While not all these players had fabled careers, all did reach the 1000 game milestone (or are on that trajectory) and all received MVP votes at some point in their careers. But, that’s not the common thread connecting them.
What is the batting feat that only these players have achieved since 1914?
| Rk | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | George Sisler |
| 2 | Ron LeFlore |
| 3 | Sam Rice |
| 4 | Gee Walker |
| 5 | Charlie Grimm |
| 6 | Edgar Renteria |
| 7 | Joe Torre |
| 8 | Steve Garvey |
| 9 | Harry Heilmann |
| 10 | Pablo Sandoval |
| 11 | Eddie Bressoud |
Congratulations to HowardR and Richard Chester! They teamed up to identify that only these quiz players have started a season since 1914 hitting safely in 20 or more consecutive games in which they had a PA. Those streaks and more are after the jump.
Here are those streaks.
| Rk | Player | Strk Start | End | Games | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | Tm | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Sisler | 1925-04-14 | 1925-05-19 | 34 | 148 | 25 | 59 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 18 | .399 | .411 | .473 | SLB |
| 2 | Ron LeFlore | 1976-04-17 | 1976-05-27 | 30 | 130 | 21 | 51 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 14 | .392 | .432 | .554 | DET |
| 3 | Sam Rice | 1930-04-14 | 1930-05-17 | 28 | 118 | 27 | 46 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 19 | .390 | .442 | .517 | WSH |
| 4 | Gee Walker | 1937-04-20 | 1937-05-23 | 27 | 112 | 25 | 47 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 30 | .420 | .463 | .643 | DET |
| 5 | Charlie Grimm | 1923-04-17 | 1923-05-16 | 25 | 89 | 24 | 37 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 21 | .416 | .469 | .775 | PIT |
| 6 | Edgar Renteria | 2006-04-03 | 2006-05-09 | 23 | 99 | 16 | 35 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 13 | .354 | .407 | .485 | ATL |
| 7 | Joe Torre | 1971-04-06 | 1971-04-28 | 22 | 88 | 13 | 34 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 17 | .386 | .407 | .591 | STL |
| 8 | Harry Heilmann | 1923-04-18 | 1923-05-15 | 21 | 76 | 17 | 39 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 18 | .513 | .575 | .763 | DET |
| 9 | Steve Garvey | 1978-04-07 | 1978-05-02 | 21 | 89 | 17 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 16 | .326 | .355 | .494 | LAD |
| 10 | Eddie Bressoud | 1964-04-16 | 1964-05-09 | 20 | 84 | 13 | 31 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .369 | .418 | .476 | BOS |
| 11 | Pablo Sandoval | 2012-04-06 | 2012-04-27 | 20 | 82 | 14 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 13 | .329 | .382 | .500 | SFG |
It no doubt means nothing but I noticed this clustering:
- 5 streaks in a 15 year period (1923-37)
- nothing for 26 years
- 4 streaks in a 15 year period (1964-78)
- nothing for 27 years
- 2 streaks in the past 9 years (2006-14)
The longest hitting streaks to start the 2014 season belong to these players (active streaks are bolded).
| Rk | Player | Strk Start | End | Games | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | Tm | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexei Ramirez | 2014-03-31 | 2014-04-18 | 17 | 66 | 13 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 14 | .379 | .423 | .621 | 1.044 | CHW |
| 2 | Melky Cabrera | 2014-03-31 | 2014-04-15 | 14 | 65 | 8 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 5 | .323 | .333 | .569 | .903 | TOR |
| 3 | Chase Utley | 2014-03-31 | 2014-04-14 | 11 | 45 | 9 | 22 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 | .489 | .549 | .844 | 1.393 | PHI |
| 4 | Conor Gillaspie | 2014-03-31 | 2014-04-13 | 11 | 41 | 5 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | .341 | .396 | .439 | .835 | CHW |
| 5 | Elvis Andrus | 2014-03-31 | 2014-04-12 | 11 | 45 | 7 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .311 | .340 | .422 | .763 | TEX |
| 6 | Devin Mesoraco | 2014-04-08 | 2014-04-21 | 10 | 37 | 8 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 12 | .541 | .571 | .946 | 1.517 | CIN |
Devin Mesoraco is half-way to matching Harry Heilmann’s feat of batting .500 in a season-opening 20-game hitting streak.
