June 9, 1997: Mabry extends his hitting streak to 20

On June 9, 1997, with a single up the middle in the 7th, John Mabry extended his hitting streak to 20 games. The Cardinals outfielder picked up two rbi's on the hit and put the Cards on top 6-1 over the Padres in San Diego. The Redbirds waited until the 9th to inflict a little more damage and Mabry got in the action in that frame as well. He capped off the night with another rbi single then Mike Difelice picked up another single in the inning which brought Mabry across the plate for another Cardinals run, it was the final run of the 9-1 rout over the Friars. The streak ended the next time out but it was a huge turnaround for Mabry, just a few weeks earlier Tony LaRussa had to yank him for a pinch hitter because he was so lost at the plate. With a little help from his hitting coach George Hendrick he came out of the slump and caught fire. Mabry praised the coach for his advice and the coach praised Mabry for his work ethic. The streak came to an end in the next game but it was a remarkable run of baseball for him. I'm sure he learned lessons along the way that has helped him become the coach that he is today.

Here is a great article that was published when Mabry was named hitting coach, it has a lot about the about the streak, including the fact that he had 10 multi-hit games during that stretch: http://retrosimba.com/2012/11/05/george-hendrick-influenced-hitting-style-of-john-mabry/