ST. PETERSBURG -- Most rookies dream of getting a hit in the World Series. Cooper Pratt dreams of getting a hit, and then another, and another, and another …
Pratt set a rookie World Series record with a hit in his sixth consecutive plate appearance during Game 5 Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, singling to spark a run-scoring rally for the Brewers. In doing so, the 22-year-old became the first player of any kind to record a hit in six straight World Series plate appearances since David Ortiz of the Red Sox in 2013.
Pratt’s streak began when he doubled home a run in the fourth inning of Game 4. He then singled in the sixth, singled again in the ninth and hit a dramatic, go-ahead homer in the 12th. After the Brewers lost that game on a walk-off, Pratt returned the next day with an RBI single in the second inning. Then, in the fifth, he singled to pass Brian Doyle of the Yankees, who recorded hits as a rookie in five consecutive World Series plate appearances in 1978.
Billy Hatcher holds the all-time record with a hit in seven consecutive World Series plate appearances in 1990. In addition to Pratt and Ortiz, Thurman Munson, Norm Cash and Goose Goslin also had hits in six straight trips to the plate.
Pratt’s record-setting single made him 8-for-18 (.444) in World Series play, with three of those hits going for extra bases.
“This kid just continues to amaze you,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said before Game 5. “As a young player that just got into the league and quite a bit of pressure on him in terms of a young player who already signed a long-term contract … just to see the way he's become a student of the game and willing to be open to growth, yeah, it’s pretty special.”
Pratt, the Brewers’ No. 4 prospect heading into this season, hit just .238 in 120 games last year for Double-A Biloxi. But the Brewers believed in him enough to hand him an eight-year, $50.75 million contract prior to his Major League debut.
He has since rewarded them with hit after hit after hit, the last six of those coming consecutively on the game’s brightest stage.