Let's go, Utley!
Maybe Chase Utley can end this stupid fascination with the most overrated record in sports, Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak.
In 1941, Joe DiMaggio had a hit in 56 consecutive games. In the entire season, he had 193 hits. He walked 76 times.
That year, Ted Williams didn't have a memorable hit streak -- none that anyone still cares about, anyway -- and yet still compiled 185 hits. He also walked 147 times, which may have a little to do with why the best damn hitter who ever lived never had a memorable hitting streak.
So who had a better year? Well, Ted Williams got on base 55.3 percent of the time. DiMaggio, in that magical season, got on base 44.0 percent of the time. And when they did hit the ball, he slugged .735 versus DiMaggio's .643. Williams did this, part, by hitting 37 homers compared to DiMaggio's 30. Williams wound up scoring more runs than DiMaggio did that year, 135 to 122. (DiMaggio knocked in five more, 125 versus 120.) And lest you assume that their respective ballparks had anything to do with it, Williams's OPS+ was 235 (135 percent better than the league average) while DiMaggio's was 184 (84 percent better than the league average).
Good for Joe D. He had a nice couple of months and married Marilyn Monroe. Now let's all get over it.
In 1941, Joe DiMaggio had a hit in 56 consecutive games. In the entire season, he had 193 hits. He walked 76 times.
That year, Ted Williams didn't have a memorable hit streak -- none that anyone still cares about, anyway -- and yet still compiled 185 hits. He also walked 147 times, which may have a little to do with why the best damn hitter who ever lived never had a memorable hitting streak.
So who had a better year? Well, Ted Williams got on base 55.3 percent of the time. DiMaggio, in that magical season, got on base 44.0 percent of the time. And when they did hit the ball, he slugged .735 versus DiMaggio's .643. Williams did this, part, by hitting 37 homers compared to DiMaggio's 30. Williams wound up scoring more runs than DiMaggio did that year, 135 to 122. (DiMaggio knocked in five more, 125 versus 120.) And lest you assume that their respective ballparks had anything to do with it, Williams's OPS+ was 235 (135 percent better than the league average) while DiMaggio's was 184 (84 percent better than the league average).
Good for Joe D. He had a nice couple of months and married Marilyn Monroe. Now let's all get over it.
posted by Josh at
Friday, August 04, 2006
10 Comments:
So what you're saying is that a record/streak is only meaningful if the player had a good year?
The year Orel Hershiser had his scoreless inning streak, he won the Cy Young. But he wasn't the ERA leader (he was 3rd), he wasn't the win/loss pct leader (he was 4th) and he wasn't the SO leader (he was 7th). One could make the argument that David Cone had a slightly better year - only three fewer wins, more strikeouts, better ERA, better win-loss pct, fewer hits allow/9IP. Does that make Herhiser's record any less meaninful?
By
Anonymous, at 10:41 PM
I should amend my opening line to say, "only if the player had the BEST year?"
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Anonymous, at 10:42 PM
I that Joe D's 56 stands out because it is so far above what anyone else has done. Yes, one's ability to compile an impressive hitting streak has to do with who else is in your lineup, whether you bat right or left, how many off days your had, etc. But the fact that no one else has even come close to that mark, is a testament to how diffifcult it is. Afterall, every record is influenced by many factors, the biggest of which is probably luck.
Chase Utley's pursuit was impressive because only 9 people in the entire history of the game have had longer streaks. Even more so when you consider the under-acheiving lineup he's a part of.
But you don't have to worry any more. Utley's run is over. (The Phil's recent winning ways soon will be over, too.) And most disgraceful of all, the shithead fans in Queens booed Utley and heckled him when the streak ended. And people say Philly fans are bad. I know the baseball gods are watching. May they send a little ire through Flushing Meadows.
By
Anonymous, at 12:48 AM
Hershiser's streak is just as impressive, and far less celebrated, than DiMaggio's. It is treated asthe quirk that it was -- a great player at the top of his game for a brief period. Good for him.
For two months, DiMaggio was very very good. He got 91 hits in those 56 games, coming in 223 at bat. That's damn good. It's a .408 batting average.
Ted Williams batted .406 for the entire freaking season. And even
during that period, Williams was the better hitter.
He had a great season, too. It's just worth noting that, at his peak, he was roughly the equal of Ted Williams for an entire season.
...
Did luck have something to do with it? No, stardom. The hit streak probably lasted 29 games, since he was credited with a hit in the 30th game on a routine grounder to short. Was this a home game? Yes. Yes, it was.
But, really, without this stupid streak how would we distinguish Joe DiMaggio? How would we explain gushing tributes from Murray Chass for a guy who hit 361 career homers, one fewer than Gil Hodges? We couldn't.
So "we" (read: you) create a myth that says that he was the greatest living ballplayer (which was never true, since Willie Mays outlived him).
He was great. And for two months, he was roughly the equal of Ted Williams.
By
Josh, at 5:29 PM
You try to discredit DiMaggio's 56 games by saying Williams had a better year. But what does that have to do with it?
The record is the most consecutive games with a hit. It's not the most consecutive games with a hit while being the best player in the league.
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dl004d, at 7:12 PM
As for booing Utley, that's bad.
But it's not quite like Milwaukee Brewers fans who booed Rick Manning for getting a walk-off hit to end the game with Paul Molitor in the on-deck circle, thus ending his hit streak at 39 games.
By
dl004d, at 7:14 PM
Wait, who ever said DiMaggio was the greatest living ballplayer? I don't think any baseball fan in their right mind would seriously argue that DiMaggio was as good as Ted Williams or Willie Mays (and by the way, unless I'm horribly mistaken, Hank Aaron continues to breathe, talk, walk and perform other life-like functions successfully), save for Yankee fans who believe Don Mattingly should be in the Hall of Fame. But they're suffering from brain damage to begin with, so it doesn't matter.
Actually, I'm more riled up by instant_ethos calling Mets fans "shitheads". So there's some grand obligation to applaud an opposing player, in the midst of a pennant race, who's trying to beat your team? Really? The baseball gods are cool with that? I think not. What's wrong with booing the guy in hopes of getting him off his game? It doesn't mean they don't respect him as a ballplayer. No one threw trash on the field or anything like that. Utley was treated much like any other really good visiting player might be treated at Shea Stadium in the midst of a pennant race. Mets fans give a damn. This separates us from, say, Marlins fans, Diamondback fans, and anyone in the state of California. Where's the problem?
By the way, I think I set a "Gray Pages" record by taking 7 hours to complete this comment. I drafted part of it, went golfing (poorly), then came back and finished.
By
Unknown, at 2:41 PM
Pennant race?! Don't talk about... Pennant race?! You gotta be kidding me. Pennant race?!
Last I checked the Mets were 12 games up on the Phils. Don't talk to me about a pennant race.
It's one thing to boo a guy to knock him off his game. It's another to boo him after he makes an out in the 9th inning when it's clear his streak is over. That's just ignerrint.
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Anonymous, at 7:20 PM
I was at a Red Sox game when we gave Cal Ripken a standing ovation as he rounded the bases on a homer. Proud moment for me. Ripken's homer cut the lead to 7-1, if memory serves.
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Josh, at 10:18 AM
Back to booing Rick Manning for getting the game-winning hit and leaving Paul Molitor stuck at 39 games, the game story shows that only 11,246 people were at the game.
The Mets fans booing a hated division rival is nothing compared to Brewers fans not even coming to the ballpark to see Molitor try at 40 straight games. And then booing their own team for winning.
By
dl004d, at 10:44 AM
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