Today, I'm taking a break from White Sox misery (Dye .186 in August, Beckham .183 since August 5th, Rios .192 with White Sox, Jose Contreras, etc.) to present some fine oddball trivia that I came across today as I pored over the 2009 Red Sox media guide.

Even the most casual baseball fan is familiar with Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak, but not nearly as often do you hear about the AL and NL consecutive game RBI streak record holders.

After a one game trial in 1920 with the Red Sox, Ray Grimes burst onto the scene with the Cubs in 1921 with a fine .321 average over 147 games. The next season he did even better, posting a .354 mark, adding 14 HR and 99 RBI. In the second game of a doubleheader June 27 vs. Pittsburgh, Grimes knocked in Charlie Hollocher with a single, and would record at least one RBI in the next 16 games as well. He led the Cubs in RBI that year, and would only record another 80 in his career, which ended with the Phillies in 1926 at age 32. His son Oscar played from 1938-46, mostly during wartime, and made the 1945 All-Star team with the Yankees.

The American League record in 14 by Tris Speaker, the Hall of Fame center fielder known mostly for playing the shallowest center field in history, collecting an unheard of 449 outfield assists. Speaker also is the holder of the all time record for doubles, with 792. Speaker also put together a career .345 batting average, and was player-manager for the 1920 champion Indians. But the Speaker that set this RBI streak was the 40 year old in the twilight of his career with the 1928 White Elephants. Spoke only played in 64 games that season, and only posted 11 RBIs other than the 19 he had during his 14 game streak. You would certainly expect him to have set the record during his prime with the Red Sox or Indians, but instead it was with the 1928 Philadelphia squad, the team I would choose if I had to have one autographed team ball.

Yes, it was one season before the 1929 championship team, but this 1928 team not only featured the nucleus of the 1929-31 pennant winners; Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Lefty Grove, but it also featured Speaker and Ty Cobb in their last seasons. Eddie Collins, the all time second baseman of many, was also on that team. Many other fine players rounded out the team, such as Max "Camera Eye" Bishop, Jimmy Dykes, Joe Hauser, who twice hit over 60 homers in the minors, Bing Miller, Ed Rommel, and ageless wonder Jack Quinn (a youthful 44 that season; he played until 50).

For my money, that's the most impressive team on paper in baseball history.