Expert: Tom Schott - 12/5/2008

Question
In the game 4 of the 1941 World Series Mickey Owens dropped the ball on the 3rd strike. He is best remembered for that gaff even after almost 70 yrs.

Yet in that year as I understand it he set a fielding record of .995. I have heard also that he set another record that same year - most consecutive catches of a pitch without an error. Are these correct and if so how many consecutive catches did he make?


Answer
Paul,

In 1941, Mickey Owens caught in 128 games and did have a .995 fielding percentage to lead the league in that category (although Ray Berres of the Boston Braves also had a .995, but he caught fewer games--120).

But that was far from the single season record. This is held by

AL -- Chris Hoiles, Baltimore, 1997   1.000
NL -- Charles Johnson, Florida, 1997  1.000

I cannot verify the other record on consecutive pitches. I'm sorry. I would not even know where to look. Perhaps The Baseball Hall of Fame library, The Sporting News, or the Elias Sports Bureau could tell you.