If you are into numbers and patterns like I am, your eye will scan the year-by-year stats of a particular player and sometimes notice that there is a run of increasing or decreasing figures for a particular stat. During ballgames, you’ll sometimes here that “he has seen his batting average increase in each of the last three years,” or something similar. So, what are the records for most consecutive years with increasing or decreasing figures for the major stats.
We’ll start with the batters’ increases first. Using the year-by-year stat lines furnished by Fangraphs, here are the longest streaks with increasing totals:
| Year | Player | Games (8 cons. years) |
| 1956 | Jerry Lumpe | 20 |
| 1957 | Jerry Lumpe | 40 |
| 1958 | Jerry Lumpe | 81 |
| 1959 | Jerry Lumpe | 126 |
| 1960 | Jerry Lumpe | 146 |
| 1961 | Jerry Lumpe | 148 |
| 1962 | Jerry Lumpe | 156 |
| 1963 | Jerry Lumpe | 157 |
| 1964 | Jerry Lumpe | 158 |
| 1881 | Harry Stovey | 75 |
| 1882 | Harry Stovey | 84 |
| 1883 | Harry Stovey | 94 |
| 1884 | Harry Stovey | 104 |
| 1885 | Harry Stovey | 112 |
| 1886 | Harry Stovey | 123 |
| 1887 | Harry Stovey | 124 |
| 1888 | Harry Stovey | 130 |
| 1889 | Harry Stovey | 137 |
| 1880 | Ned Williamson | 75 |
| 1881 | Ned Williamson | 82 |
| 1882 | Ned Williamson | 83 |
| 1883 | Ned Williamson | 98 |
| 1884 | Ned Williamson | 107 |
| 1885 | Ned Williamson | 113 |
| 1886 | Ned Williamson | 121 |
| 1887 | Ned Williamson | 127 |
| 1888 | Ned Williamson | 132 |
| Year | Player | PAs (8 cons. years) |
| 1962 | Gaylord Perry | 15 |
| 1963 | Gaylord Perry | 18 |
| 1964 | Gaylord Perry | 66 |
| 1965 | Gaylord Perry | 72 |
| 1966 | Gaylord Perry | 93 |
| 1967 | Gaylord Perry | 106 |
| 1968 | Gaylord Perry | 107 |
| 1969 | Gaylord Perry | 129 |
| 1970 | Gaylord Perry | 132 |
| 1942 | Eddie Robinson | 9 |
| 1946 | Eddie Robinson | 34 |
| 1947 | Eddie Robinson | 355 |
| 1948 | Eddie Robinson | 540 |
| 1949 | Eddie Robinson | 603 |
| 1950 | Eddie Robinson | 647 |
| 1951 | Eddie Robinson | 649 |
| 1952 | Eddie Robinson | 681 |
| 1953 | Eddie Robinson | 685 |
| 1881 | Harry Stovey | 353 |
| 1882 | Harry Stovey | 382 |
| 1883 | Harry Stovey | 448 |
| 1884 | Harry Stovey | 478 |
| 1885 | Harry Stovey | 529 |
| 1886 | Harry Stovey | 554 |
| 1887 | Harry Stovey | 560 |
| 1888 | Harry Stovey | 595 |
| 1889 | Harry Stovey | 634 |
| 1880 | Ned Williamson | 326 |
| 1881 | Ned Williamson | 362 |
| 1882 | Ned Williamson | 375 |
| 1883 | Ned Williamson | 424 |
| 1884 | Ned Williamson | 459 |
| 1885 | Ned Williamson | 482 |
| 1886 | Ned Williamson | 510 |
| 1887 | Ned Williamson | 517 |
| 1888 | Ned Williamson | 523 |
| Year | Player | HR (7 cons. years) |
| 1999 | David Ortiz | 0 |
| 2000 | David Ortiz | 10 |
| 2001 | David Ortiz | 18 |
| 2002 | David Ortiz | 20 |
| 2003 | David Ortiz | 31 |
| 2004 | David Ortiz | 41 |
| 2005 | David Ortiz | 47 |
| 2006 | David Ortiz | 54 |
| 1990 | Darrin Fletcher | 0 |
| 1991 | Darrin Fletcher | 1 |
| 1992 | Darrin Fletcher | 2 |
| 1993 | Darrin Fletcher | 9 |
| 1994 | Darrin Fletcher | 10 |
| 1995 | Darrin Fletcher | 11 |
| 1996 | Darrin Fletcher | 12 |
| 1997 | Darrin Fletcher | 17 |
| Year | Player | Runs (8 cons. years) |
| 1971 | Don Baylor | 0 |
| 1972 | Don Baylor | 33 |
| 1973 | Don Baylor | 64 |
| 1974 | Don Baylor | 66 |
| 1975 | Don Baylor | 79 |
| 1976 | Don Baylor | 85 |
| 1977 | Don Baylor | 87 |
| 1978 | Don Baylor | 103 |
| 1979 | Don Baylor | 120 |
| Year | Player | RBI (7 cons. years) |
| 1993 | Gerald Williams | 6 |
| 1994 | Gerald Williams | 13 |
| 1995 | Gerald Williams | 28 |
| 1996 | Gerald Williams | 34 |
| 1997 | Gerald Williams | 41 |
| 1998 | Gerald Williams | 44 |
| 1999 | Gerald Williams | 68 |
| 2000 | Gerald Williams | 89 |
| 1978 | Keith Moreland | 0 |
| 1979 | Keith Moreland | 8 |
| 1980 | Keith Moreland | 29 |
| 1981 | Keith Moreland | 37 |
| 1982 | Keith Moreland | 68 |
| 1983 | Keith Moreland | 70 |
| 1984 | Keith Moreland | 80 |
| 1985 | Keith Moreland | 106 |
| 1973 | Ben Oglivie | 9 |
| 1974 | Ben Oglivie | 29 |
| 1975 | Ben Oglivie | 36 |
| 1976 | Ben Oglivie | 47 |
| 1977 | Ben Oglivie | 61 |
| 1978 | Ben Oglivie | 72 |
| 1979 | Ben Oglivie | 81 |
| 1980 | Ben Oglivie | 118 |
| 1984 | Harold Reynolds | 0 |
| 1985 | Harold Reynolds | 6 |
| 1986 | Harold Reynolds | 24 |
| 1987 | Harold Reynolds | 35 |
| 1988 | Harold Reynolds | 41 |
| 1989 | Harold Reynolds | 43 |
| 1990 | Harold Reynolds | 55 |
| 1991 | Harold Reynolds | 57 |
| Year | Player | SB (6 cons. years) |
| 1999 | Craig Counsell | 1 |
| 2000 | Craig Counsell | 3 |
| 2001 | Craig Counsell | 6 |
| 2002 | Craig Counsell | 7 |
| 2003 | Craig Counsell | 11 |
| 2004 | Craig Counsell | 17 |
| 2005 | Craig Counsell | 26 |
| 1964 | Carl Yastrzemski | 6 |
| 1965 | Carl Yastrzemski | 7 |
| 1966 | Carl Yastrzemski | 8 |
| 1967 | Carl Yastrzemski | 10 |
| 1968 | Carl Yastrzemski | 13 |
| 1969 | Carl Yastrzemski | 15 |
| 1970 | Carl Yastrzemski | 23 |
| Year | Player | BA (8 cons. years) |
| 1888 | Bill Hallman | .206 |
| 1889 | Bill Hallman | .253 |
| 1890 | Bill Hallman | .267 |
| 1891 | Bill Hallman | .283 |
| 1892 | Bill Hallman | .292 |
| 1893 | Bill Hallman | .307 |
| 1894 | Bill Hallman | .309 |
| 1895 | Bill Hallman | .314 |
| 1896 | Bill Hallman | .320 |
| Year | Player | OBP (7 cons. years) |
| 1911 | Jimmy Johnston | .000 |
| 1914 | Jimmy Johnston | .264 |
| 1916 | Jimmy Johnston | .313 |
| 1917 | Jimmy Johnston | .321 |
| 1918 | Jimmy Johnston | .328 |
| 1919 | Jimmy Johnston | .334 |
| 1920 | Jimmy Johnston | .338 |
| 1921 | Jimmy Johnston | .372 |
| 1955 | Brooks Robinson | .091 |
| 1956 | Brooks Robinson | .244 |
| 1957 | Brooks Robinson | .286 |
| 1958 | Brooks Robinson | .292 |
| 1959 | Brooks Robinson | .325 |
| 1960 | Brooks Robinson | .329 |
| 1961 | Brooks Robinson | .334 |
| 1962 | Brooks Robinson | .342 |
| Year | Player | SLG (8 cons. years) |
| 1968 | Joe Morgan | .350 |
| 1969 | Joe Morgan | .372 |
| 1970 | Joe Morgan | .396 |
| 1971 | Joe Morgan | .407 |
| 1972 | Joe Morgan | .435 |
| 1973 | Joe Morgan | .493 |
| 1974 | Joe Morgan | .494 |
| 1975 | Joe Morgan | .508 |
| 1976 | Joe Morgan | .576 |
Next time out, we’ll looking at batting decreases.