On this day in Yankees history - Joe DiMaggio's streak ends
The cover of the Daily News on Friday, July 18, 1941.
On July 17, 1941, Joe DiMaggio was held hitless for the first time in a game since May 15. This ended his historic 56-game hitting streak.
The Streak began on May 15, 1941, a couple of weeks before the death of Lou Gehrig, when DiMaggio went 1-4 against the Chicago White Sox. Major newspapers covered the streak early on, but as he approached George Sisler's modern era record of 41 games, it became a national phenomenon. He showed little interest in breaking Sisler's record at first saying, "I'm not thinking a whole lot about it... I'll either break it or I won't." He began to show more interest the closer he got saying, "At the start I didn't think much about it... but naturally I'd like to get the record since I am this close."
On July 17 at Cleveland Stadium, the streak was finally snapped at 56 games, thanks in part to two great plays by Indians third baseman Ken Keltner. During the streak DiMaggio: batted .408 with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs, played in seven doubleheaders, played in the All Star Game, lost his friend to ALS, and the team went 41-13-2. The day after the streak ended, he started another one that lasted 17 games. Between the two, he hit safely in 73 of 74 games, which is also a record. The closest anyone has come to the record is Pete Rose, who hit safely in 44 straight games in 1978.
Joltin Joe went on to win the 1941 American League MVP over Ted Williams, in spite of the William’s .406 batting average that season. The way the game is played today, there is no way the Yankee Clipper's record will ever be broken.