Each team's longest hitting streak

Joe DiMaggio made baseball history and added to his legend when he put together a record 56-game hitting streak for the Yankees in 1941. It remains one of the most famous numbers in sports, and nobody has seriously challenged the Yankee Clipper’s mark since then.

Still, each of the 30 teams has its own record -- some of them much more inviting targets for current players. Here is a look at each club’s longest hitting streak.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

Blue Jays -- Shawn Green, 28 games (1999): This streak came in the midst of a breakout season for Green, who led the AL in doubles (45) and total bases (361) while hitting 42 homers and stealing 20 bases. But a month after the season ended, Toronto traded him to the Dodgers.

Orioles -- Eric Davis, 30 games (1998): Davis already was 36 years old in 1998, and health issues had chipped away at his career, but he still was capable of greatness. From July 12-Aug. 15, Davis batted .400 with 10 homers and a .708 slugging percentage, ultimately finishing the year with a .970 OPS. (Franchise record: George Sisler, 41 games, 1922 St. Louis Browns).

Rays -- Jason Bartlett, 19 games (2009): Tampa Bay has only been around since the most recent expansion in 1998 but is the only franchise without a 20-game streak. Bartlett got close in a career year in 2009 in which he batted .320/.389/.490 while playing strong defense at shortstop.

Red Sox -- Dom DiMaggio, 34 games (1949): DiMaggio set the franchise mark in 1949, surpassing Tris Speaker’s 30-game streak from 1912. This streak came close to being challenged back in 2016, when Jackie Bradley Jr. had a run that ended at 29 games.

Yankees -- Joe DiMaggio, 56 games (1941): You might have heard of this one. It’s the longest in MLB history by 11 games, and no player since 1980 has even cracked the 40-game mark.

AL CENTRAL

Guardians -- Nap Lajoie, 31 games (1906): Lajoie, one of the sport’s early stars, played in Cleveland from 1902-14 and also managed the club from ‘05-’09. (The franchise was known as the Naps, in his honor, until ‘15.) Catcher Sandy Alomar put together Cleveland’s longest streak since, a 30-game run in 1997.

Royals -- Whit Merrifield, 31 games (2018-19): Merrifield hit in the final 20 games of the 2018 season and then the first 11 of '19 to pass a franchise legend. George Brett made a serious run at .400 in 1980, when he hit in 30 straight and ultimately finished at .390. It looked like Merrifield might stay tied with Brett, but he got to 31 by dropping down a game-tying squeeze bunt single. The streak ended the next day, as he took an 0-for-6.

Tigers -- Ty Cobb, 40 games (1911): Cobb batted .476 during the streak, which is the sixth-longest in history, and a career-high .419 for the 1911 season. Detroit’s longest streak since was also by Cobb -- a 35-gamer in ‘17.

Twins -- Ken Landreaux, 31 games (1980): Landreaux earned his lone All-Star selection in 1980 but was traded to the Dodgers the following spring. Since then, his closest challenger has been Brian Harper, who went 25 straight in 1990. (Franchise record: Heinie Manush, 33 games, 1933 Washington Senators).

White Sox -- Carlos Lee, 28 games (2004): Lee hit .305 in 2004, at the time a career-best, and knocked off 28 straight games with a hit in May and June. The record had previously been set at 27 by Luke Appling in 1936 and tied by Albert Belle in 1997.

AL WEST

Angels -- Garret Anderson, 28 games (1998): Rod Carew’s franchise mark of 25 straight games with a hit from 1982 had stood for a while, but Anderson notched a hit in 28 straight games in 1998 to surpass that. Anderson also had a 23-game streak in 2008 for the Angels -- he owns two of the four longest hitting streaks in franchise history.

Astros -- Willy Taveras, Astros, 30 games (2006): Taveras had finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2005 and followed that up with another solid season in 2006. He notched a hit in each game in a month-long span from July 27 through August 27, breaking Jeff Kent’s franchise record of 25 by five games.

Athletics -- Jason Giambi, 25 games (1997): This was only Giambi’s second full big league season, and he batted .293 overall. Teammate Miguel Tejada got within one game of Giambi five years later before falling short. (Franchise record: Bill Lamar, 29 games, 1925 Philadelphia Athletics).

Mariners -- Ichiro Suzuki, 27 games (2009): It’s fitting that the team’s all-time hits leader holds the longest hitting streak in Mariners franchise history. In total, Ichiro had seven hitting streaks of 20 or more games for the Mariners.

Rangers -- Gabe Kapler, 28 games (2000): Before his days as a big league manager, Kapler was just starting his playing career when the Tigers traded him to Texas after the 1999 season, as part of a deal for two-time AL MVP Juan Gonzalez. Kapler hit a career-high .302 that next year and became the only Rangers player to break the 25-game barrier.

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST

Braves -- Dan Uggla, 33 games (2011): A pure slugger, Uggla racked up 154 homers in his first five seasons before joining Atlanta in 2011. So it was more than a little surprising that the stocky second baseman -- who would finish that campaign with a .233 average -- hit safely in 33 in a row in his first year with Atlanta. (Franchise record: Tommy Holmes, 37 games, 1945 Boston Braves).

Marlins -- Luis Castillo, 35 games (2002): This was Castillo’s first of three All-Star seasons, all with the Marlins. He hit .305 that year and stole 48 bases, leading the Majors in steals. A native of the Dominican Republic, Castillo’s 35-game streak remains the record for a player born outside the U.S.

Mets -- Moises Alou, 30 games (2007): In his age-40 season and the second-to-last year of his career, Alou hit .341 for the Mets in just 87 games. He got a hit in 30 straight games in August and September, breaking the record of 26 straight games that David Wright had set in 2006. Before 2006, the franchise record had belonged to Mike Piazza and Hubie Brooks, at 24 games each.

Nationals -- Ryan Zimmerman, 30 games (2009): In addition to being the franchise leader in hits, home runs and RBIs, Zimmerman owns the longest hitting streak by a Nationals player, thanks to his 30-game burst in 2009. (Franchise record: Vladimir Guerrero, 31 games, 1999 Montreal Expos).

Phillies -- Jimmy Rollins, 38 games (2005-06): Rollins wrapped up 2005 having hit in 36 consecutive contests. Then came a long wait over the winter before the speedy shortstop resumed his run at the outset of ‘06. Alas, it lasted only two games into the new season. That June, Rollins’ double-play partner, Chase Utley, embarked on a 35-game streak of his own.

NL CENTRAL

Brewers -- Paul Molitor, 39 games (1987): Putting together the AL’s longest hitting streak since DiMaggio’s record-setter -- remember, the Brewers were in the Junior Circuit in 1987 -- is a great way to bat .353/.438/.566 overall, good for the best marks of Molitor’s Hall of Fame career.

Cardinals -- Rogers Hornsby, 33 games (1922): The Hall of Fame second baseman already was one of baseball’s top players when he hit in 33 consecutive games in 1922 at age 26, but the run helped him bat .401 for the year -- and become the first NL player to reach 250 hits in a season.

Cubs -- Bill Dahlen, 42 games (1894): Dahlen has the fourth-longest streak on record, though the franchise was known as the Colts at the time. Jerome Walton holds the modern record of 30, set during his NL Rookie of the Year campaign in 1989.

Pirates -- Charlie Grimm, 30 games (1922-23): Split across two seasons, Grimm’s team-record run propelled him to a torrid start to the 1923 campaign in which he slashed .416/.469/.775 in the first 25 contests on his way to career bests in average (.345) and slugging (.480).

Reds -- Pete Rose, 44 games (1978): Rose embraced the challenge of going after DiMaggio’s mythical 56-game record, and his 44-game run remains the modern-day NL mark. What’s more, Rose pulled off his streak in his age-37 season on the heels of reaching the 3,000-hit mark earlier in the 1978 campaign.

NL WEST

D-backs -- Luis Gonzalez, 30 games (1999): A solid player early in his career, Gonzalez became a stud as soon as he joined the D-backs in ‘99. His 30-game hitting streak that year helped the lefty slugger bat .336 and lead the NL with 206 total knocks at age 31.

Dodgers -- Willie Davis, 31 games (1969): For a franchise as storied as the Dodgers, it’s a bit surprising that Davis holds this club record. In his age-29 season, Davis posted career highs in all three slash stats (.311/.356/.456), thanks in large part to this 31-game run.

Giants -- Jack Clark, 26 games (1978): Clark followed up a solid rookie season in 1977 with a breakout ‘78 that included hitting safely in a club-record 26 consecutive contests on his way to his first of four career All-Star Games and a fifth-place NL MVP finish -- all at the age of 22. (Franchise record: George Davis, 33 games, 1893 New York Giants).

Padres -- Benito Santiago, 34 games (1987): At age 22, Santiago won NL Rookie of the Year and Silver Slugger at catcher in 1987, accomplishments undoubtedly boosted by his attention-getting 34-game hitting streak.

Rockies -- Nolan Arenado, 28 games (2014): Arenado didn't light things up offensively as a rookie in 2013, but when he hit in 28 straight games early in his second season, it was an indication that the 23-year-old was on his way to stardom. He passed a 27-game streak that Michael Cuddyer had put together the previous season.