Mookie Betts is closing in on a Red Sox team record. Or at least he should be. The record would be for consecutive multi hit games, and Mookie should now have 7 of these in a row, two shy of the team record of 9. However on June 17 in Atlanta, Mookie was called out on a bunt hit in the second inning that replays clearly show was an unmistakably bad call. The Red Sox had blown their challenge in the first inning, however, so the call stood, despite manager John Farrell’s pleadings to the umpire to review the call. The play went as a sacrifice, so it didn’t cost him an at bat; Betts would finish the game with one official hit. Officially, his multihit streak now stands at 4 instead of 7 because of this. Here are his official stats over these 7 games:
|
Name |
Dates |
Year |
Games |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
SO |
BB |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
|
6/15-6/21 |
2015 |
7 |
31 |
8 |
18 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
0.581 |
0.594 |
1.000 |
1.594 |
Where would he be on the Red Sox all time list had this call been corrected? The chart below shows all Red Sox multiple-hit game streaks of 7 or more since 1914, courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com. Betts’ numbers as they would have been are added in here. (Though there are likely a few more from before 1914 that should be added to this list, we know none of those missing streaks exceed 9 games, thanks to this SABR article.)
|
Name |
Dates |
Year |
Games |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
SO |
BB |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
|
5/20-5/29 |
2007 |
9 |
40 |
11 |
19 |
8 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
6 |
2 |
0.475 |
0.500 |
0.900 |
1.400 |
|
|
5/1-5/9 |
1978 |
9 |
35 |
11 |
20 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
17 |
3 |
2 |
0.571 |
0.590 |
1.200 |
1.790 |
|
|
6/17-6/23 |
1934 |
9 |
39 |
11 |
22 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
0 |
2 |
0.564 |
0.585 |
0.744 |
1.329 |
|
|
4/28-5/6 |
1940 |
8 |
34 |
12 |
18 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
1 |
3 |
0.529 |
0.568 |
0.882 |
1.450 |
|
|
6/19-6/25 |
1933 |
8 |
36 |
11 |
18 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
0.500 |
0.526 |
0.722 |
1.249 |
|
|
8/3-8/19 |
1914 |
8 |
26 |
4 |
17 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
0.654 |
0.679 |
0.769 |
1.448 |
|
|
6/15-6/21 |
2015 |
7 |
32 |
8 |
19 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
0.594 |
0.606 |
1.000 |
1.606 |
|
|
7/24-7/31 |
2011 |
7 |
32 |
7 |
17 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
3 |
2 |
0.531 |
0.556 |
0.688 |
1.243 |
|
|
7/3-7/10 |
2004 |
7 |
38 |
12 |
22 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
0.579 |
0.579 |
0.842 |
1.421 |
|
|
5/15-5/22 |
1996 |
7 |
33 |
8 |
15 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
11 |
7 |
3 |
0.455 |
0.500 |
0.939 |
1.439 |
|
|
5/22-5/29 |
1993 |
7 |
29 |
7 |
16 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
0.552 |
0.548 |
0.862 |
1.410 |
|
|
9/7-9/14 |
1987 |
7 |
28 |
5 |
16 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0.571 |
0.567 |
0.750 |
1.317 |
|
|
8/10-8/17 |
1979 |
7 |
26 |
11 |
15 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
13 |
0 |
3 |
0.577 |
0.621 |
1.346 |
1.967 |
|
|
6/22-6/27 |
1965 |
7 |
29 |
6 |
16 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
0.552 |
0.606 |
0.966 |
1.572 |
|
|
9/6-9/12 |
1954 |
7 |
33 |
5 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0.424 |
0.441 |
0.424 |
0.865 |
|
|
6/21-6/27 |
1951 |
7 |
28 |
11 |
16 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
5 |
0.571 |
0.636 |
0.821 |
1.458 |
|
|
5/2-5/7 |
1950 |
7 |
30 |
8 |
14 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
0.467 |
0.500 |
0.733 |
1.233 |
|
|
9/5-9/12 |
1942 |
7 |
35 |
10 |
18 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
0.514 |
0.541 |
0.714 |
1.255 |
|
|
8/26-8/31 |
1939 |
7 |
32 |
6 |
16 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0.500 |
0.515 |
0.531 |
1.046 |
|
|
6/16-6/24 |
1939 |
7 |
33 |
10 |
15 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0.455 |
0.471 |
0.576 |
1.046 |
|
|
9/2-9/6 |
1938 |
7 |
27 |
8 |
17 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
2 |
6 |
0.630 |
0.697 |
0.852 |
1.549 |
|
|
9/14-9/18 |
1931 |
7 |
29 |
6 |
15 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
0.517 |
0.533 |
0.828 |
1.361 |
|
|
6/27-7/1 |
1928 |
7 |
30 |
7 |
17 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
0.567 |
0.594 |
0.867 |
1.460 |
|
|
7/4-7/10 |
1922 |
7 |
32 |
2 |
14 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0.438 |
0.438 |
0.625 |
1.063 |
|
|
8/8-8/16 |
1916 |
7 |
29 |
4 |
16 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
0.552 |
0.618 |
0.655 |
1.273 |
Tied for 7th, and possibly still counting.
Especially interesting are his overall offensive totals during this run. Only Jim Rice in 1978 (his best offensive year) and Fred Lynn in 1979 have higher OPS’s. And this brings a note of consolation. The best streaks on this list, going by OPS, came from players in the primes of their careers. Mookie, on the other hand, is just starting his career. In other words, he’s likely to get a few more shots at topping this list in the years to come.
His official streak of 4 is still going, and based on the above, Mookie Betts is about as hot a hitter right now as any Red Sox player has ever been. I’ll be watching tonight.
The Baseballsphere Blog 