Brewers 50/50: August 25, 1987 – Molitor hit streak reaches 39 games [VIDEO]

A year of streaks – a record-breaking win streak to start the season in April, a playoff race-puncturing losing string in May – was climaxed with one of the greatest hitting streaks in the history of Major League Baseball.

Future Hall of Fame third baseman Paul Molitor kept Milwaukee enraptured in July and August with a hitting streak that lasted longer than a month.

It began on July 16 with a double against the California Angels.

On August 25, the streak reached its zenith of 39 games during a contest with the Cleveland Indians. But it wasn’t easy.

In the first inning against Ken Schrom, Molitor flied out to right field. In the second, he got on base with a walk, but that didn’t help the hit streak.

The 4th inning brought former Brewers teammate Jamie Easterly, who induced Molitor into a groundout.

The pressure was certainly more on Molitor with reliever Don Gordon on the mound and the possibility that he might not come to the plate again, as the Brewers had an 8-4 lead and no guarantee of a bottom of the 9th inning.

With the heat on and the hit streak on the line, Molitor delivered.

Team Streak had its third streak of a memorable year. At 39 games, Molitor had the longest streak in the American League since Joe DiMaggio’s record streak of 56 games in 1941.

No Major League player has had a longer hitting streak since.