Joltin' Joe hit in 56 straight; what players who qualified for a batting title hit in the most games in the course of a season?

by Myron Struck
(Springfield, VA)

Myron asked: What baseball players hit in the most games safely during a season? They have to have qualified for the batting title, whatever that was in a given year.

Joltin Joe DiMaggio may have hit in 56 straight, but in that year, how many games did he hit safely in? In that 154 game season, of which he played in X games (maybe a few less), how many games did he have one or more hit? And how does that compare to other greats.

Rick answered: Myron, thank you for your question.

Joe DiMaggio played in 139 games for the Yankees in 1941, the year he had the 56 game hitting streak. His batting average for the season was .357.

In most years, a season and average like that would win you the batting title; but not in 1941.

Ted Williams, in 1941, won the American League batting title hitting .406, in 143 games for the Boston Red Sox. He was the last player to hit .400.

Batting titles and hitting streaks do not necessarily go hand in hand. Batting titles are more a result of consistency, over a complete season.

Hitting safely in the most games can be a factor. Those types of records may be found within individual franchise archives, I was unable to locate them in the two sources I work with:

1. www.baseball-almanac.com

2. www.baseball-reference.com

Yours in baseball,

Rick