When I was a wee lad, my grandfather dandled me on his knee and said, "Kid, they don't make ballplayers like Walt Dropo anymore." Ah, but his father did the same to him, and weepily reminisced about Pinky Higgins. But his grandfather insisted the game had gone downhill ever since Noisy John Kling hung 'em up.
OK, none of that happened. But if one wanted to create a loving pastiche of baseball in the first half of the 20th century, on a purely aesthetic level one couldn't invent better names than Noisy John Kling, Pinky Higgins, and Walt Dropo. (Nickname plus "ethnic" European surname is the secret sauce that makes "Tungsten Arm" O'Doyle so perfect. And barring a nickname, they should be named something kids aren't named so much anymore, like "Walt.") And so it was that I was delighted to see that Minnesota Twins third baseman José Miranda had tied an MLB record—held by, yes, Noisy John Kling, Pinky Higgins, and Walt Dropo—with a hit in his 12th consecutive at-bat.
Starting with his final plate appearance on Wednesday, Miranda went single, double, single, double, single, double, single, double, home run, single, hit by pitch, single, single, before ending his streak on a routine fly-out in Saturday's 9-3 Twins win over the Astros. In those 12 at-bats, Miranda raised his season batting average from .294 to .329, and his career batting average from .265 to .276. Nice little bumps to achieve in just three games.
With his first hit on Saturday, his 11th straight, Miranda tied the Twins franchise record for consecutive at-bats with a hit, matching Rod Carew, Chuck Knoblauch, and Todd Walker. “I wasn’t sure about all the records, obviously the MLB record and all the other stuff,” Miranda said. “I knew the Twins’ one."
But that's entry-level Guy-Remembering. True Guy heads were waiting for hit No. 12, and for Noisy John Kling, Pinky Higgins, and Walt Dropo to be thought about in public for the first time in decades. "That was a long time ago," Miranda said.
It was! Johnny Kling played so long ago, he suited up for teams named the Orphans and the Rustlers because the Cubs and Braves hadn't settled on those names yet. Kling was a fine hitter and an excellent defensive catcher who won two titles in Chicago. He earned his nickname "Noisy" for the steady stream of chatter he'd keep up behind the plate to distract hitters; when he became the first major leaguer to hit in 12 straight at-bats in 1902, it was probably notable more for how miserable it made opposing first baseman who had to listen to him. One of the dead-ball era's true personalities, Kling also played competitive billiards: He sat out the 1909 season because of a salary dispute with the Cubs, and earned more money playing pool than Chicago had offered him.
Pinky Higgins, who reeled off 12 straight hits for the Red Sox in 1938, was a baseball lifer: third baseman, manager, GM, scout. He was also a notorious racist, partly responsible for Boston's resistance to integration, and his career ended when he killed someone while driving drunk. So don't feel bad about referring to him by his childhood nickname Pinky, which he hated.
Walt Dropo, the son of Serbian Immigrants, saw combat in Europe in World War II and was a three-sport standout in college, getting drafted to play professional football and basketball before choosing to sign with the Red Sox. His 1950 remains one of the best rookie years ever put together, but after breaking his wrist in 1951 he was never quite the same hitter, if still a capable one over 13 seasons. It was in 1952 with the Tigers, after a midseason trade, that he racked up his 12 straight hits.
And that was it, for 72 more years. Many came close, but no one equalled Kling, Higgins, and Dropo. Until this week. A second-round Twins pick out of Puerto Rico in 2016, Miranda took his time ascending the minors. After a respectable rookie campaign in 2022, he missed a good chunk of his sophomore season with shoulder surgery before bouncing back this year. Miranda always profiled as a contact hitter—occasionally to his detriment, as while he doesn't strike out much, he also doesn't walk much, either, swinging at too many pitches but with good enough hands to make contact even on the uninviting ones. In other words, the type of player who might hit his way on-base 12 straight times, if the planets aligned.
These are my favorite baseball records, the relatively obscure streaks, where a certain skillset might help but is so dependent on getting obscenely hot that they can happen to anyone. Dale Long was a journeyman who made just one all-star team, but he'll live forever because he once homered in eight straight games. Just this weekend, Dodgers catcher Will Smith tied an MLB record with his fourth consecutive home run. Likewise, you don't need to be a great player to get 12 straight hits; you do need to be a professional hitter, and have a whole lot of luck on your side. It's a type of immortality every bit as real as any other record, even if it's one you might need to look up. Whatever Miranda's career becomes, he's on the list. Noisy John Kling, Pinky Higgins, Walt Dropo, José Miranda.
