Carlos Lee's hitting streak

It ended on June 16 in Miami. Carl Pavano threw a three-hit gem for the Fish, and one of the three White Sox hits did not belong to Carlos Lee.

That was the first game since May 12 that the Panamanian outfielder didn’t get a base hit. His 28-game hitting streak broke the White Sox team record, surpassed Rod Carew’s 25-game record for a Panamanian player, and left Lee in an elite club in baseball history. Not bad for a guy who’s better known for hitting for power --- even while playing half his games in the wind and wide-open spaces of the Chicago American League franchise’s home field --- rather than average. This year, however, it seems that Lee is swinging less to put the ball over the fence and concentrating on hitting it where they ain’t.

Of course, Lee’s month of consistent hitting was only half as long as Joe DiMaggio’s legendary record 56-game streak. (Hmmmmm --- maybe there ARE a few things that will last forever.) But in most seasons nobody hits for 28 games in a row, so the smart money will be bet on Lee ending up with the longest major league baseball hitting streak in 2004.

His feat ought to be good enough to get Lee on the American League’s All-Star Team, but that will have to await the manager’s decision. With about a week to go in fan balloting, it seems reasonably clear that this year’s starters will be better-known athletes who may or may not be having better seasons than Lee.

Still, if it ends up that Lee is not chosen for one of the reserve spots, the campus radicals at the University of Panama will find their patriotism and sense of justice under severe question if they don’t take to the streets to protest what would be a major outrage of Yankee imperialism.

(Yes, I know --- Panama is a nation of Yankee fans. But what was it that Karl Marx said about false consciousness? And what a scandal if FER-29, PAT, the BPU and all the rest turn out to be that most revisionist of baseball phenomena, a “sellout crowd” in the pejorative sense!)

Lee, however, did not take the end of his streak all that emotionally. "Why should I be upset or disappointed?” he told reporters after the game. Paying tribute to Pavano, he added that “I didn't get a good pitch to hit today. Not just me, but the whole team.”

As this story was uploaded, Lee was batting .293 on the season, with six home runs and 36 runs batted in.

Also in this section:
Panama routs St. Lucia to keep World Cup hopes alive
Carlos Lee hitting streak ends at 28
Panamanians in Major League Baseball

sports

All things must pass, but the odds are
nobody will top Lee’s streak in 2004

sports

All things must pass, but the odds are nobody will top Lee’s streak in 2004

All things must pass, but the odds are
nobody will top Lee’s streak in 2004