56-game hitting streak : Why DiMaggio?
- Makio Mukai
- Apr 18
- 8 min read
In 1941, Joe DiMaggio set a record of 56-game hitting streak. It is incredible that he had 56 consecutive games with at least one hit in a game. It is an unprecedented record.
There is something I really want to say about DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak.
I would like to start with an essay by an American.
Stephen Jay Gould (died in 2002 at the age of 60) was a famous American paleontologist and evolutionary biologist who published wonderful academic papers, but he also published many scientific essays for the public. I am an avid reader of such essays. Gould was also an avid Major League Baseball fan, and wrote many interesting essays that discuss biological evolution in relation to Major League Baseball. Among these essays is one about DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. “The Streak of Streaks” included in “Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural History” (1991, W・W・NORTON & COMPANY). In this essay, Gould introduced his colleague and Nobel Prize winner in physics, Ed Purcell, and wrote: "Purcell calculated that to make it likely (probability greater than 50 percent) that a run of even 50 games will occur once in the history of baseball up to now (and 56 is a lot more than 50 in this kind of league), baseball’s rosters would have to include either four lifetime .400 batters or 52 lifetime .350 batters over careers of 1,000 games. In actuality, only three men have lifetime batting averages in excess of .350, and no one is anywhere near .400 (Ty Cobb at .367, Rogers Hornsby at .358, and Shoeless Joe Jackson at .356). DiMaggio’s streak is the most extraordinary thing that ever happened in American sports.”
Do you know how Ed Purcell did this calculation, and what was the basis for it? I think most people don't know. I don't know either. But I don't want to know. There are two reasons for this.
Even if there is a relationship between hitting streak and lifetime batting average, I don't think it's that significant. I think that you can see this by looking at the actual records. DiMaggio, who hit in 56 consecutive games, had a lifetime batting average of .325, ranking 48th in history, Willie Keeler, who holds the second-highest consecutive game hitting record with 45 consecutive games, had a lifetime batting average of .341, ranking 17th in history, Pete Rose, who holds the third-highest consecutive game hitting record with 44 consecutive games, had a lifetime batting average of .303, ranking 178th in history, and Bill Dahlen, who holds the fourth-highest consecutive game hitting record with 42 consecutive games, had a lifetime batting average of .272, ranking 944th in history... Jimmy Rollins, who holds the eighth-highest consecutive game hitting record with 38 consecutive games had a lifetime batting average of .264, ranking below 1000th in history. I think that this makes it hard to believe that there is much of a relationship between lifetime batting average and consecutive games with a hit.
This reason is more important. Purcell's calculations do not explain why it was DiMaggio and not some other player who set the incredible record of 56-game hitting streak. If you think that this is not necessary, I think you are very mistaken. I believe that it was only DiMaggio who was able to set the record, and that no one else could have set such an incredible record.
DiMaggio did not achieve the 56-game hitting streak by chance. Before playing in the major leagues, DiMaggio played for the San Francisco Seals in the Pacific Coast League, and while playing there he achieved the incredible feat of 61-game hitting streak. He was only 18 years old at the time. Luck is probably an important factor in achieving 61 or 56-game hitting streak. However, such records cannot be achieved by luck alone. They can only be achieved when luck comes to someone who already has great qualities. And I believe that DiMaggio had those great qualities. So, let's talk about those qualities.
DiMaggio was the batting average leader twice. In other words, he was a good hitter who could hit consistently, but he was also a powerful hitter who was the home run leader twice. He never hit more than 50 home runs in a season, his highest being 46, but he hit more than 30 home runs in seven seasons, including five consecutive seasons. Incidentally, he was also the RBI leader twice. There are other players with similar results. However, there is no player who always swings as hard as DiMaggio to hit strong balls, yet strikes out so rarely. There is a fact that clearly shows this.
DiMaggio played in the major leagues for 13 seasons, and in seven of those 13 seasons, he struck out fewer times than he hit home runs. In five consecutive years of those seven seasons, he struck out fewer times than he hit home runs. There is no other player in the history of the major leagues like DiMaggio. This quality of his becomes even more apparent when comparing his lifetime stats with those of other great players. DiMaggio had 361 home runs and 369 strikeouts. He had only eight more strikeouts than home runs. Ted Williams had 521 home runs and 709 strikeouts. Babe Ruth had 714 home runs and 1,330 strikeouts. Barry Bonds had 762 home runs and 1,539 strikeouts. I'll also list active players. These are records up to 2024. Shohei Ohtani had 225 home runs and 917 strikeouts. Aaron Judge had 315 home runs and 1,209 strikeouts. I'll also list players who didn't hit enough home runs to be the home run leader, but did have a lot of hits and were the batting average leader. Ichiro was the batting average leader twice in the major leagues, but he has 117 home runs and 1,080 strikeouts. Among active players, I would like to mention Luis Arraez, who has been the batting average leader for three consecutive seasons until 2024. He has 28 career home runs and 194 career strikeouts.
So, how do these qualities of DiMaggio relate to consecutive games with a hit.
There is also an element of luck in baseball. A strong hit may not result in a hit because it flies directly in front of the fielder, or a slow grounder may happen to fall in a good spot and become an infield hit. However, the best way to hit hits consistently is to hit strong balls. If you take a full swing in every at-bat in every game and hit strong balls without striking out, it is natural that you will have a higher chance of hitting at least one hit in every game.
Here, let me introduce some interesting data. I researched it myself. Here is a list of players who became home run leaders in the modern era of major league baseball starting from the 20th century despite having fewer strikeouts than home runs(Table 1), and players who became the batting average leaders despite having fewer strikeouts than home runs (Tables 2).
Table 1: Home run leaders with fewer strikeouts than home runs
number of home runs | number of strikeouts | |
Lou Gehrig (1934) | 49 | 31 |
Lou Gehrig (1936) | 49 | 46 |
Joe DiMaggio (1937) | 46 | 37 |
Ted Williams (1941) | 37 | 27 |
Tommy Holmes (1945) | 28 | 9 |
Joe DiMaggio (1948) | 39 | 30 |
Ted Kluszewski (1954) | 49 | 35 |
Table 2: Batting average leaders with fewer strikeouts than home runs
number of home runs | number of strikeouts | |
Lefty O’Doul (1929) | 32 | 19 |
Al Simmons (1930) | 36 | 34 |
Lefty O’Doul (1932) | 21 | 20 |
Lou Gehrig (1934) | 49 | 31 |
Arky Vaughan (1935) | 19 | 18 |
Ernie Lombardi (1938) | 19 | 14 |
Joe DiMaggio (1939) | 30 | 20 |
Joe DiMaggio (1940) | 31 | 30 |
Ted Williams (1941) | 37 | 27 |
Stan Musial (1948) | 39 | 34 |
George Brett (1980) | 24 | 22 |
Barry Bonds (2004) | 45 | 41 |
Five players have become home run leaders a total of seven times despite having fewer strikeouts than home runs. Only Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio have managed to do it twice. Incidentally, Ted Kluszewski had four seasons in which he had fewer strikeouts than home runs, and those four were consecutive, second to DiMaggio's five consecutive seasons.
Ten players have led the batting average with fewer strikeouts than hits, a total of 12 times. Only Lefty O'Doul and Joe DiMaggio managed to do it twice.
The only players besides DiMaggio who have been both the home run leader and the batting average leader with fewer strikeouts than home runs are Lou Gehrig and Ted Williams. DiMaggio is the only one to have managed both twice.
It seemed that Lou Gehrig and Ted Williams could achieve notable consecutive game hitting records, too. But there was a reason they couldn’t. They walked too many times. Both had many seasons in which they walked over 100 times, and some seasons in which they led the league in walks. DiMaggio never led the league in walks in a season, and never even walked over 100 times in a season.
Now, let's talk about what happened in 1941. That year, DiMaggio hit in 56 consecutive games, but his batting average was .357. Ted Williams, who played in the same American League as DiMaggio that year, led the batting average with an impressive .406 batting average. Both players struck out less than they hit home runs. DiMaggio hit 30 home runs and 13 strikeouts. Ted Williams hit 37 home runs and 27 strikeouts. However, there was a big difference in the number of walks they each walked. DiMaggio walked 76 times. Ted Williams walked 145 times, the most in the league. That was almost twice as many as DiMaggio's walks. That means he would never be able to achieve a consecutive game hitting record like DiMaggio. Ted Williams said something interesting. "Funny it should work out that way, but it was pointed out to me later that over that same 56-game period, Joe hit .408 and I hit .412. ”[1] This is true. However, there is an important thing that Ted Williams didn't mention. During his 56-game hitting streak, DiMaggio struck out 7 times , while Ted Williams struck out 9 times. There is no difference between the two, but the number of walks is different. DiMaggio walked 21 times , while Ted Williams walked 50 times. This is more than twice as many as DiMaggio. Ted Williams walked too many times. If he had walked less than half as many times, he might have been able to achieve a great record in terms of consecutive games with a hit.
But in fairness, there's something important to say about Ted Williams' many walks. His high number of walks was a major reason he was able to achieve a major league record of .482 lifetime on-base percentage, and an astounding major league record of 84 consecutive games in which he reached base. Neither record would be achievable for Joe DiMaggio, who didn’t walk many times.
DiMaggio always swung the bat hard, but he struck out very few times and didn't walk too many times. Then in 1941, luck came to DiMaggio who had these qualities. I believe it was these things that allowed DiMaggio to achieve the unprecedented feat of 56-game hitting streak.
Finally, here's what Ted Williams said about Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. "It may be the greatest batting achievement of all."[1]
（ If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.）
Reference
1. Joseph Durso (1995). DiMaggio: The Last American Knight.
Little Brown and Company
