Oddly, DiMaggio's streak was not reported in the press even after it reached double figures, although the shorter streaks of other Yankees were noted. On May 25, both Johnny Sturm and Frank Crosetti hit in their ninth straight contest, coinciding with their addition to the starting lineup. In previous years DiMaggio had routinely hit in streaks of eight or ten or twelve games. His performance wasn't news.

DiMaggio's streak ended the next day-sort of But the game didn't count. The Yankees traveled to Norfolk, Virginia, and played an exhibition against their Class B farm club, the Norfolk Tars. The Yankees came from behind to win, 7-4, as Tar pitcher Jimmy Halperin pitched six effective innings before being rocked in the seventh. DiMaggio played only the first seven innings, walking once and popping out twice. Halperin, who never played an inning in the major leagues, nevertheless managed to do something no pitcher in the American League would be able to accomplish for most of the summer.

DiMaggio's streak finally received a brief mention in the New York World Telegram on May 29, the first mention of the streak in the press. The same day, the Yankees played Washington and earned their second tie in a week. With the score knotted 2-2 after five innings, the Yankees exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth. But as the Yankees rallied, a storm washed out the game, wiping out the sixth inning and resulting in a tie. The sudden storm stopped Johnny Sturrn's streak at 11 games, erasing his sixth-inning single. DiMaggio also lost a hit to the weather, but he had already run his streak to 14 games while beating out an infield hit in the fourth inning.

The Yankees next traveled to Boston for a Memorial Day double-header. In the midst of what would be considered his greatest accomplishment, Joe DiMaggio had his worst day as a major leaguer.

The Yankees lost both games, dropping the first 4-3 as a ninth-inning rally fell one run short, and getting crushed in game two, 13-0. DiMaggio managed a single in the ninth inning of game one, and a double in game two that outfielder Pete Fox lost in the sun in right field. Bothered by a cold and a stiff neck, Joe was atrocious in the field. In the eighth inning of game one, he dropped an easy fly ball, and in the first inning of game two, he muffed Ted Williams's single and threw a ball into the stands for two more errors. Later in the game, he threw another ball to the Fenway fans, his third error of the game and fourth of the day. The total was equal to the number of errors he made the rest of the season. Nevertheless, his streak had reached 16 games.

Ted Williams extended a streak of his own in the doubleheader. Also beginning on May 15, Williams had now hit in 17 consecutive games, batting an unreal .510 for a season average of .429, nearly sixty points ahead of Bill Dickey, second in the American League, and 98 points ahead of DiMaggio. Despite his streak, DiMaggio's average had risen less than thirty points. He was hitting only .331.

Although DiMaggio's streak was previously mentioned in passing in the press, it was not until he collected hits in both ends of a double-header sweep against Cleveland on the first day of June that anyone really took notice of his accomplishment. Rud Rennie, of the Herald Tribune, was the first writer to give a daily update on DiMaggio's streak in his game story. Until then, the Yankees' resurgence after McCarthy's lineup changes and the batting streaks of DiMaggio's teammates had been the story. But now that the other streaks were over, DiMaggio's took center stage. As it did, writers began to look back at the Yankee record since the streak began on May 15. Correctly or not, DiMaggio soon received credit for the turnaround.

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