Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak

[3] In 1940, however, the Yankees failed to top the American League (AL) for the first time in DiMaggio's career, despite his league-leading .352 batting average,[4] and a 23-game hitting streak that was the longest in MLB that season.

[8] The St. Louis Browns were the Yankees' opponents in their next series, and in their first game DiMaggio was credited with three hits in as many at-bats despite making weak contact each time.

Against the Boston Red Sox, he waited even longer to extend the streak to nine games, as it took him until his last at-bat of the contest in the eighth inning to hit a single.

Sportswriter Dan Daniel made note of the run on May 28 in the New York World-Telegram; one day later, Jack Smith mentioned the streak after it had reached 14 games.

Although DiMaggio added a single in the sixth inning, that hit was expunged from the record books when rain forced the game to be stopped.

In his first three plate appearances, DiMaggio had two walks and made an out, and the game entered the ninth inning with him still needing a hit to continue the streak.

However, the second game was his 16th in a row with a hit, as a weak fly ball off his bat in the fifth inning eluded Red Sox outfielder Pete Fox for a double.

[17] Following this game, in an early press mention of the streak, The New York Times made reference to DiMaggio's run in its report.

[18] On June 2, the day that Lou Gehrig died, DiMaggio's streak reached 20 games when he homered in a 4–2 Yankees loss in Detroit.

[21] Following a rainout the next day, DiMaggio successfully recorded a hit for the 26th straight game in the fourth inning, with a single to center field.

Having previously kept the streak alive, he proceeded to hit a home run in the tenth inning, which eventually gave the Yankees another victory.

The homer brought him to within one game of tying the franchise record for the longest hitting streak, which was held by Earle Combs and Roger Peckinpaugh.

[24] The following game, in which the Yankees played against the White Sox, featured a ruling by official scorer Dan Daniel that impacted DiMaggio's streak.

[28] The Tigers were the Yankees' next opponents, and in the first inning of the opening game of their series, DiMaggio quickly extended the streak by hitting a single.

By this point, sportswriters had begun to take a keen interest in DiMaggio's streak, as newspapers started running headlines reporting on the topic.

[31] On June 24, DiMaggio went hitless in his first three at-bats against the St. Louis Browns, leading to an eighth-inning plate appearance in which he needed a hit for the streak to reach 36 games.

[18] The next day, DiMaggio achieved an earlier continuation of the streak by homering in the fourth inning, his ninth home run in 20 games.

[32] He did not record a hit until his last at-bat against the Browns on June 26, this time doubling during his final opportunity to stretch his run, which stood at 38 games.

[35] The Yankees traveled to Philadelphia for a series with the Athletics; in the first game, DiMaggio only needed one pitch in his first at-bat to record a single, and later added a home run.

[38] Upon a return trip to Washington, a crowd of 31,000 packed into Griffith Stadium to follow DiMaggio's chase during a doubleheader, nearly 30,000 more than had attended the previous game between the Senators and Yankees.

The Yankees faced the Red Sox in a doubleheader, with DiMaggio in position to tie Keeler's single-season record with hits in each game.

[44] On July 2, DiMaggio attempted to break Keeler's record for the longest single-season MLB hitting streak, against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

His first at-bat nearly produced a record-breaking hit, but Red Sox outfielder Stan Spence made a leaping catch to temporarily deny him the mark.

[49] In his attempt to reach the 50-game mark, DiMaggio had four hits against the Browns the following day, including a ninth-inning home run and three singles.

[50] He subsequently secured a double in the fourth inning of the teams' game one day later, before the Yankees traveled to Chicago for a doubleheader against the White Sox.

In his first chance to extend his run to 55 games, DiMaggio hit a ground ball to Chicago shortstop Appling, who committed a fielding error.

Yankees reliever Johnny Murphy stopped the Indians from plating the tying run, however, bringing an end to DiMaggio's streak.

[55] Despite receiving little press coverage in its early days, the streak ultimately gained significant attention from the media and baseball fans.

"[58] Author Maury Allen considered the streak a "crossover event" that raised awareness of DiMaggio among the general population and gave him increased respect from baseball fans.

[5] In 1978, Pete Rose made a sustained challenge for the record, with base hits in 44 straight contests to tie Keeler's single-season mark in 1897.