A striking accomplishment

Joe Sewell with Cleveland (Charles Conlon photo)

Cleveland third baseman and future Hall of Famer Joe Sewell goes without striking out for the 115th straight game, setting a major league record 96 years ago today on his way to striking out just four times in 672 plate appearances during the 1929 season.

Nowadays, some players have a tough time going 115 straight minutes without striking out twice in as many at-bats.

For his 14-year career, Sewell strikes out only 114 times in 8,333 plate appearances.

No one in the game’s history – and we’re talking about a total of 23,608 to play in major leaguers so far — has come remotely close to matching Sewell’s bat-to-ball skills.

“I was blessed with good eyes,” Sewell says. “I could see the ball jump off the bat.”

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