After pushing past the 40-game mark Friday thanks to an historic blast from David Ortiz, Beat the Streak leader "Terry_Sims" -- aka 63-year old Terry Sims -- picked an excellent night to use a Kansas City star.
First baseman Eric Hosmer, Sims' Saturday selection, enjoyed a 2-for-4 outing with a double as part of a season-high 20-hit outburst for the Royals in their 16-5 rout of the Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. Hosmer's big night extended Sims' streak to 42 games, tied for the fourth-longest run by any BTS player this season, and placed him nearly three-quarters of the way to the $5.6 million grand prize.
Sims now needs just 15 more successful picks to surpass Joe DiMaggio's record 56-game run from 1941. In an email to MLB.com, the BTS leader revealed that in four or five years of playing Beat the Streak, this is his first time getting further than 20 games.
"I actually had picked [Alcides] Escobar and switched," Sims said. "Escobar had three hits yesterday, made me very nervous."
BTS is easier than ever in 2016. For example, users have the option of employing the "Mulligan" feature, which allows them to rescue their streak after an incorrect pick as long as the streak is between 10 and 15 games.
Additionally, BTS players have a wealth of research filters at their disposal including such as batting-order position and cold opposing pitchers. Best of all, they can take as many days off between selections if they don't find ideal matchups -- just as long as they exceed 56 games by season's end.
Sims is attempting to become the first player in the 15-year history of Beat the Streak to win the grand prize. If no one claims the grand prize this season, the player with the longest streak gets a $10,000 consolation prize. Additionally, two million other prizes were awarded for streaks as small as five games last year.
Should Sims become the first player to pass DiMaggio, he said he has "no plans" for the money, other than leaving his job at a golf course and taking his wife and friends on a trip to play golf around the world.
"My friends are all watching who my picks are," Sims said.
If Sims or someone else finally collects the grand prize this year, it would be particularly fitting this season -- the 75th anniversary of DiMaggio's hitting streak, which began on May 15, 1941, and is being honored with daily recaps on MLB.com and @TheStreak on Twitter.