One overlooked Tigers shortstop set a mark that only four legends have ever matched.
On August 19, 1938 in the third game of the Tigers-White Sox series, Detroit shortstop Bill Rogell walked in his seventh straight plate appearance, becoming the first player ever to do it. Two days earlier, Rogell’s streak began with an intentional walk, followed by five walks the next day to tie the record before another first-inning pass pushed him ahead alone. Remarkably, Rogell later claimed he never swung at a single pitch during the entire streak — a feat only later matched by Mel Ott, Eddie Stanky, José Canseco, and Barry Bonds.
🕵️ Inside The Original Newspaper Coverage:
A photographer captured an almost impossible Hank Greenberg action shot
Rogell joked about the strangest part of his record-setting streak
Columnists connected this feat to another bizarre Rogell record that, curiously, also involved not doing something
An early example of an “advertorial” featuring a famous breakfast cereal and Rogell
🕵️ Replay Today: May 9, 1976
See one original newspaper page giving a snapshot of baseball as fans saw it that day.
It was a good day for the #2 teams in both the AL East and West
The top of the standings in the NL East looked rather odd
In the AL Batting Leaders, two Orioles legends were starting the season well below “The Mendoza Line”
The Original Newspaper Coverage is Just Below
These are the exact pages fans read the next day. Start your 7-day free trial to see them now.