Streaking

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible." -- Baseball philosopher Sir Arthur C. Clarke.

I recently discovered a fun little game that has apparently been around on the Internets for quite some time ... Beat the Streak on MLB.com.

The concept is simple, try to break Joe DiMaggio's 1941 major-league record 56-game hitting streak by picking players you think will get hits each day. If your player doesn't get a hit, your streak ends. If you reach 57 games, you become a millionaire (or, as close to one as the taxman will allow).

I started playing Monday and selected Cubs sensation Kosuke Fukudome, who's hitting well north of .300 this season. He went 0 for 4. The next day, I figured Fukudome was due for a hit, given his high batting average and the fact that he went hitless the night before. He went 0 for 3. His batting average has fallen 20 points since I started picking him on Beat the Streak.

Like playing the game of baseball, this is apparently far more difficult that it looks.

MLBAM (that's short for "Major League Baseball Advanced Media") says that since it launched Beat the Streak in April 2001, more than one million contestants have played the free fantasy game on MLB.com, and a select few have come close to reaching the streak, including last year’s winner, Michael Karatzia of Sea Girt, N.J. Karatzia established a new all-time mark with a streak of 49 games, falling just a week shy of qualifying for last year’s grand prize. Overall, last year there were 14 individual streaks of at least 40 games, more than double the total from the first six seasons combined.

Last year's winner built his record-breaking streak by using a variety of the game's best hitters, including Vladimir Guerrero (9 times), Derek Jeter (8), Magglio Ordoñez (5) and Jose Reyes (4).

Since Monday, I've started a new streak ... how long can I go -- while selecting top major-league hitters -- without any of those talented batters getting a hit?

Today, I've got Albert Pujols. I don't like my chances of the hitless streak continuing into a third day. Pujols has reached base safely in every game this season (34 games with a hit and/or walk ...impressive). Pujols is hitting an impressive .348 and is currently riding a six-game hitting streak, which is six more than I have been able to muster on Beat the Streak. Pujols also wears No. 5. DiMaggio wore No. 5.

Stay tuned ...