DIVISION FOUR REPORTS, WINTER ’14(January 15)
-Joe Sanchez reporting
JIM KIPP’S HITTING STREAK
ENDS AT 127 GAMES
In the very first game he played after the announcement that he was carrying a 127-game hitting streak, Jim Kipp went 0-for-3 on Monday, January 13.
The streak that had started in the fall of 2011 ended in dramatic fashion. Playing for the Bulls, Kipp came to bat in the first inning and drove a line drive up the middle that would normally had been hit. However, Cavalier manager Mike Thurik had placed himself perfectly and he caught the ball. Kipp hit into a fielder’s choice in the third inning. In the fifth inning, he reached first base on a groundball that the scorekeeper ruled an error. Jim might have had one last chance at a hit in the sixth inning, but the Bulls were held scoreless and he never came to bat. When the Cavaliers lost in the top of the seventh, the Bulls never came to bat again and the streak was over.
The other long hitting streak in the division is still alive. Don Barry had two hits on Monday and he has now hit in 72 consecutive games, the fourth longest hitting streak in the division. He “only” needs hits in the next 56 games to pass Kipp. With hits in two more games, Barry will move to third place and with hits in six more games, he will be at 78 and in second place.
