All Howard all the time
Posted by trent_mccotter on July 22, 2007
Ryan Howard, PHI NL, had another great game today (Sunday 7/22), which gives him the following active streaks going into Monday:
29 consecutive games reaching base safely
5 consecutive games reaching base 3 or more times
2 consecutive games reaching base 4 or more times
9 consecutive plate appearances reaching base safely (not counting a sac. fly he had on Sunday)
Let's see how those compare to the best marks by Phillies in the last 51 seasons:
Howard: 29 consecutive games reaching base safely. Last 51 years: 56 games in a row, by Mike Schmidt 1981-1982: http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/xM38 . Ed Delahanty (1896) also reached in 56 straight games for the Phils. I guess Howard still has a ways to go there just to match the franchise record, let alone approach the MLB record of 84 games in a row reaching base (Ted Williams, 1949). Howard has also set a new career-high already with his 29 game on-base streak: http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/ZAyr .
Howard: 5 consecutive games reaching base 3+ times. Last 51 years: 8 games by Chase Utley over 2005/2006: http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/nR8Q . The franchise record is 10 games in a row, by Billy Hamilton in 1894. Not only is Hamilton's streak the Phils' record, but it's also tied for the MLB record (Ty Cobb, 1925, also had 10 straight).
Howard: 2 consecutive games reaching base 4+ times. Last 51 years: 3 games in a row, by Chase Utley (again), this time in Sept 2006: http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/d7zZ . The franchise record is 4 games in a row, by Billy Hamilton (in 1893 and twice again in 1894) and Joe Sullivan in 1894. The MLB record is 5 games, accomplished most recently by Joe Mauer, MIN AL, in 2006.
Howard: 9 consecutive times reaching base safely. Club record: 14 straight times on base safely, by Billy Hamilton in 1893. The MLB record for these fascinating streaks is 17, by Frank Ward in 1893. Ted Williams holds the modern record of 16 straight times on base safely in 1957. You can't do this kind of search using PI yet, but it's still a pretty amazing streak!
Despite an amazing stretch of games, Howard still has a way to go to match even his own team's records for on-base streaks, let alone the all-time Major League Records . If you're interested in streaks like these, check out my new blog at http://www.hitting-streaks.com.