee Clipper” as he was also known, hit at a .408 average - going 91 for 223. There was power with that consistency too as DiMaggio hit 15 home runs with 55 runs batted in.

In 13 big league seasons he was a 3 time MVP, a 9 time World Series Champ and an All-Star all 13 years of his career.  He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955, and was voted the sport's greatest living player in a poll taken during the baseball centennial year of 1969.

He even married Marilyn Monroe!  What’s not to love about Joe DiMaggio, further immortalized by Simon and Garfunkel in their iconic musical hit Mrs. Robinson!