Orlando Cabrera and the On Base Streak
As some may know, Orlando Cabrera is in the throes of a 61 game On Base streak. That is to say, he’s gotten on base at least once in each of the last 61 games, either by a hit, walk, or hit by pitch.
Here’s his sparkline for the season, in terms of number of times on base:
As you can see, there have been only 4 games in which he didn’t get on base. This is pretty amazing for a guy with a career .318 OBP, which is rather low.
Over the 61 game period, he’s hitting .304 with a OBP of .374, and he’s been on base more than once in only 29 of those games. He’s running a very narrow path to the goal. And what’s that goal?
In 1949, Ted Williams forged a streak of 84 games in a row on base. It’s one of the most overlooked records in baseball. Against all odds, Cabrera is charging towards it. He already has the most in a row since at least 1960, and possibly longer. Elias Sports Bureau is having some trouble digging deeper than that. It’s kind of tricky to dig through old numbers to find on base streaks, since they weren’t really kept as a record until the advent of the OBP stat as a useful number.
Here’s what Cabrera has facing him on his way to 84 games, in terms of opponents On Base Percentage Allowed:
(OBA+ is an index of the team’s standing against the AL average for OBA. Over 100 is a better OBA, under 100 indicates a worse OBA. Note the Royals having the lowest number at 91.)
Streak # OBA Rank/14 OBA+
7/05/06 Angels at Mariners 62 .333 9 100
7/06/06 Angels at Athletics 63 .336 10 100
7/07/06 Angels at Athletics 64 .336 10 100
7/08/06 Angels at Athletics 65 .336 10 100
7/09/06 Angels at Athletics 66 .336 10 100
7/14/06 Devil Rays at Angels 67 .354 12 94
7/15/06 Devil Rays at Angels 68 .354 12 94
7/16/06 Devil Rays at Angels 69 .354 12 94
7/17/06 Indians at Angels 70 .333 8 100
7/18/06 Indians at Angels 71 .333 8 100
7/19/06 Indians at Angels 72 .333 8 100
7/20/06 Angels at Royals 73 .369 14 91
7/21/06 Angels at Royals 74 .369 14 91
7/22/06 Angels at Royals 75 .369 14 91
7/23/06 Angels at Royals 76 .369 14 91
7/24/06 Angels at Devil Rays 77 .354 12 94
7/25/06 Angels at Devil Rays 78 .354 12 94
7/26/06 Angels at Devil Rays 79 .354 12 94
7/28/06 Angels at Red Sox 80 .330 7 101
7/29/06 Angels at Red Sox 81 .330 7 101
7/30/06 Angels at Red Sox 82 .330 7 101
7/31/06 Athletics at Angels 83 .336 10 100
8/01/06 Athletics at Angels 84 .336 10 100
8/02/06 Athletics at Angels 85 .336 10 100
8/03/06 Rangers at Angels 86 .341 11 98
8/04/06 Rangers at Angels 87 .341 11 98
8/05/06 Rangers at Angels 88 .341 11 98
8/06/06 Rangers at Angels 89 .341 11 98