Forget Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. Bath County (Ky.) baseball star Cable Wright recently finished a different kind of streak that might be just as difficult to duplicate: He reached base in 25 consecutive plate appearances.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader's Mike Fields, Wright spent six consecutive games reaching base every single time he came to the plate. While he couldn't get a hit every time his name came up, Wright's selective eye and ability to make contact helped him gather 17 hits and seven walks during the string. The other time he reached base came after being hit by a pitch.
"It was one of those things in baseball, like a no-hitter, that when it's going on you don't want to bring attention to it," Bath County coach Brock Baber told the Herald-Leader. "Cable's kind of superstitious, so we knew not to say anything to him. But we knew he was on a pretty impressive tear. It was an unreal streak."
The sophomore slugger was finally retired in a game against Fleming County, though that hardly puts a damper on his accomplishment. The 25 straight plate appearances to reach base streak is longer than the best such stretch in Major League Baseball; outfielder Frank Gray "Piggy" Ward of the 1893 Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds reached base 17 straight times via hit, walk or being hit by a pitch.
Wright's streak is also impressive when you stack it up next to DiMaggio's epic consecutive game hits MLB hit streak, which might be the most iconic in all of sports. Across the 56 games in which he had a hit, DiMaggio batted 91-for-223, reaching base via a hit in just more than 40 percent of his at-bats. Of course, Wright was 25-for-25 in his briefer but more consistently successful streak, but he reached base via hit 68 percent of the time he came to the plate.
Amazingly, while Wright's streak is longer than the best put up by a Major Leaguer, it isn't even the record for Kentucky prep players. Former Webster County (Ky.) High star Ike Bridwell reached base 26 straight times in 2001. More incredibly, each one of those Bridwell appearances on base came from a hit.
That past feat won't take away from what Wright accomplished, or how unique such a streak is at any level.
"[Wright is] a really smart baseball player who finds a way to get on," Baber told the Herald-Leader. "He's just a competitor."
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