Saturday, August 05, 2006

Chase Utley increased his hit streak to 35 games last night. He's only the
fourth player in the last 20 years to get a hit in every game in a month,
and sportsbook.com, the world's largest online sportsbook and casino, has
posted odds on how long the streak will last. The Philadelphia Phillies'
second baseman is on a tear and is gunning for Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit
streak record, one that dates back to 1941. Utley will break Joltin' Joe's
mark if he continues to get a hit each game up to and including August 26
against the New York Mets. The odds on his current streak coming to an end
on that date are 60-1. "This is a great story for Phillies fans - and
baseball fans around the world," said Alex Czajkowski, Sportsbook.com.
"Streaks like this don't come around often. This ranks right up there with
Hank Aaron's home run record in terms of its significance and it's something
everybody is going to bet on. Utley is batting .404 (57-for-141) during the
streak, raising his season average to .328. His 35 game streak is tied for
the ninth-longest in Major League history with Rogers Hornsby (1922) and
George Davis (1893).