Games 23 & 24: June 8, 1941 This was getting to be serious. A 24-game hitting streak was the longest in the league in a couple of years and since it was a New York Yankee writing the script, 12 Gotham-area newspapers were happy to follow along. In San Francisco, the Call-Bulletin had a front-page […]
Joe DiMaggio’s Streak, Game 25: Streak Nearly Ends Until Joe Comes Up Safe
Game 25: June 10, 1941 On June 9, the Yankees made a brief stop in Kansas City for an exhibition game (yes, Joe got a hit) and continued on to Chicago for what was to be a three-game series. That “off” day, Time magazine hit the newsstands with Benito Mussolini on its cover. Life magazine […]
Joe DiMaggio’s Streak, Game 26: DiMaggio Magic Produces a Come-From-Behind Win
Game 26, June 12, 1941 Rain poured all day on June 11, and Joe DiMaggio’s shot at No. 26 in a row would have to wait a day. Ball players could think of worse things than an idle 24 hours in Chicago. They knew all the great restaurants, movie houses, museums and diversions better left […]
Joe DiMaggio’s Streak, Game 27: Even Feller Couldn’t Hold Joe Down
Game 27: June 14, 1941 New York. Home, sweet home. The Big Apple was alive on Saturday, June 14. Still four out in second place, the Yankees were nestled safely in the Bronx for a three-game series with front-running Cleveland. New Yorkers didn’t know what to talk about first: the pennant race, the fact that […]
Joe DiMaggio’s Streak, Game 28: The DiMaggios Hit the Town
Game 28: June 15, 1941 The elegance and energy of New York was typified by the chic of nightclubs like the Copacabana, 21, the Stork Club and El Morocco. Joe DiMaggio and many of the other Yankees were no strangers to these venues, and the club owners gave them all a king’s treatment once in […]
Joe DiMaggio’s Streak, Game 29: Fans Witness DiMaggio’s Yankee Record-Tying Hit
Game 29: June 16, 1941 Understandably, the Monday, June 16 game with Cleveland drew only 12,552 fans that afternoon. People had to go back to work. Rain also contributed to the small throng. However, those in attendance were on hand for a special treat. The Yankee record for games in which a player had consecutively […]
Joe DiMaggio’s Streak, Game 30: A “Hit” for the Ages Eclipses Yankee Mark
Game 30: June 17, 1941 ABC News was still talking about it seven decades later. Sporting News columnists from time to time write about that “single” on June 17, 1941, at Yankee Stadium. The Walrus, a Canadian publication stirred the pot eight years after Joe DiMaggio died in 1999. And Kostya Kennedy’s book 56: Joe […]
Joe DiMaggio’s Streak, Game 31: It All Averages Out in the End
Game 31: June 18, 1941 Early in the Wednesday afternoon game of June 18, 1941, Joe DiMaggio’s deceiving speed helped him leg out an undisputed infield hit against the White Sox. The Streak now stood at 31 games. While journalists were still murmuring about whether or not Joltin’ Joe’s previous day’s hit off (over?) the […]
Joe DiMaggio’s Streak, Game 32: Watch Out for the Yankees!
Game 32: June 19, 1941 Warning for the rest of the American League during the summer of 1941: Be afraid. Be very afraid. On June 19, Joe DiMaggio started to get hot. Not that his new Yankee record 31-game hit streak wasn’t “hot,” in and of itself. But Joe had clubbed only one hit in […]
Joe DiMaggio’s Streak, Game 33: Yankees Flog Detroit on DiMaggio’s Four Hits
Game 33: June 20, 1941 On June 20, 1941, the U.S. Air Corps was folded into the Army Air Forces (as infantry or artillery divisions were). It was another presidential step in the preparation for our nation’s entry into World War II. “The Germans are getting their asses kicked in Russia,” Vic Ruppone told childhood […]