July 1 – DiMaggio drama

July 1, 1941 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK – New York Yankee outfielder Joe DiMaggio got hits in his 43rd and 44th consecutive games on this date in 1941. This tied him with Wee Willie Keeler who held the 44 consecutive game hit streak since 1897.

To add to the DiMaggio drama, some think he got a little help from the official scorer in his first hit in game one of a doubleheader that day. It was a grounder fielded by Boston Red Sox third baseman Jim Tabor who made a poor throw to first. Official scorer Dan Daniel of the New York World Telegram ruled it a hit. DiMaggio ended up getting a solid hit to center later in the game, which, according to Associated Press sportswriter Gayle Talbot, brought a “tremendous cheer from the crowd.”

Many thought Wee Willie Keeler’s 44-game record would never be broken, and it may not have been if Joe DiMaggio hadn’t come along. “Joltin Joe” set a new record of 56 consecutive games with at least one hit a couple weeks later, and he remains the only player to hit in more than 44 consecutive games.

This note: When Wee Willie Keeler set his record in 1897 foul balls were not counted as strikes.  Contributing source:
Associated Press (AP), Gayle Talbot, July 2, 1941 

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Bill Grimes

I'm from Chicago. I worked in broadcast journalism for much of the 1970's and 80's. In 1990 I became a litigation consultant, retiring in 2017. Around 2005 I recall flipping through the sports section of the newspaper coming across "On this day in baseball history Willie Mays hit his 600th home run." I enjoyed the one-liners, but I wanted more. I wanted a story. I took my news reporting skills and started researching and telling baseball stories, one for every day of the year. TodayinBaseball.com is the result.