Oct 6, 2022
Joe DiMaggio’s Untouchable Magic Number
His 56-game hitting streak has stood for over 80 years.
I was browsing through my local Goodwill bookstore and came across two books that triggered the thought for this article.
The first book was 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports by Kostya Kennedy. The second was published in 1953 and is called Baseball’s Greatest Players by Tom Meany.
Because the homerun has become the almighty measuring metric for baseball players today, players like Joe DiMaggio are easily forgotten — which is odd considering “The Yankee Clipper” hit 361 home runs in his 13-year career.
Joe DiMaggio’s hitting.
Even more interesting is how good of a hitter Joe DiMaggio was — his career batting average was .325. His batting average topped .340 in five different seasons. He struck out only 369 times in 6,821 at-bats. That is unheard of in baseball today.
DiMaggio’s career batting average on balls in play was .304, while the league average throughout his career was .279.
Perhaps “Joltin’ Joe’s” hitting can be attributed partly to his stance at the plate.
DiMaggio’s stance made him the picture of nonchalance at the plate. He seemed completely relaxed and comfortable, which he insisted was the only recipe for a satisfactory stance. Joe didn’t say that other batters should copy his stance but that no batter should employ a stance in which he felt uncomfortable. The very nature of DiMag’s stance made him a late swinger. Some of Joe’s best hits came, as the players phrase it, “right out of the catcher’s glove.” — Tom Meany, Baseball’s Greatest Players, 61
This “relaxed” and seemingly “nonchalant” baseball player set a record that no one has come close to breaking since 1941.
The 56-game hitting streak.
DiMaggio’s hitting streak began on May 15, 1941, and ended on July 17.
Over the 56-game stretch, Joe DiMaggio batted .408 with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs. He only struck out five times during his hitting streak.
“Joltin’ Joe” demolished the previous record set by Willie Keeler (45 games) in 1896–1897. The closest that anyone has come to DiMaggio’s 56-game record:
- Pete Rose hit in 44 straight games in 1978
- Paul Molitor hit in 39 straight games in 1987.
- Jimmy Rollins hit in 38 straight games in 2005–2006.
That is the closest anyone has come to DiMaggio’s hitting streak over the last 80+ years.
Joe DiMaggio was undoubtedly one of the best hitters to play Major League Baseball. Thanks to his 56-game hitting streak, he will always be considered one of the all-time greats.
Originally published in The Pastime Observer on Substack.
