TRIVIA WINNER: The winner of this week's trivia contest is Aaron Wolen, of Fishers, IN. He knew that Roger Craig started and finished has career in the month of July. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.
TRIVIA CONTEST: By answering the TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY you are automatically entered into a weekly drawing for a Starbucks Gift Card. YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN. Please put your mailing address in with the answer so if you win we can send you the gift card in the mail.
NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: What was Joe DiMaggio's longest hitting streak in the minor leagues?
Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak remains the cornerstone of records and while the longest streak of the modern era was Pete Rose at 44, the longest hitting streak in the 1960s belongs to two different players. Both Vada Pinson in the 1965-66 seasons and Willie Davis in 1969 were tied at 31 games for the decade. The interesting thing is the fact that it really wasn't a huge deal because in the history of MLB, there were a total of 11 players tied at 31. The list includes Rico Carty in 1970 and four other modern era players.
Since we are focused on the 1960s, we'll delve into Davis and Pinson's marks. Pinson was in his heyday in 1965. It would be one of the four seasons where he garnered 200-plus hits. On September 7, 1965 Pinson doubled off Wilbur Wood in a 5-0 win over Pittsburgh. He hit in every game the rest of the season. When Opening Day rolled around in 1966, he continued the streak until April 19, 1967, ironically also against the Pirates. Steve Blass went the distance and Pinson went 0-4.
During the streak he had 48 hits in 126 ABs for a .381 average. When the streak ended the Reds outfielder went into a slump, getting one hit in his next 17 AB. He would finish the 1965 season at .305 and the 1966 season at .288. He would never bat .300 again in a season.
Willie Davis streak differed from Pinson in that his hits came all in one year; 1969. It might be considered his best season overall finishing .311 with 11 home runs. When it came to his streak it was almost the Pittsburgh Pirates again. On August 31, the last game of the series against Pittsburgh, Davis went 0-6, but the following day he doubled against Steve Carlton. He got a hit in every game for 30 more.
The streak ended when Dick Kelley and Gary Ross of the Padres shut-out Los Angeles on September 4, in a 3-0 game. Davis went 0-4. The next night however, Davis got right back up on the horse and went 4-5 against Joe Niekro in another Dodger loss. All four were singles.
T