August 29, 1944: Wilks Locks Down His 11th Win In A Row

     On August 29, 1944, with a dominant three hit performance, Ted Wilks recorded his 11th consecutive win, as he led the way to a 3-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Sportsman's Park. The Redbirds centerfielder Johnny Hopp provided Wilks with the run all the support he needed with an RBI double in the third, then he gave him a little more breathing room with a big fly in the fifth. Whitey Kurowski put the final Cardinals run on the board with an RBI in the sixth, and up to that point Wilks had not allowed a hit. His bid for a no-no was broken up in the eighth, however, he still proved to be dominant as he worked around another knock, and got out of the inning with no damage done. The 28-year-old rookie would then work around one more hit in the ninth before his 14th win of the season was added to his stat line. Wilks' winning streak came to an end the next time out, but he did finish that pennant winning campaign with 17 wins, and his contributions helped bring the Cardinals another title.

That '44 season proved to be the best of Ted Wilks' career. He was a two time champion with the Cardinals. However, his success in the postseason was very limited. With that said, he did something that most can only dream of, as he forged out a career on a major league diamond. You can read more about the life and times of Ted Wilks here: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/26fbe8b8

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN194408290.shtml