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David Ortiz's 27-game hit streak fifth-longest in Red Sox history

Big Papi's streak was already intriguing, but now it's one of the longest in Boston history.

By Marc Normandin
USA TODAY Sports

The Red Sox had trouble hitting off of the Twins on Tuesday night, but David Ortiz managed to single early in the contest, extending his hit streak to 27 games. We've gone over how ridiculous his current streak is previously, back when it hit 20 games, as it had taken over 300 days to get to that point thanks to his season-ending Achilles injury. However, Ortiz is now at the point where his streak is starting to matter in terms of Red Sox history, and not just as a curious rarity caused by injury.

Read More: David Ortiz and the 302 day hit streak

Ortiz's single tied him with Manny Ramirez and Dom DiMaggio for the fifth-longest in Red Sox history, and one more game would put him in fourth alongside Wade Boggs:

Rk Strk Start End Games H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BB BA OBP SLG
1 Dom DiMaggio 1949-06-29 1949-08-07 34 51 11 1 3 13 9 20 .352 .430 .503
2 Nomar Garciaparra 1997-07-26 1997-08-29 30 54 9 1 9 26 17 6 .383 .407 .652
3 Johnny Damon 2005-06-10 2005-07-17 29 46 11 2 3 13 19 8 .348 .386 .530
4 Wade Boggs 1985-06-24 1985-07-25 28 45 11 0 1 16 12 17 .402 .481 .527
5 David Ortiz 2012-07-02 2013-05-07 27 41 11 0 6 23 16 17 .423 .504 .722
6 Manny Ramirez 2006-07-15 2006-08-12 27 40 8 0 8 28 19 14 .400 .454 .720
7 Dom DiMaggio 1951-05-12 1951-06-07 27 52 5 1 1 18 6 7 .403 .434 .481
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/8/2013.

That also means Ortiz is a mere seven games away from tying the longest hit streak in Red Sox history, one that has stood for 26 years longer than Ortiz has even been alive.

Ortiz has also had the most impressive streak of the group, as he hsas the loftiest batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. He's not leading in homers, but already is tops in doubles, and has time to move up in homers should he sustain the streak for the necessary length of time.

Hit streaks are part talent, but also part chance, just like a no-hitter is for a pitcher: a lot has to go right for the hitter, and wrong for the pitcher and defense, for this sort of thing to continue on. The fact it's already at 27 games, despite multiple interruptions and a lack of spring training, says a lot about both Ortiz and the kind of luck he's already had on his side. He's playing with house money at this point, but maybe he'll be able to ride it just a little bit longer and find himself with the single-greatest hit streak in Red Sox history because of it.

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