Writing in The Nation in 1991, Gene Case tried to diminish the streak by noting correctly that a number of other hitters, including Williams, have outperformed DiMaggio over 56-game spans. DiMaggio's aggregate performance during the streak, good as it was, has been bettered by numerous other players. But none faced the public expectation to continue that level of production each and every day.

Each of these perceptions misses the point. What is most remarkable about the streak are not the details of its construction, but DiMaggio's response to its tangible existence and resulting pressure. Once the public became aware of the streak, DiMaggio performed under increasing pressure. As Stephen Jay Gould explains in his essay following this chapter, streaks like DiMaggio's, even including a few "lucky" breaks, push the boundaries of mathematical probability. When DiMaggio continued to collect hits game after game, beyond the point where the law of averages indicates it is likely, DiMaggio was doing something truly incredible, something that none of the thousands of others who had played major league baseball had come remotely close to doing. In fact, in professional baseball's modern era, only two men have ever bettered DiMaggio's streak of 56 -- Joe Wilhoit, who hit in 69 games playing for Wichita in the Western Association in 1919, and DiMaggio himself, hitting for 61 games in the Pacific Coast League of 1933. For Joe DiMaggio to hold two of the top three spots on that list is nearly inconceivable. Only DiMaggio, among all players ever, had the necessary mental and physical talents to collect hits day after day after day.

Amazingly, as the pressure increased, DiMaggio got even better. He did his worst hitting early in the streak. After Lou Gehrig's funeral, DiMaggio hit .439. After game 30, when he set the Yankee team record and the streak became widely known, DiMaggio hit .457. After breaking Keeler's mark in game 44, when DiMaggio entered a no-man's-land of previous performance, he hit .510.

But the streak's greatest significance was the impact it had on the Yankee team, a consequence that generally receives little mention. The streak did more than help to spur the Yankee turnaround after May 15. On June 2, the Yankees lost, then were informed of Lou Gehrig's death. Distracted, they lost twice more before Gehrig was laid to rest. All the work the Yankees had done to claw back into the pennant race over the previous two weeks was in danger of coming undone. To lose a teammate is one of the most disruptive experiences in sports, particularly one with the status of Gehrig. Although it had been more than two years since Gehrig played, he remained close to many of his teammates. He was, after all, the Yankee captain, and a hero to many players, including DiMaggio. It was understandable that the Yankees might falter.

At this precise moment, DiMaggio went on a streak within the streak. If he was hot before Gehrig's death, he was on fire afterward, hitting a robust .468 from June 7 to June 20, as the Yankees went 10-2 to begin a stretch in which New York won 41 of the next 47 games. If the Yankees moumed for Gehrig, they did so in private. On the field, DiMaggio led by example. If there was anything truly heroic about the streak, it was the way DiMaggio played in the wake of Gehrig's death.

No one could have faulted DiMaggio had he suffered a letdown when the streak ended. Instead, he started another. On June 18, as the Indians edged the Yankees 2-1 behind Bob Feller to keep Cleveland's pennant hopes alive, DiMaggio went 2 for 4, narrowly missing a home run in the eighth, and knocked in the Yankees' only run. He kept going from there, and so did the Yankees, who ripped off another nine wins in a row as DiMaggio hit in every game. On July 22 through July 24, they knocked Cleveland from the pennant race for good with a three-game sweep. During the game of July 23, DiMaggio faced Al Smith again and hit a home run. After beating Cleveland the Yankees swept Chicago three in a row, destroying their pennant hopes.

DiMaggio's new streak ran to 16 games before he went hitless in two straight games, first against John Niggeling and then Bob Harris, as the Yankees dropped both games of a doubleheader against St. Louis on August 3. The first game was also the first since May 2 that DiMaggio had failed to reach base. By that time, the American League pennant race was all but over. New York's lead was into double figures.

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