With the various and sundry pitching problems afflicting the Brewers, it is easy to lose track of just about anything that happens on offense. When the contributions of one player on offense tower over everyone else, it is even easier to lose the others in the shuffle. I think that Prince Fielder's hitting efforts from May 22 to May 25 deserve a little more recognition.
To review:
- On May 22, Fielder walked in the 8th inning. He walked again in the 9th and the 12th.
- On May 23, Fielder was hit by a pitch in the 1st inning, walked in the fourth, homered in the 6th, and finished his day by singling in the 8th.
- After an off day, Fielder walked in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th innings on May 25. He followed that by singling in the 7th.
- On May 26, he popped out to the shortstop in his first at bat.
For those keeping track, Prince Fielder reached base in eleven consecutive plate appearances.
That is just one off the franchise mark set by Ben Oglivie from June 26 to June 28, 1978:
- On June 26, Oglivie singled in the 4th inning. He tripled in the 6th and hit a two-run home run in the 7th.
- The next day, Oglivie singled in the 2nd, walked in the 3rd, singled in the 5th, and walked in both the 7th and 8th innings.
- In the first game of a doubleheader on June 28th, Oglivie walked in the second, was walked intentionally in the 3rd, doubled in the 6th, and hit a three-run home run in the 7th.
- In the second game of the doubleheader, he struck out in his first trip to the plate
All told, Oglivie reached base in twelve consecutive plate appearances. Obviously, Oglivie's plate appearances featured more power than Fielder's. While Fielder has struggled in the power department this season, he is still getting on base at a prodigious rate. With his patience, perhaps he can put together a record breaking on-base streak with a few more home runs later this summer.