Holliday hitting and getting on base at a record pace


Hitting cleanup behind superstar Albert Pujols, new St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday is clearly loving it. In every one of his eight games in the uniform to date, Holliday has at least one hit, 17 in total.

His long list of safeties include six doubles and a home run, with his most recent carnage consisting of three singles and the game-tying double in four at-bats Friday night as the Cardinals came back to defeat the Houston Astros 4-3.

Holliday is the first player to begin his Cardinals career by hitting safely in his first eight games since the great Roger Maris in 1967. If he keeps on this pace through the weekend, he will tie Charley Smith (1966) and Alvin Dark (1956) for the longest such Cardinals streak in at least the last 55 years, ten games.

In terms of getting on base multiple times per game, Holliday’s eight-game-and-counting run is already the longest by a new Cardinals player since at least 1954. The previous record was just five games, set by quickly-forgotten Chuck Carr in 1992.

Holliday will certainly be remembered longer. Perhaps much longer…

Consecutive Games with a Hit to Start Cardinals Career (1954-2009)

Streak Start Streak End G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BB SB CS BA OBP SLG
Charley Smith 4/13/1966 4/24/1966 10 37 6 18 4 1 1 2 1 3 0 0 .486 .525 .730
Alvin Dark 6/15/1956 6/24/1956 10 45 9 21 1 1 1 3 4 1 2 0 .467 .468 .600
Matt Holliday 7/24/2009 7/31/2009 * 8 29 6 17 6 0 1 8 6 6 1 1 .586 .649 .897
Roger Maris 4/11/1967 4/22/1967 8 33 8 14 4 1 0 4 3 2 0 0 .424 .444 .606
Bo Hart 6/19/2003 6/26/2003 7 35 7 18 2 2 1 5 4 1 0 0 .514 .528 .771
Cesar Cedeno 8/30/1985 9/8/1985 7 17 5 9 2 0 2 6 2 0 0 1 .529 .529 1.000
Terry Pendleton 7/18/1984 7/24/1984 7 29 4 12 2 0 0 2 3 2 0 0 .414 .452 .483
Gino Cimoli 4/10/1959 4/17/1959 7 27 5 11 2 0 0 5 2 3 1 0 .407 .467 .481
John Rodriguez 7/18/2005 7/23/2005 6 21 4 8 2 0 2 3 5 2 0 0 .381 .435 .762
Tony Womack 4/5/2004 4/11/2004 6 26 6 11 3 0 0 1 5 3 4 0 .423 .483 .538
Chuck Carr 9/8/1992 9/17/1992 6 25 4 9 3 0 0 2 4 4 5 0 .360 .448 .480
Mike Fitzgerald 6/23/1988 6/28/1988 6 25 3 7 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 .280 .280 .320
Ken Boyer 4/12/1955 4/18/1955 6 28 4 9 2 1 1 6 5 1 1 1 .321 .345 .571
Wally Moon 4/13/1954 4/20/1954 6 23 7 8 2 1 2 5 2 4 0 0 .348 .429 .783
Julio Lugo 7/24/2009 7/29/2009 5 25 5 10 2 2 1 3 5 1 1 0 .400 .423 .760
Will Clark 8/1/2000 8/6/2000 5 14 6 9 1 0 4 7 1 5 0 0 .643 .737 1.571
Royce Clayton 4/1/1996 4/6/1996 5 25 2 8 3 1 0 5 5 2 2 1 .320 .357 .520
Steve Lake 8/12/1986 8/19/1986 5 16 1 5 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 .313 .313 .375
Lonnie Smith 4/6/1982 4/11/1982 5 20 5 8 0 0 1 6 2 3 4 2 .400 .500 .550
Willie Davis 6/6/1975 6/11/1975 5 22 4 8 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .364 .391 .545
Ken Reitz 9/5/1972 9/8/1972 5 21 4 12 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 .571 .545 .619
Jose Cruz 9/19/1970 10/1/1970 5 17 2 6 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 .353 .476 .412
Julio Gotay 8/6/1960 6/18/1961 5 17 3 7 1 0 0 2 3 0 1 0 .412 .412 .471
Don Blasingame 9/20/1955 9/25/1955 5 16 4 6 1 0 0 0 0 6 1 1 .375 .545 .438

On-Base Streak – Two or More Times per Game to Start Cardinals Career (1954-2009)

Streak Start Streak End G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BB SB CS BA OBP SLG
Matt Holliday 7/24/2009 7/31/2009 * 8 29 6 17 6 0 1 8 6 6 1 1 .586 .649 .897
Chuck Carr 9/8/1992 9/16/1992 5 21 4 8 3 0 0 2 3 4 4 0 .381 .480 .524
Ron Gant 4/1/1996 4/5/1996 4 13 5 5 0 0 2 8 2 5 1 0 .385 .550 .846
Willie Davis 6/6/1975 6/9/1975 4 18 4 7 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .389 .421 .611
Don Blasingame 9/20/1955 9/24/1955 4 12 3 5 1 0 0 0 0 6 1 1 .417 .611 .500
Julio Lugo 7/24/2009 7/26/2009 3 14 4 8 2 2 1 2 3 0 1 0 .571 .571 1.214
Aaron Miles 4/3/2006 4/6/2006 3 11 3 7 2 1 0 3 1 2 1 0 .636 .714 1.000
Yadier Molina 6/3/2004 6/5/2004 3 10 3 3 1 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 .300 .462 .400
Bo Hart 6/19/2003 6/21/2003 3 12 3 7 2 2 0 3 1 1 0 0 .583 .615 1.083
Jim Edmonds 4/3/2000 4/6/2000 3 8 5 3 1 0 1 5 3 5 0 0 .375 .615 .875
Mike Matheny 4/3/2000 4/6/2000 3 11 3 6 2 0 1 3 1 1 0 0 .545 .583 1.000
Pat Borders 4/1/1996 4/6/1996 3 14 1 6 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .429 .429 .571
Danny Sheaffer 4/30/1995 5/4/1995 3 11 4 6 1 0 1 4 2 1 0 0 .545 .583 .909
Bob Horner 4/4/1988 4/8/1988 3 9 2 2 0 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 .222 .500 .556
Roger Maris 4/11/1967 4/15/1967 3 13 4 7 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 .538 .571 .846
Dick Groat 4/9/1963 4/13/1963 3 13 5 6 0 1 2 3 1 2 0 0 .462 .533 1.077
Bill Virdon 4/12/1955 4/16/1955 3 15 4 6 1 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 .400 .471 .667
Joe Cunningham 6/30/1954 7/2/1954 3 11 5 5 0 0 3 9 1 2 0 0 .455 .538 1.273

* current streak