Morley’s Hits Streak Stopped at Forty One.
William Morley, the magnificent Manchester United left fieldsman, is the acknowledged master of the base hits streak. Entering the 1929 season he had fashioned five long streaks of 24, 25, 30, 31, and, of course, the magnificent 53 games hits streak of five years ago.
Last season he authored a 20 games streak, and three days after that had been stopped, went on a “tear” to end the season with an active streak of 35 matches. He started this season with base hits in his first six matches before finally being held hitless in yesterday’s match, a four runs to two victory against the powerful Crewe Alexandra club. It is not as though Morley was shut down entirely, for he drew two bases on balls and scored two runs to provide the difference for the victory.
Morley now owns two of the three longest hit streaks in League history, the great war hero William Beveridge being the owner of a 44 games streak in 1905. For the record, the Second Division high mark for hits streak is 38 matches by Sydney Griffiths of Birmingham in 1928; and for the Third Division, streaks of 36 games are owned jointly by Fergus O’Neill of Bristol Rovers in 1921, and Will Marshall of Queens Park Rangers in 1922.
