Tag: Pete Rose

Sep 11: Move over Cobb

SEPTEMBER 11, 1985 | CINCINNATI, OHIO • Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds became the all-time hits leader on this date in baseball history (1985). Charley Hustle, as he was known, got hit number 4,192 in the first inning to break Ty Cobb‘s record. Rose was 44 years old and in his 23rd major league season when he set the new record.

Rose, long admired for his fierce competitiveness, has since become persona non grata around baseball. He was banned from the game by Commissioner Bart Giamatti for gambling on baseball while he was a manager. Evidence surfaced that he even bet on his own team. His banishment has also made him ineligible for the Hall of Fame.

But you can’t argue with Rose’s lifetime numbers:

Hits: 4,256
Batting average: .303
Runs scored: 2,165
All-Star games: 17
MVP: 1973

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
September 11, 1985 box score
Pete Rose stats 

July 2 in baseball history – DiMaggio breaks unbreakable

JULY 2, 1941 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Joe DiMaggio hit a 3-run homer on this date in 1941 to break the record for the most consecutive games with at least one hit. ‘Joltin Joe’s’ streak reached 45 games, breaking the 44-game hit streak of Wee Willie Keeler set in 1897.n at least hitting in the most consecutive games within a season.

DiMaggio’s streak captivated the nation once it reached 30 games. It was an exciting and positive distraction to the daily headlines of the Nazi’s overrunning Europe that summer. DiMaggio would eventually hit in what many believed was an insurmountable 56 straight games. No one since has even surpassed Keeler’s mark of 44 games, though Pete Rose tied it in 1978, let alone come close to challenging DiMaggio’s.

DiMaggio’s streak wasn’t without controversy. The official scorer for more than twenty of those games was New York World Telegram sportswriter Dan Daniels, who some believe gave DiMaggio favorable rulings on balls that may have been errors when a streak wasn’t on the line.

Consecutive game hit leaders:
Joe DiMaggio 56
Wee Willie Keeler 44
Pete Rose 44
Bill Dahlen 42
George Sisler 41
Ty Cobb 40
Paul Molitor 39
Jimmy Rollins 38
Tommy Holmes 37
Fred Clarke 35
Ty Cobb 35
Luis Castillo 35
Chase Utley 35

• Joe’s brother Dom DiMaggio had a 34 game hitting streak of his own for the Boston Red Sox in 1949.

Contributing sources:
Fun facts about Joe DiMaggio’s hit streak