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Baseball's longest 21st century hitting streaks

30 games – Moises Alou

KATHY WILLENS/AP
New York Mets' Moises Alou follows through with as he hits a fourth-inning RBI single against the Washington Nationals during a game at Shea Stadium in New York, Sept. 26, 2007. Alou also had a first-inning solo home run as he extended his hitting streak to 30 consecutive games.

  • By Ross Atkin Staff writer

 2007 with the New York Mets

Lifetime batting average: .303

Streak occurred in: 16th year of 17-year major-league career that ended in 2008

Streak snapped: Sept. 27, just before the season ended, when Alou went 0-for-3 in a loss to the Cardinals. He was scheduled to bat fifth in the ninth inning, but the Mets went down in order.

Background: Alou's streak was the longest by a New York player since Joe DiMaggio's all-time record 56-game hitting streak with the Yankees in 1941. ...  during the streak Alou hit .403, and ended the season with a .341 overall average, which would have won the National League batting title accept that he didn't have enough plate appearances to qualify ... Moises, a Dominican American who never wore batting gloves, is a member of one of baseball's premier families; his father, Felipe, managed the Giants and Expos, and his uncle, Matty, was the NL batting champion with the Pirates in 1966 ... during his 17-year career, Alou played for seven different National League teams, was a six-time all-star outfielder, collected 2,13 hits and 332 homers, and batted .303. .. He's newly eligible for Hall of Fame balloting for the 2014 class, and is considered something of a borderline candidate. ... Alou was the left fielder for the Cubs in 2003 when a fan's interference with Alou's attempt to catch a foul pop-up in a playoff game led to the team's tragic demise.

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Mark Sappenfield
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