September 17, 1922: Sisler's 41 Game Hit Streak

On September 17, 1922, with more than 31,000 fans in the stands at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Browns first baseman George Sisler extended his hitting streak to 41 games in a 5-1 win over the New York Yankee. The 41 consecutive games with a hit surpassed Ty Cobb's mark of 40 in a row that he had accomplished 11 years earlier. After he went hitless in his first two at bats Sisler lined a Waite Hoyt pitch up the middle to surpass Cobb and was within three of  Wee Willie Keeler's all time record of 44 games in a row with a hit. After Sisler extended his streak he came around to score on a single by Hank Severeid as the Browns quickly erased a 1-0 deficit by scoring 3 runs in that sixth inning. Sisler's streak began on July 27 when he picked up a hit off of Yankees hurler Joe Bush, ironically Bush would end his streak the day after he surpassed Cobb. The Browns and Yankees were in a heated pennant race and the win pulled the St. Louis squad within a half game of the league lead. The race would go right down to the wire with the Yankees taking the American League Flag with a one game lead over St. Louis. The season by Sisler was one to be remembered, as he led the league with a .420 average on his way to winning the A.L. batting title as well as the league's MVP award, just two years earlier Sisler recorded 257 hits which was a record that stood until Ichiro broke it with 262 hits in 2004. Sisler put together a remarkable career, over 15 years in the big leagues he picked up 2,812 hits, hit 102 home runs, and knocked in 1,175 runs while carrying a .340 average that led to an induction into Cooperstown.

Here is a great highlight video that tells the story of Sisler's career: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDAjqaqQkoI

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLA/SLA192209170.shtml