Unbelievable Hitting Streaks in AL/NL History That Almost Broke Baseball Forever

How impressive is the Yankee Clipper’s hitting streak? It’s been more than 80 years since he put it together and no one has come within 10 games of the mark. The closest has been all-time hits leader Pete Rose’s 44-game streak in 1978.
Did DiMaggio get tired? Was he feeling the pressure as the streak wore on? Apparently not.

DiMaggio hit .408 with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs across the streak. Even after it ended, he started another 16-game hitting streak. When it was all said-and-done, he had hit safely in 72 of a 73-game stretch.

The post Longest Hitting Streaks in AL/NL History appeared first on Opta Analyst.

So reaching base safely via a hit against major league pitching is even tougher. And recording a hit day after day after day is the stuff of legends.

Additional detail sourced from the National Baseball Hall of Fame official website.

“The only time to worry is when you’re not hitting,” he said. “I’m not worried now – I’m happy. It’s no strain to keep on hitting. It’s a strain not to be hitting. That’s when your nerves get jumpy.”

Some believe hitting a baseball is the most difficult thing to do in all of sports.

Will Joe DiMaggio’s mark ever be broken? It doesn’t seem likely, given the history. We break down the longest hitting streaks in the American and National League’s modern era.

The Five Longest Hitting Streaks in MLB History

1. 56 – Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankees (May 15 – July 16, 1941)

But Sisler didn’t just set the single-season hits mark (modern era) with 257 in 1920, he also put together a record 41-game hitting streak on the way to a .420 batting average two years later. He didn’t stop then, adding a 35-game hitting streak between the 1924 and 1925 seasons.

Was he a fierce competitor? Yes. Was he one of the best players of his era For sure. Could he hit? Absolutely. Say what you want about Cobb, but there’s no doubting he was one of the best players of all time.

“Molitor didn’t walk across the lake to get here, and he didn’t change his clothes in the phone booth,” said Cleveland manager Doc Edwards after his team ended the streak at County Stadium in Milwaukee on Aug. 25. “He’s just another tough hitter.”

2. 44 – Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds (June 14 – July 31, 1978)

To further the point, when Bobby Witt Jr. hit safely in 22 consecutive games in 2025, it was the Kansas City Royals’ longest such streak since Whit Merrifield hit in a franchise-record 31 straight from Sept. 10, 2018 to April 10, 2019. Merrifield’s streak is also the only one to make it past 27 games between then and start of the 2025 season.

Cobb won nine consecutive American League batting titles from 1907-15, but he batted a career-high .420 and hit safely in 40 straight games on the way to winning the AL MVP Award in 1911. He also put together a 35-game hitting streak six years later for the Tigers.

3. 41 – George Sisler, St. Louis Cardinals (July 27, 1922 – Sept. 17, 1922)

Here is more on those marks, along with the other longest hitting streaks in the American and National Leagues in the modern era (since 1901). MLB’s official hit streak criteria apply here, so all games with at least one at-bat or sacrifice fly.

Rose may not have come all that close to DiMaggio’s tear 37 years earlier, but he set the modern-day mark for longest hitting streak in the National League. Perhaps what was most remarkable about Rose’s accomplishment was that he was 37 years old and supposedly near the end of his career.

4. 40 – Ty Cobb, Detroit Tigers (May 15 – July 2, 1911)

Will Joe DiMaggio’s legendary 56-game hitting streak ever be toppled? If history’s any guide, it’s about as likely as seeing a unicorn slide into home plate. Hitting a baseball is already an incredible feat—with pitching that can rattle even the steeliest nerves—so stringing together hit after hit, day after day, is pure baseball sorcery. Take Bobby Witt Jr.’s 22-game streak in 2025: impressive, yes, but still a far cry from the magic DiMaggio conjured back in 1941. And then there’s Ted Williams, whose own remarkable run of reaching base in 84 consecutive games outshines many, yet his longest hitting streak was “only” 23 games that year. The truth? Joe’s record remains an untouchable titan, a benchmark that has loosened the grip of time but not its ironclad hold on baseball lore. Come with me as we dig into the longest hitting streaks lighting up the American and National Leagues since 1901—and marvel at just how enduring DiMaggio’s mark truly is.
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Ted Williams holds his own remarkable record, having reached base in 84 consecutive games in 1949 – 10 games longer than DiMaggio’s career high in 1941. But Williams’ longest hitting streak of his career was “only” 23 games in 1941.

5. 39 – Paul Molitor, Milwaukee Brewers (July 16 – Aug. 25, 1987)

Believe it or not, Molitor became the closest American League player to DiMaggio’s record with his 39-game streak 46 years later in 1987.

That’s why Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak – the longest such run of all time – is considered to be one of the most celebrated and unbreakable marks in the game’s history. Coincidentally, Williams posted another number that isn’t likely to be matched any time soon by hitting .406 in that 1941 season.

When the streak reached 30-plus games, Rose began targeting those ahead of him. He wanted to pass Ty Cobb, who had a 40-game streak, and then George Sisler, who hit in 41 straight. He would get to Wee Willie Keeler, who got to 44 straight in 1896 (before the modern era), but that was it.

The Rest of the 10 Longest Hitting Streaks

• 38 – Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies (Aug. 23, 2005 – April 5, 2006)
• 37 – Tommy Holmes, Boston Red Sox (June 6 – July 8, 1945) 
• 35 – Ty Cobb, Detroit Tigers (May 31 – July 5, 1917)
• 35 – George Sisler, St. Louis Cardinals (Sept. 27, 1924 – May 19, 1925)
• 35 – Luis Castillo, Florida Marlins (May 8 – June 21, 2002)
• 35 – Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies (June 23 – Aug. 3, 2006)

Sisler wasn’t all that well known in baseball lore until 2004 when a Seattle Mariners rookie named Ichiro Suzuki shattered his 83-year-old record for the most hits in a single season.
Molitor, considered one of the best right-handed hitters of all time, finished with 3,319 hits through 21 big league seasons with the Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins. He took home four Silver Slugger awards, made seven All-Star teams and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004.