Hitting streaks are kind of fun now, aren’t they? Yes, perhaps a little silly in ways—I mean, the occurrence of a hitting streak is a bit arbitrary in the fact that it just means that a certain player scattered a few hits around for a while. And yet, there’s a thing about them that is ultimately human. A hitting streak says something important to us that goes straight to the meaning of life, I think. In the randomness of a crappy world, a hitting streak says that a man can stand up over the forces of time and go about his job day-in and day-out. A hitting streak says we can fight the malaise. That we can beat the odds.
Some conversation has been made about Dong-po Thum’s recent run, which was stopped at 32 games by, of all things OOTP, a dumb-assed manger decision to sit the hitter, then pinch-hit him in Omaha. So, yes, 32 games.
After some of that conversation, I went and looked up where Thum’s number stood in relation to BBA history, and it’s pretty good. There have only been nine that were longer.
What folks may not know is that this was Thum’s second 20+ game hitting streak of the year, which is also something I looked at. “How many guys have had two hitting streaks of over 20 games in the same season?” The answer is, well, a few. More than a few, really, but not a lot. Mathematically, this is represented by the number “17,” which is a prime number—not cleanly divisible by any other number, and also the date part of my brother’s birthday. Not that most of that matters. Seventeen hitters have had two 20-game hitting streaks.
For the hell of it, let’s take a look at them:
Here are the “small” ones, meaning both hitting streaks were barely over 20 games. Arbitrarily I split this at 23.
| Date | Year | Player | Hitting Streaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/23/2033 | 2033 | Jared Gillstrom | 23 Games, while playing for Havana |
| 5/15/2033 | 2033 | Jared Gillstrom | 21 Games, while playing for Havana |
| 9/9/2030 | 2030 | William Belcham | 21 Games, while playing for Huntsville |
| 6/17/2030 | 2030 | William Belcham | 23 Games, while playing for Huntsville |
| 8/20/2023 | 2023 | Chad Lawrence | 23 Games, while playing for Indy |
| 6/7/2023 | 2023 | Chad Lawrence | 20 Games, while playing for Indy |
| 6/4/2028 | 2028 | Dan Leonard | 21 Games, while playing for Calgary |
| 4/24/2028 | 2028 | Dan Leonard | 22 Games, while playing for Calgary |
| 7/14/2034 | 2034 | Steve Dempsey | 20 Games, while playing for Madison |
| 5/7/2034 | 2034 | Steve Dempsey | 22 Games, while playing for Madison |
| 8/17/2042 | 2042 | Rafael Gutiérrez | 22 Games, while playing for Louisville |
| 4/12/2042 | 2042 | Rafael Gutiérrez | 20 Games, while playing for Louisville |
| 7/16/2006 | 2006 | Juan Heredia | 21 Games, while playing for Long Beach |
| 5/31/2006 | 2006 | Juan Heredia | 20 Games, while playing for Long Beach |
This is kind of a fun list. Rafael Gutiérrez, a name that has drawn some conversation recently, was the most recent to hit this list. Some of these guys were outside my time in the league, but any list that includes Jared Gillstrom, Dan Leonard, and Steve Dempsey is going to get my attention. I vaguely recall William Belcham.
Bottom line, though, this group is seven players big.
Let’s now move the bar up, saying that at least one of those streaks had to be 26 or more games.
| Date | Year | Player | Hitting Streaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9/29/2014 | 2014 | Trey Williams | 23 Games, while playing for Seattle |
| 7/16/2014 | 2014 | Trey Williams | 27 Games, while playing for Seattle |
| 8/29/2030 | 2030 | Stelio Kontos | 27 Games, while playing for Halifax |
| 5/17/2030 | 2030 | Stelio Kontos | 22 Games, while playing for Halifax |
| 6/5/2037 | 2037 | Xue-qin Man | 27 Games, while playing for Twin Cities |
| 4/28/2037 | 2037 | Xue-qin Man | 20 Games, while playing for Twin Cities |
| 9/23/2042 | 2042 | Francisco Medina | 28 Games, while playing for Calgary |
| 7/25/2042 | 2042 | Francisco Medina | 20 Games, while playing for Calgary |
| 10/1/2027 | 2027 | Héctor Valentín | 23 Games, while playing for Seattle |
| 7/2/2027 | 2027 | Héctor Valentín | 25 Games, while playing for Seattle |
| 8/19/2041 | 2041 | Girolamo L'Archibudelli | 20 Games, while playing for Las Vegas |
| 6/13/2041 | 2041 | Girolamo L'Archibudelli | 26 Games, while playing for Las Vegas |
How many folks would have bet that L'Archibudelli’s entry here was for his work in 2041, not 2042 (which is when he made that run at .400?)? Calgary’s Francisco Medina sits on this list, too, as does Xue-qin Man. Man did it in an era where offense was really just beginning to really take off. It’s not hard to look back and wonder about that Twin Cities team. Scott had them really well perched to take off, but Man and a few others just had the jinx all fall on them at once.
I like seeing Stelio Kontos’s name on this list, too.
Fun list. Six players.
Let’s move the bar up, now.
| Date | Year | Player | Hitting Streaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8/26/2042 | 2042 | Semei Kwakou | 27 Games, while playing for Louisville |
| 4/12/2042 | 2042 | Semei Kwakou | 31 Games, while playing for Louisville |
| 4/20/2044 | 2044 | Dong-po Thum | 22 Games, while playing for Yellow Springs |
| 8/21/2044 | 2044 | Dong-po Thum | 32 Games, while playing for Yellow Springs |
| 9/3/2013 | 2013 | Domingo Fierro | 30 Games, while playing for Buffalo |
| 7/14/2013 | 2013 | Domingo Fierro | 20 Games, while playing for Buffalo |
Here is the list of players who have a 30-game streak to go with a 20-something. Not surprising, one, Kwakou, played in the blitzkrieg age of offense. Fierro’s, too, was in an age when offense was high. I’m interested in some of the old-timer’s views of him.
Thum joins the list in a season where offense is down, however, which just makes me giggle even more about his performance. I list Kwakou above Thum due to his 27-game stint being bigger than Thum’s 22-game run, but you can argue about that.
Regardless, there are three players in this list, which if you’re following along and doing advanced calculus level addition as we go, means I’ve listed sixteen players. If your mental acuity is sharp as the proverbial Ted complaint, you’ll remember I said there were seventeen players. This is because one man has had two 30-game stints.
He is:
| Date | Year | Player | Hitting Streaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9/14/2003 | 2003 | Manuel Aguilar | 36 Games, while playing for Carolina |
| 7/27/2003 | 2003 | Manuel Aguilar | 37 Games, while playing for Carolina |
Of freaking course, right?
So, there we have it. A fun little run-down for the record books.
Fun Addendum: Triple-20 on the Horizon?
As I leave, it seems fun to note that at no time in BBA history has a player every had three hitting streaks of 20-games or more. That said, after breaking his streak with that crappy pinch-hitting appearance, Thum has now hit in two straight games. The club has eighteen games to play in the regular season.
Pulling out that advanced mathematics one more time says he has the chance to be the first ever to pull of this streak.
Historic, eh?
Kind of.
And, yeah, by the way, if he manages that it would mean that if you discount that one pinch-hit 0-1, Thum would have ended the season on a 52-game hitting streak.
Which means maybe nothing or maybe everything. But regardless, is just kind of fun to think about, eh?
