Hitting streaks are covered in Rule 10.24 of the Major League Baseball Official Rule Book which states the following guidelines for cumulative performance records (specifically those dealing with batting streaks):
A consecutive hitting streak shall not be terminated if the plate appearance results in a base on balls, hit batsman, defensive interference or a sacrifice bunt. A sacrifice fly shall terminate the streak.
Consecutive Game Hitting Streaks: A consecutive game hitting streak shall not be terminated if all the player's plate appearances (one or more) result in a base on balls, hit batsman, defensive interference or a sacrifice bunt. The streak shall terminate if the player has a sacrifice fly and no hit. The player's individual consecutive game hitting streak shall be determined by the consecutive games in which the player appears and is not determined by his club's games.
Baseball Almanac has researched a list of EVERY Major League Baseball player who has had at least one hit in a minimum of thirty games. Ties are broken down in chronological order, to honor those who came before them.
"Presented to Joe DiMaggio by his fellow players on the New York Yankees to express their admiration for his consecutive-game hitting record, 1941." - Actual Inscription on a Cigar Humidor Presented to Joe DiMaggio on August 29, 1941 (Source: Sotheby's Auction Catalog, 2003)
Hitting Streaks of 30+ Games in Major League BaseballBaseball Players With A Hit in 30-or-more Consecutive Games | Streak Records |
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Rank | Year(s) | Name | Team | LG | Streak |
1. | 1941 | Joe DiMaggio (ALRecord) | New York | AL | 56 Games |
2. | 1896-1897 | Willie Keeler (NL Record) | Baltimore | NL | 45 Games |
3. | 1978 | Pete Rose | Cincinnati | NL | 44 Games |
4. | 1894 | Bill Dahlen | Chicago | NL | 42 Games |
5. | 1922 | George Sisler | St. Louis | AL | 41 Games |
6. | 1911 | Ty Cobb | Detroit | AL | 40 Games |
7. | 1987 | Paul Molitor | Milwaukee | AL | 39 Games |
8. | 2005-2006 | Jimmy Rollins | Philadelphia | NL | 38 Games |
9. | 1945 | Tommy Holmes | Boston | NL | 37 Games |
10. | 1896-1897 | Gene DeMontreville | Washington | NL | 36 Games |
11. | 1895 | Fred Clarke | Louisville | NL | 35 Games |
1917 | Ty Cobb | Detroit | AL | 35 Games | |
1924-1925 | George Sisler | St. Louis | AL | 35 Games | |
2002 | Luis Castillo | Florida | NL | 35 Games | |
2006 | Chase Utley | Philadelphia | NL | 35 Games | |
16. | 1938 | George McQuinn | St. Louis | AL | 34 Games |
1949 | Dom DiMaggio | Boston | AL | 34 Games | |
1987 | Benito Santiago | San Diego | NL | 34 Games | |
19. | 1893 | George Davis | New York | NL | 33 Games |
1907 | Hal Chase | New York | AL | 33 Games | |
1922 | Rogers Hornsby | St. Louis | NL | 33 Games | |
1933 | Heinie Manush | Washington | AL | 33 Games | |
2011 | Dan Uggla | Atlanta | NL | 33 Games | |
23. | 1922-1923 | Harry Heilmann | Detroit | AL | 32 Games |
1996-1997 | Hal Morris | Cincinnati | NL | 32 Games | |
25. | 1885-1886 | Jimmy Wolf | Louisville | AA | 31 Games |
1899 | Ed Delahanty | Philadelphia | NL | 31 Games | |
1906 | Nap Lajoie | Cleveland | AL | 31 Games | |
1924 | Sam Rice | Washington | AL | 31 Games | |
1965-1966 | Vada Pinson | Cincinnati | NL | 31 Games | |
1969 | Willie Davis | Los Angeles | NL | 31 Games | |
1970 | Rico Carty | Atlanta | NL | 31 Games | |
1975-1976 | Ron LeFlore | Detroit | AL | 31 Games | |
1980 | Ken Landreaux | Minnesota | AL | 31 Games | |
1999 | Vladimir Guerrero | Montreal | NL | 31 Games | |
2018-2019 | Whit Merrifield | Kansas City | AL | 31 Games | |
36. | 1876 | Cal McVey | Chicago | NL | 30 Games |
1895-1896 | Dusty Miller | Cincinnati | NL | 30 Games | |
1898 | Elmer Smith | Cincinnati | NL | 30 Games | |
1912 | Tris Speaker | Boston | AL | 30 Games | |
1922-1923 | Charlie Grimm | Pittsburgh | NL | 30 Games | |
1927-1928 | Lance Richbourg | Boston | NL | 30 Games | |
1929-1930 | Sam Rice | Washington | AL | 30 Games | |
1934 | Goose Goslin | Detroit | AL | 30 Games | |
1950 | Stan Musial | St. Louis | NL | 30 Games | |
1980 | George Brett | Kansas City | AL | 30 Games | |
1989 | Jerome Walton | Chicago | NL | 30 Games | |
1997 | Sandy Alomar, Jr. | Cleveland | AL | 30 Games | |
1997 | Nomar Garciaparra | Boston | AL | 30 Games | |
1998 | Eric Davis | Baltimore | AL | 30 Games | |
1999 | Luis Gonzalez | Arizona | NL | 30 Games | |
2003 | Albert Pujols | St. Louis | NL | 30 Games | |
2006 | Willy Taveras | Houston | NL | 30 Games | |
2007 | Moises Alou | New York | NL | 30 Games | |
2009 | Ryan Zimmerman | Washington | NL | 30 Games | |
2011 | Andre Ethier | Los Angeles | NL | 30 Games | |
2016 | Freddie Freeman | Atlanta | NL | 30 Games | |
Rank | Year(s) | Name | Team | LG | Streak |
30-Game Hitting Streaks | Research by Baseball Almanac |
Did you know that during the first season (1988) of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in an episode titled The Big Goodbye, Joe DiMaggio's streak (56 Games) was broken by a shortstop named Buck Bokai of the London Kings in the year 2026?
Discuss these historical hitting streaks, current hitting streaks, rookie hitting streaks, and other impressive streaks on Baseball Fever today. Worth discussing is this October 2, 2005, press release statement from Major League Baseball in respect to Jimmy Rollins thirty-six game hitting streak (#8) and the removal of Billy Hamilton's thirty-six-game hitting streak in 1894:
Rollins Hit Streak Reaches 36
The streak will remain active for next season, and Rollins will need a hit in 21 more games to pass Joe DiMaggio's 65-year-old record. The record-setting game would come next April, pending no rainouts and no games sat out.
If Rollins does it, he would be recognized as the all-time leader, but not as the single-season leader, unless he kept it going.
Source: MLB.com (Ken Mandel, 10/02/2005).
Phillies hitting streaks history
Outfielder Billy Hamilton's 36-game hitting streak (1894): the Phillies learned this morning from Elias Sports Bureau that this record was eliminated a few years ago when researchers uncovered an 0-for-3 for Hamilton in a game that was protested. Somehow this game was omitted when compiling the hitting streak.
Ed Delahanty's 31-game hitting streak in 1899 is the longest in Phillies history, July 15 through August 18, 2nd game; 53 for 128, a .411 average.
Chuck Klein is next with two 26-game hitting streaks in 1930: May 18, 2nd game through June 17; 53 for 109, a .486 average. July 12, 1st game through August 3, 1st game; 49 for 113, a .434 average.
Klein also had a 14-game hitting streak stopped on July 11, just before starting his second 26-game streak. Over 73 games between May 18, 2nd game, and August 3, 1st game, he hit safely in 70 games. He was hitless June 20, June 26, 1st game, and July 11.
**As a point of reference, walks were included in official stats when it came to compiling hitting streaks in 1887. This was the only year in which walks were included.
Source: MLB.com (09/21/2005).
When Joe DiMaggio played for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League he had a sixty-one game hitting streak with a total of one-hundred four hits — five games longer than his Major League record (#1)!