Texas Rangers: Remembering the most remarkable streak in team history
By Travis Koch
The week of May 7th, 2012, Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton went on a streak incomparable to any streak MLB had ever before seen.
Baseball thrills us with the spectacular all the time. So often that we may even take for granted the things these beyond-gifted athletes do. Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo smashes a ball off the roof of “The Batter’s Eye Club” some 500 feet away, and we expect each of his subsequent moonshots to awe us similarly.
If a player does something once, there’s reason to believe he can do it again. That’s the difference between a moment and a span of moments, however. And no one can take for granted the remarkable span of moments Josh Hamilton had the week of May 7th, 2012.
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Hamilton was off to a tremendous start, owning a .376 batting average and slugging .703 as he and his Rangers entered a four-game series against the Orioles in Baltimore. The 2010 MVP opened the series in modest fashion, going 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.
Little did he know that night was the eve of arguably the greatest single-game performance in MLB history.
May 8th, the Rangers faced starting pitcher Jake Arrieta. Hamilton launched a two-run homer to center-field his first at-bat off the right-hander, a two-run bomb to left field his second at-bat, and a double to right-center his third at-bat.
By the time Arrieta ditched, Hamilton was 3-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI.