During the 1941 Major League Baseball (MLB) season, New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio recorded at least one hit in 56 consecutive games, breaking the MLB record for the longest hitting streak. His run lasted from May 15 to July 16, during which he had a .408 batting average. DiMaggio's streak surpassed the single-season record of 44 consecutive games that had been held by Willie Keeler since 1897, and the longest streak spanning multiple seasons, also accomplished by Keeler. The record remains held by DiMaggio and has been described as unbreakable.

Background DiMaggio began his professional career in 1933 with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League (PCL). That season, he had hits in 61 straight games, breaking the PCL record of 49 games that had been held by Jack Ness.Kennedy, pp. 293–296. That streak is the second-longest in the history of Minor League Baseball, behind a 69-game streak by Joe Wilhoit, and remains a PCL record.

After joining the Yankees in 1936, DiMaggio became the club's center fielder and was a member of World Series-winning teams in each of his first four major league seasons. 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,Castro, p. 30. and a 23-game hitting streak that was the longest in MLB that season. The Yankees got off to a mediocre start in 1941, and were mired in fourth place in the middle of May. DiMaggio went through a batting slump in which he hit only .194 over a 20-game period.Cramer, p. 159.

Entering the 1941 season, the major league record for the longest hitting streak in a season was held by Willie Keeler, who had hits in 44 straight National League (NL) games in 1897. Keeler also had the longest hitting streak when multiple-season runs were included; he had recorded a hit in the final game of the 1896 season before beginning the following year with the 44-game stretch. The AL record was held by George Sisler, who had a 41-game streak in 1922, one game longer than a 40-game Ty Cobb streak in 1911.

The streak Opening games On May 15, in the first inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox, DiMaggio hit a run-scoring single off of White Sox pitcher Eddie Smith. The Yankees did not score again for the rest of the contest and lost 13–1. In the following day's game, DiMaggio hit a home run and a triple in a win for New York, before a 3–2 defeat to the White Sox in which DiMaggio managed one single in four plate appearances.Kennedy, p. 24. 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. Browns catcher Frank Grube committed catcher's interference by contacting DiMaggio's bat with his glove during a swing, which resulted in a hit being awarded; the others came as a result of defensive miscues. In the subsequent two games against the Browns, DiMaggio had one hit apiece, waiting until the late innings to extend his streak on each occasion. At the time, he did not own the longest hitting streak on the Yankees; Bill Dickey had an active run of 21 consecutive games with at least one hit.Cramer, pp. 162–163.

The Detroit Tigers opposed New York in a two-game series; DiMaggio had a hit in each game, recording one in the seventh inning of the second game. 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.Cramer, p. 163. DiMaggio had a single that scored two runs in the subsequent game, a 7–6 Yankees win, before a 10–3 loss in which he singled off Red Sox pitcher Lefty Grove in the first inning.Kennedy, p. 58. In Washington, D.C. on May 27, his run reached 12 games against the Senators with a four-hit performance. DiMaggio contributed a 425-foot home run, which plated two baserunners, and three singles in a 10–8 Yankees victory. The following contest between the teams was the first night game ever held at Washington's Griffith Stadium. DiMaggio was held hitless until the eighth inning, when he tripled to begin a five-run Yankees rally that led to a one-run win.Seidel, pp. 90–93.

First press coverage

By the time the streak reached 13 games, it started receiving attention in the New York City press. 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. DiMaggio had reached base on a single in the fourth inning against the Senators; after hitting the ball off home plate, he narrowly reached first base ahead of the fielder's throw, according to teammate Johnny Sturm. 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. Only at-bats from the first five innings counted in the records, meaning that the fourth-inning hit was required to extend the streak.Seidel, p. 9. Author Michael Seidel called the game "one of the closest calls for DiMaggio during the streak".Seidel, p. 93.

The Red Sox hosted New York in a doubleheader at Fenway Park on May 30. 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. He came up to bat second in the inning, and singled as part of a three-run rally that brought the Yankees back from a 3–1 deficit to win. They lost the second game 13–0, as DiMaggio concluded the day having made four fielding errors during the two games. 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.Seidel, pp, 97–100. The Yankees traveled to Cleveland for a series against the Indians, who topped the AL standings at the time. After a postponement due to rain, the teams played a doubleheader, which the Yankees swept. DiMaggio recorded a single in the first game and a hit off Indians pitcher Mel Harder in the second. Bob Feller was the opposing starter for the Indians in the final game of the series. Although the Yankees lost 7–5, DiMaggio's run continued with two hits off Feller—a single and a double.Kennedy, pp. 74–75. Following this game, in an early press mention of the streak, The New York Times made reference to DiMaggio's run in its report. 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.Cramer, p. 165. Another Yankees loss followed in the second and final game of that series, but DiMaggio tripled in the sixth inning. He was beginning to approach his longest major league hitting streak, the 23-game run he had accomplished in 1940. In St. Louis, DiMaggio singled three times in an 11–7 win for the Yankees, stretching the streak to 22 games. One day after that game, the teams played a doubleheader in which DiMaggio starred. He had a pair of home runs in the first game; in the second game, which lasted only seven innings due to darkness, he added another home run and hit a double off the fence in right field.Kennedy, p. 98.

On June 10, the Yankees played in Chicago against the White Sox, winning 8–3. DiMaggio was held hitless until the seventh inning, when he sent the ball on a bounce to third baseman Dario Lodigiani, who failed to handle it. The official scorer ruled the play a hit, extending DiMaggio's run to 25 games.Seidel, p. 122. 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.Seidel, p. 125. The team returned to Yankee Stadium for a series with the Indians, and Feller was the opposing starting pitcher in their first game. After a walk in his first plate appearance, DiMaggio took three balls from Feller, then opted to swing at the next pitch instead of trying to draw a walk. He made contact, sending a double to right-center field which brought his run to 27 games.Kennedy, pp. 109–111. In the following game, DiMaggio only needed to wait until the third inning to extend his run, hitting a home run to left field. 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. On June 16, DiMaggio matched their mark with a fifth-inning double.Seidel, pp. 132–135.

Close calls against Chicago and St. Louis 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. In the seventh inning, DiMaggio came up to the plate without a hit in the game. He sent a ground ball to White Sox shortstop Luke Appling; the ball took a bad bounce off the grass and hopped off Appling, and DiMaggio reached base. Daniel ruled the play a hit, extending the streak to 30. The play ended up being his only hit in an 8–7 Yankees loss,Kennedy, pp. 121–124. and gave DiMaggio the longest hitting streak in Yankees history.Cramer, p. 167. A weakly hit ball produced another hit in the next game. Appling fielded it, but not in time to throw DiMaggio out.Seidel, p. 139.

DiMaggio brought the streak to 32 games with a home run and a pair of singles against the White Sox.Kennedy, p. 145. 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. In a 14–4 New York win, he added a double and two more singles. DiMaggio later said that this was when he began to consider the possibility of achieving the longest MLB hitting streak.Seidel, p. 146. Again, DiMaggio added to his stretch of hits in the first inning of the next game, and his single brought the run to 34 games.Kennedy, p. 152. A home run off Tigers pitcher Hal Newhouser in the sixth inning of the teams' June 22 contest extended it further. By this point, sportswriters had begun to take a keen interest in DiMaggio's streak, as newspapers started running headlines reporting on the topic.Kennedy, pp. 146, 167.

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. As those in attendance chanted "We want a hit", he singled to bring him within five games of Sisler's modern record. The single came off of pitcher Bob Muncrief, who ignored instructions to walk DiMaggio by St. Louis manager Luke Sewell. The next day, DiMaggio achieved an earlier continuation of the streak by homering in the fourth inning, his ninth home run in 20 games.Seidel, p. 157. 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.Seidel, p. 161. Regarding the prospect of nearing the hitting streak record, DiMaggio had previously said to the press, "I'm not thinking a whole lot about it. ... I'll either break it or I won't." After this game, though, he publicly expressed a desire to top Sisler's 1922 run.

Nearing the MLB hitting streak record