Beat the Streak leader at 47 games ... and counting
Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak might never be bested on the field, but what about using your baseball instincts to beat the streak in a different way? That's a different story and, well, we've got a streak watch on our hands.
MLB.com user JoyceG is inching toward Joltin' Joe's record via Beat the Streak, a free fantasy game in which people pick at least one player to record a one hit that day and try to build a streak that will threaten DiMaggio's. Nobody has ever gotten closer than 51, but JoyceG is making a run with a streak that stood at 47 heading into Thursday’s action.
JoyceG's latest successful pick to extend the streak was Aaron Judge, who collected three hits on Tuesday in the Yankees' 7-6 win over the Phillies. Other recent picks to keep the streak alive for JoyceG include the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr., the Phillies’ Trea Turner and the Padres’ Jurickson Profar.
The rules and goal of the game, presented by BetMGM, are just as they seem: Correctly pick an MLB player to get a hit on a particular day and build a virtual hitting streak that reaches 57 and tops DiMaggio's all-time record. The prize for doing that? A numerically appropriate $5.6 million goes to the first eligible fan who tops Joe D.
The rules of baseball apply here, too. If your pick gets at least one official at-bat and takes an 0-for, the streak resets to zero. And like in real baseball, you don't have to play every day. If you don't play, your streak remains intact. But unlike real baseball, BTS has a one-time "Streak Saver" feature that will keep your streak intact when it would otherwise end. However, that only applies to streaks of at least 10 games but no more than 15.
If you're feeling adventurous, you pick two players with the "Double Down" feature, which boosts your streak by two if both players get a hit. But if one of them goes hitless, the streak is over.
Since Beat the Streak's inception in 2001, there have 93 streaks of 40 or more, including two streaks of 51. More than 5 million unique users have played.
JoyceG's streak of 47 is tied for the 11th-highest total in the history of the game. The work is far from done, but for now, they're seeing the virtual ball well.