Improbable Streaks 

Here is a quick list of some improbable streaks.

Joe DiMaggio “ over 56 games in 1941 Joe DiMaggio batted safely in all the contests.  This is the most improbable streak ever accomplished and is one of baseball’s favorites.  No one has come within 12 games of DiMaggio’s streak.  Stephen Jay Gould did some research on the probabilities of someone batting in 56 straight games and his conclusion would be that the number of batters batting over .350 would have to raise to about 20 (only 3 have done it) the number batting over .300 would have to double for such a streak to be in the realm of possibilities.  To paraphrase Gould, this streak would be like flipping a coin 35 times and every time it came up heads.

Carl Hubbell “ 24 Win Streak.  Over a 27 game stretch from July 1936 to May 1937 Carl Hubbell had the most dominant streak a pitcher has ever had.  His Giants went 27-0 in the games he appeared in.  Hubbell picked up 24 wins in that time.  Setting a record for consecutive winning decisions.  The streak included 18 straight wins in 18 appearances.  The is an asterisk beside this streak as Hubbell lost in the 1936 World Series to the Yanks.

Orel Hershiser “ 58 consecutive scoreless innings.  In 1988 Hershiser pitched 9 or more innings in his last 9 starts including a streak of 58 scoreless innings which covered 6 starts.  He broke the record by fellow Dodger Don Drysdale who set the previous record in 1968 “ The Year of the Pitcher.  Hershiser continued his dominance into the playoffs in which he shut down the favoured Oakland A’s.

Greg Maddox “ 17 seasons with 15 wins.  A true streak of longevity, durability and production.  When it is all said and done wins are the most important stat and Maddox could put up impressive numbers.  This streak includes the 2 strike shortened seasons of 1994 and 1995.  Of course Maddox played on superb Braves teams for most of the streak it can be said that he padded the Braves stats as much as the Braves padded his. 

Eric Gagne “ Consecutive Saves.  From 2002-2004 Gagne saved an impressive amount of games.  While he usually pitched only 3 outs he went 70+ innings without giving up a lead. 

Cal Ripken “ Games streak.  In the late 1980’s  the countdown was on.  It was destiny that kept the Iron Man in the game.  œThe Streak is hardly a streak of excellence and I almost did not include it in my list.  Some of Ripken’s seasons were downright poor during his streak, he was inconsistent in most categories except that he played everyday.  Note his very sub-par 1989,1992, 1995,1998 seasons “ hardly excellent.