Beat the Streak Report: Wednesday, July 29
Today’s recommended picks
Victor Martinez, C, Indians
.474 AVG (9-for-19) since ’04 vs. Angels starter John Lackey
Freddy Sanchez, 2B, Pirates
.438 AVG (7-for-16) lifetime vs. Giants starter Matt Cain
Shane Victorino, OF, Phillies
.800 AVG (4-for-5) lifetime vs. D-backs starter Yusmeiro Petit; Petit: .303 AVG against in ’09
BTS all-time leader: Michael Karatzia, 49
MLB all-time leader: Joe DiMaggio, 56
Yesterday’s results
In general, it was a successful day for the BTS field, as each of the Top 8 most selected players came through with at least one hit.
The success was felt at the top of the standings, where there was no change. Leader rbgoulet1 extended his streak to an impressive 36 games thanks to a 1-for-3 effort from Minnesota’s Joe Mauer.
Roscoe1333 held onto his spot in second place, the owner of a 31-game run following a 1-for-6 performance from Dustin Pedroia. ber92961, bigshowmarko and brian2460 round out the Top 5 with their 30-game streaks.
Yesterday’s Top 5 most selected players
1. Chipper Jones (ATL): 10.5%, 1-for-4
2. Ichiro Suzuki (SEA): 7.4%, 3-for-4
3. Jorge Posada (NYY): 5.5%, 1-for-4
4. Mark Teixeira (NYY): 5.4%, 1-for-4
5. Ryan Braun (MIL): 4.9%, 2-for-4
Beat the Streak Report 
Today is a classic matchup for BTS fans – a hitter -Ichiro – who is usually an automatic pick in day games against a pitcher – Halladay – who has the highest career winning % for day games. As Yogi would say ” Good pitching stops good hitting and vica versa. ”
Also, don’t see anything in the rules about traded players – if you picked Matt Holladay in advance before he was traded to St. Louis, does it count if he gets a hit on that day ?
If Buehrle had pitched a 2nd straight perfect game – retired the first 17 – it would have been the biggest sports feat of our lifetime , topping Van Der Meers two straight no-nos that is touted as an unbeatable record.
Hey, tomfootball17, I don’t know where you and your BTS nerd friends come up with such statistics, but consider these numbers: Halladay has surrendered 59 hits in 60 innings of daylight ball this season, and 69 in 81 nighttime innings. Ichiro has not failed to hit in a day game since he was in the third grade. Thus far this season, he is batting .457 in days games and has 58 hits in 29 day games. Even if Halladay starts and is relieved by God, Jehovah, and Cy Young reincarnated, Ichiro remains the pick. Your and Hambone’s leadership among the Levi Ghetto Cats is going down, and with Ichiro’s hit today, I will gladly move past erinmarie90, who, when it comes to baseball, doesn’t know her butt from her elbow (when we met, in ’04, she didn’t know her favorite team, the White Sox, were in the American League).
HR Derby would be more interesting if you could select pitchers to hit a HR. My pick would be the Cubs free swinging pitcher Carlos Zambrano. He now holds the Cub career record for HR’s by a pitcher.
Revisiting the Joey Votto debacle of a few days ago.
He plays for the Reds, and improving team but generally a non-contending team. Reds manager is Dusty Baker, as Cub manager he was a lack luster leader and pretty laid back.
What do you think the reaction of a Joe Torre or Tony Larussa would have been toward Votto getting tossed in the 1st inning of a game?
JoseContreras fill in for Bartolo Colon
Just ended my streak again for Mauer
If you all recall, I was at a streak of 35. Then Votto was kicked out of the game in the first inning. Unfortunately, I picked him that day. This, indeed, ended my streak. Boy, it was difficult to accept. I worked hard for that amount. Like all of us who play Beat the Streak, if we pick a player and that player fails to get a hit, it’s understood that we lost and move on; but, at least the batter had his fair share of bats. When he receives only 1 bat, and is removed, you feel a bit cheated. It’s easier to accept when you only have a streak of 3 or 4 or 6 or 7. However, when you get up to 20, 25, 30, and in my case 35 you feel that you really have a legitimate chance of winning, and therefore feel a bit slighted. HOW ABOUT FOR NEXT YEAR THE REQUIREMENT IS THAT A PLAYER MUST PLAY AT LEAST 5 INNINGS FOR THE HIT TO COUNT OR NOT COUNT. I support this change because a player can be removed for anything (i.e. back pain, headache, twisted ankle etc…).If you pick this person and he is removed after only batting once, you really feel cheated. Some of you all may disagree, and I am sure there are arguments you can make. However, I guarantee you that if you get up to a streak past 30 you wouldn’t want what happen to me to happen to you. I certianly don’t want it to happen again. Nevertheless, this is fun and exciting. No matter what happens I LOVE BEAT THE STREAK. In fact, this may be a moot point because rbjoulet1 or bigshowmarko may go all the way. I WISH THEM THE BEST.
momfannie, I will have to disagree with you on this one. For the reason you have stated, that is what makes this game exciting. People get lucky and unlucky to go along with their careful picks.
Joe D. and others had to go through the same when they were playing. Injuries and other freak incidents will happen.
As far as Votto, he has been pulled from games several times this season for various reasons. For that reason alone, you should have probably stayed away.
There is lots of luck involved in this game. Much more than people anticipate. That is why none of the top streakers never put another decent streak going after their bust.
Anything that we don’t know that we don’t see in stats that go or not go our way has to be attributed to luck. You can probably at best “control” only 60% with the pick each day. Just imagine, how do we know for sure that Ichiro didn’t have a bad sushi for lunch which will affect his hitting tonight?