Florida International’s Garrett Wittels extended his Division 1 hit streak to 56 games today, which brings him within two of Robin Ventura. However, FIU’s 15-9 loss in a Coral Gables elimination game means the team’s season is over. Wittels will have to wait till next year to restart the streak.
From The Miami Herald:
Infielder Garrett Wittels doubled in the top of the first inning to extend his history-chasing hitting streak to 56 games.
Wittels, who hit in every game he played this year, will go into the offseason two games shy of the Division I record hitting streak, set by Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura in 1987.
I’ve always been a fan of the hit streak because it’s plainly remarkable that so few players are able sustain one for any dramatic length of time. I often like to examine baseball’s peculiarities with the way someone apathetic toward baseball might think about the game.
Apathetic Friend: You mean they get about four chances a game to get a hit?
Me: Yeah, four. Maybe five.
Apathetic Friend: Five? Are you serious? And all they have to do is just hit the ball far enough away from the other team and touch one of those bags?
Me: Pretty much.
Apathetic Friend: That seems so easy.
On paper, it does seem easy. Really, how the hell do some of these guys hit under .250 when half their job is learning how to become a better batter? It’s quite unsettling when you look at it in Laymen terms.
In the history of professional baseball only one player has recorded a hit streak over 50 games (Joe DiMaggio, 56). Only four have hit streaks in the forties. Obviously, it’s difficult to even connect for a simple single when facing pitchers with the nastiest stuff with a game. It’s not like hitters get to face Kevin Millwood each time they step into the batter’s box. It just doesn’t happen.
So Wittels streak, even at the collegiate level, is commendable. We’ll have to wait and see if all this recent attention propels him into the MLB Draft.
