Even with the Washington Nationals having another rough start to the season, it is nice to see them get some good press once in a while. And on that happy note, I think it's a pretty safe bet that come All-Star time (which I swear I'll get to show off my teams of the past...) our man of the hour will be making travel plans to St. Louis to participate in the All-Star Game.
Congratulations to Ryan Zimmerman for getting hits in 30 consecutive games. As we all know, a hitting streak of this magnitude is rare, and is only made difficult when getting closer to the ominous looking game number 56. In the 30 games played during the streak, the Nats went 10-19 (one game to be finished at a later date). Zimmerman went 50 for 141 (.355 average), hit 8 home runs, and drove in 26.
While nobody has even come close to Joltin' Joe's record since 1978, only 42 hitters have had hit streaks of at least 30 games or more (Ty Cobb and George Sisler pulled it off twice), with Zimmerman being the latest to do it. It got me thinking...who else has hit safely in 30 or more consecutive games? Look no further than the Baseball Almanac to find the answer. Of the 42 players who've accomplished this feat, I have baseball cards of 18 of them during their streak year. This total does NOT include either the Sisler and Cobb cards from 2009 Topps. Since 1976, the following players have had hit streaks of at least 30 games or more:
- Ron LeFlore, 1976, Tigers, 30 games
- Pete Rose, 1978, Reds, 44 games (modern NL record)
- George Brett, 1980, Royals, 30 games
- Ken Landreaux, 1980, Twins, 31 games
- Benito Santiago, 1987, Padres, 34 games (record for rookies)
- Paul Molitor, 1987, Brewers, 39 games
- Jerome Walton, 1989 Cubs, 30 games
- Nomar Garciaparra, 1997, Red Sox, 30 games
- Sandy Alomar, Jr., 1997, Indians, 30 games
- Eric Davis, 1998, Orioles, 30 games (Eric Davis did not have a regular 1998 Topps card...his 1999 card will have to do)
- Luis Gonzalez, 1999, Diamondbacks, 30 games
- Vladimir Guerrero, 1999, Expos, 31 games
- Luis Castillo, 2002, Marlins, 35 games
- Albert Pujols, 2003, Cardinals, 30 games
- Jimmy Rollins, 2005-2006, Phillies, 38 games (only he and Willie Keeler had streakes ending one year and continue the next)
- Chase Utley, 2006, Phillies, 35 games
- Willy Taveras, 2006, Astros, 30 games
- Moises Alou, 2007, Mets, 30 games
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
Great blog as always! Brings back a lot of memories for me. I remember the streaks of Pete Rose and Jerome Walton (since I'm a Cubs fan). It's also a pretty good subset as well. Baseball cards for me capture Baseball history.
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