The Texas Rangers Handed Nick Kurtz an A's Franchise Record
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The Athletics ended up going 4-2 during their road trip against the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers, taking two of three from each AL West foe. Along the way, Nick Kurtz etched his name into A's history, setting the mark for most consecutive games drawing a walk at 16, and counting.
He entered the game tied with Rickey Henderson (1993), Max Bishop (1933) and Topsy Hartsel (1905) at 15 straight games with a walk, and in the top of the ninth, Kurtz still needed his walk to extend the streak.
Luckily for him, the Texas Rangers were in a bind with a runner on second, and they decided to put up four fingers and handed Kurtz not only first base, but A's history.
Inside Kurtz's streak
Kurtz has emerged as one of the most dangerous bats in baseball since his MLB debut last season, and could even challenge for the American League MVP award as early as this year. The walks are part of his game, but hardly his only weapon.
Kurtz's streak began on April 10 in the first game of the series against the New York Mets. It also happened to be the day that A's DH Brent Rooker landed on the injured list with his oblique injury, so Kurtz was stepping up with the team's most consistent slugger down.
The A's first baseman has gone 14-for-54 (.259) with five homers and 10 RBI in this span. This is in addition to the walks, of which he has drawn 21 in these 16 games, and that has led to a .467 OBP. In other words, he's getting on base roughly every other plate appearance.
One helpful factor here is that he has largely hit first or second in the lineup during this stretch, outside of four games against the Rangers and Chicago White Sox at home when he was slotted third in the order.
Being at the top of the order provides Kurtz with more plate appearances and more opportunities to do damage over the course of the game. It's stretches like this that make the case for Kurtz leading off.
Kurtz isn't the first Athletic to have a similar streak
Rickey Henderson's 15-game walk streak was the most recent of the three, taking place in 1993. His walk streak actually began against the Rangers on May 11 of that year. During his streak, Rickey hit .273 with a .508 OBP, along with two home runs, 15 runs scored and four stolen bases.
Funnily enough, Henderson wasn't even technically the best hitter on his own team during that specific stretch of games, with catcher Terry Steinbach hitting .396 with a .475 on-base percentage and a 192 wRC+ (100 is league average) compared to Rickey's 182.
Max Bishop's walk streak started on April 13, the second day of the season, and he ended up with seven multi-walk games during his own 15-game streak. While he was getting on base plenty, he went just 10-for-43 (.232) during this span.
Finally, Topsy Hartsel began his record-setting streak in the early part of the season, from April 26 to May 18. Setting the initial record just four years into the franchise's existence, the record would stand the test of time, lasting for 121 years—until the Rangers intentionally walked Kurtz on Sunday, April 26.
The most fascinating part of his streak is that every team he faced during those 15 games has since changed its name.
The streak began with three games against the New York Highlanders, who became the Yankees in 1913. The next eight games came against the Washington Senators, who moved to Minnesota and became the Twins in 1961. His streak continued for three more games against the St. Louis Browns, who became the Baltimore Orioles in 1954.
In the end, a franchise record 121 years in the making came down to four fingers and a free pass, etching Kurtz's name alone atop the A's record books.
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Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. Mason Miller once said he likes Jason's content.
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