Putting Mookie Betts' No-Strikeout Streak in Perspective
Note: This post first appeared on the sonsofsamhorn.com web site on April 18, 2017 and is re-posted here with permission. As of the end of Boston’s victory over Tampa Bay on Patriots’ Day, Mookie Betts had not struck out in 123 consecutive plate appearances, dating back to last season. According to a graphic posted during today’s NESN broadcast, the next closest active streak is fewer than 50. As remarkable as Mookie’s streak has been – as a point of comparison, last season Red Sox batters struck out on average once every 5.53 plate appearances – he has a long way to go to approach the major-league record for consecutive plate appearances without a strikeout. That mark belongs to Joe Sewell , a player renowned for his ability to put the ball in play. In a career that lasted 14 seasons from 1920 through 1933 (11 with the Indians and the last three with the Yankees), Sewell went to the plate 8,333 times and suffered only 114 strikeouts – averaging more than 73 plate appearances