THE STREAK

The streak began with an innocuous single during a 13-1 loss at Yankee Stadium 80 springs ago. Neither Joe DiMaggio — the author of that seemingly inconsequential base hit — nor any of the sportswriters or 9,040 fans attending that afternoon’s pummeling of the New York Yankees by the Chicago White Sox on May 15, 1941 could have envisioned this would be the start of something big. Most of them were focused on a slump rather than a streak.

The loss had dropped the Bronx Bombers to 14-15 and DiMaggio, who had won consecutive American League batting titles in 1939 and 1940, was mired in a rut that had seen him bat just .197 in his previous 21 games. Adding insult to injury, the graceful, usually flawless Yankees centerfielder had committed a throwing error that day.

But over the course of the next two months, DiMaggio’s non-descript single against pitcher Ed Smith would take on huge significance. In retrospect, it would be viewed as the launching pad for one