- Major League Baseball consecutive games played streaks
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Listed below are the 15 longest consecutive games played streaks in Major League Baseball history.[1] To compile such a streak, a player must appear in every game played by his team. The streak is broken if the team completes a game in which the player neither takes a turn at bat nor plays a half-inning in the field.
The record of playing in 2,632 consecutive games over more than 16 years is held by Cal Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles. Ripken surpassed Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees, whose legendary record of 2,130 consecutive games had stood for 56 years. Before Gehrig, the record was held by Everett Scott, a shortstop with the Red Sox and Yankees whose streak ended in 1925, less than a month before Gehrig's began.
The record for a National League player is held by Steve Garvey of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres (1975-1983), though Garvey's 1,207-game streak is less than half the length of Ripken's. Previous holders of the National League record include Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs (1963-1970), Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals (1952-1957), and Gus Suhr of the Pittsburgh Pirates (1931-1937).
A notable recent streak was compiled by Miguel Tejada of the Oakland A's and Baltimore Orioles, who played in 1,152 consecutive games from 2000 to 2007. As of the end of the 2010 season, the current players with the longest active Major League consecutive games streaks were Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers with 204 and Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners with 192.[2]
Of the 15 people on this list, eight (Ripken, Gehrig, Williams, Sewell, Musial, Fox, Ashburn, and Banks) are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Contents
List
Rank Name Streak First game Last game 1 Cal Ripken, Jr. 2632 May 30, 1982 September 19, 1998 2 Lou Gehrig 2130 June 1, 1925 April 30, 1939 3 Everett Scott 1307 June 20, 1916 May 5, 1925 4 Steve Garvey 1207 September 3, 1975 July 29, 1983 5 Miguel Tejada 1152 June 2, 2000 June 21, 2007 6 Billy Williams 1117 September 22, 1963 September 2, 1970 7 Joe Sewell 1103 September 13, 1922 April 30, 1930 8 Stan Musial 895 April 15, 1952 August 22, 1957 9 Eddie Yost 829 August 30, 1949 May 11, 1955 10 Gus Suhr 822 September 11, 1931 June 4, 1937 11 Nellie Fox 798 August 7, 1955 September 3, 1960 12 Pete Rose 745 September 1, 1978 August 23, 1983 13 Dale Murphy 740 September 26, 1981 July 8, 1986 14 Richie Ashburn 730 June 7, 1950 September 26, 1954 15 Ernie Banks 717 August 26, 1956 June 22, 1961 Official definition
MLB's rule 10.23(c), defining consecutive game streaks, is as follows: "A consecutive game playing streak shall be extended if the player plays one half inning on defense, or if he completes a time at bat by reaching base or being put out. A pinch running appearance only shall not extend the streak. If a player is ejected from a game by an umpire before he can comply with the requirements of this rule, his streak shall continue."[3]
Thus it is possible for a pinch-runner to come into a game, steal a base, get caught stealing, and even score a run, without being credited with a (consecutive) game played. Similarly, a fielder can field a ball in play, make a putout or an assist, and even commit an error, without being credited with a (consecutive) game played. For example, Hideki Matsui's consecutive games streak was ended when he broke his wrist diving for a ball with two outs in the first inning of the Yankee game of May 11, 2006. That game would have been #519 in his MLB streak and #1,769 in his MLB/Japan game streak (see below), but since Matsui did not play a full half inning on defense, that game is not counted in his streak. MLB and the Society for American Baseball Research[4] both credit Matsui with having played 518 consecutive MLB games.
Streak starts, continuations, and ends
Lou Gehrig's streak started as a pinch-hitter. The next day he started at first base in place of slumping Wally Pipp (contrary to legend, Pipp did not have a headache[5]), and stayed there for fourteen years. On July 14, 1934, Gehrig, suffering from an attack of lumbago, was listed in the Yankee lineup at shortstop. He batted in the top of the first inning to preserve the streak, singled, and was promptly removed from the game.[6][7] Gehrig's streak was ended by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the disease that would take his life. His physical abilities rapidly declining, Gehrig told manager Joe McCarthy to take him out of the lineup on May 2, 1939. He never played again, dying in 1941.
Garvey's streak was ended when he dislocated his thumb in a home plate collision against the Atlanta Braves.[8]
Ripken says that the closest he ever came to not playing during his streak was the day after he twisted his knee during a bench-clearing brawl against the Seattle Mariners in June 1993.[9] When the 1994-95 baseball player's strike threatened to destroy Ripken's streak as baseball owners planned to use replacement players, Baltimore owner Peter Angelos announced that the Orioles would rather not field a team than see Ripken's streak snapped.[10] The replacement player scenario never came to pass, as the remainder of the 1994 season- including the World Series- was cancelled due to the strike. Ripken broke Gehrig's record on September 6, 1995.[11] Ripken himself made the decision not to play on September 20, 1998, the Orioles' last home game of the season. Rookie Ryan Minor played third base for Ripken in a 5-4 loss to the Yankees.[12]
Miguel Tejada's streak ended after Doug Brocail hit Tejada on the wrist with a pitch on June 20, 2007. During the game on June 21, Tejada took an at-bat in the top half of the first inning, bunting into a fielder's choice. He was removed from the game for a pinch runner, officially keeping the streak alive. But Tejada was then diagnosed with a broken wrist and went to the disabled list, ending his streak at 1,152 games.[13][14]
Consecutive innings
From June 5, 1982 to September 14, 1987, Ripken played 8,243 consecutive innings, which is believed to be a record, although not one that is officially kept by MLB.[15]
Combined Japanese/U.S. streak
Hideki Matsui assembled a consecutive games streak of 1,768 games combined between the Japanese league Yomiuri Giants and the Major league New York Yankees, placing him behind only Ripken and Gehrig for streaks in top-flight professional baseball. The MLB portion of Matsui's streak extended for 518 games and represent a record for consecutive games to start a player's big-league career. The entire combined streak stretched from August 22, 1993 to May 10, 2006 and was ended by a wrist injury in what would have been his 519th consecutive game (see above). The major league portion of the streak extended from March 31, 2003 (opening day) until May 10, 2006.[16]
References
- ^ Consecutive Games Played : The Top 15 by Baseball Almanac
- ^ http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100811&content_id=13338676¬ebook_id=13340120&vkey=notebook_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil
- ^ The Official Site of Major League Baseball: Official info: Official Rules
- ^ http://www.sabr.org/cmsFiles/Files/DEC2006.pdf
- ^ Urban Legends Reference Pages: Wally Pipp and Lou Gehrig
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/story?page=phonyrecords-030225
- ^ The Official Site of Major League Baseball: News: Gehrig's amazing streak
- ^ Steve Garvey - Earned Mr. Clean image for play on field
- ^ The Streak survives criticism, M's brawl - baltimoresun.com
- ^ Only strike stops roll, threatens The Streak - baltimoresun.com
- ^ Memories play on, 10 years later - baltimoresun.com
- ^ Calling his own number, Ripken ends the streak - baltimoresun.com
- ^ The Official Site of Major League Baseball: News: Streak over: Tejada placed on DL
- ^ The Official Site of The Baltimore Orioles: News: Tejada closes door on streak
- ^ SPORTS PEOPLE; Father Knows Best - New York Times
- ^ ESPN - Broken wrist likely sidelines Matsui for three months - MLB
External links
Major League Baseball records Baseball statistics (types of records)General Record holders • Single-game records • Single-season records • Career records • Record breakers by season • Records considered unbreakable
Batting leaders CareerBatting average (.330+) • On-base% (.400+) • Slugging% (.500+) • On-base plus slugging (.900+) • OPS/OPS+ • 3,000 hit club • Hits (2,000+) • Doubles (400+) • Triples (100+) • Home runs (career) • Home runs (top 300) • 500 home run club • RBIs (1,000+) • Total bases (4,000+) • Walks drawn (top 100) • Strikeouts (Top 16 / 1,400+) • Hit records • Home run records • Doubles records • Triples records • RBI records • Consecutive games played • 2,500 games played • 10,000 at-bats
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Baserunning leaders CareerRuns (1,000+) • Stolen bases • Stolen base records • Runs records
Single seasonPitching leaders CareerWins • 300 win club • Games started • Games finished • Innings pitched • Strikeouts (top 100) • 3,000 strikeout club • 300 save club • Shutouts • ERA (top 200) • WHIP (top 100) • Walks allowed (top 100) • Hit batsmen (top 100) • Wins records
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Managing records Single-game records Four home runs • Hitting for the cycle • No-hitter • Perfect game • Strikeouts • Unassisted triple play • Three strikeouts on nine pitches
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Categories:- Major League Baseball lists
- Major League Baseball records
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