JBJ has earned his place on AL All-Star team

Jackie Bradley Jr. is one of the coolest things to happen in baseball this season. So is that why he deserves a spot on the American League All-Star team?

Actually, yes.

Bradley’s 29-game hitting streak is one of those remarkable accomplishments that captivated us on a variety of levels, and isn’t that what the All-Star Game is all about?

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It’s a gathering of the sport’s best players. Bradley absolutely qualifies in this area. More on that later. It’s also a time to celebrate achievements that grabbed our attention and drew us to ballparks, televisions, etc.

This season we’ve had the Cubs roaring out of the gate and Clayton Kershaw and Jake Arrieta performing at amazingly high levels. We’ve also had David Ortiz, ageless and amazing in what he says will be his final season.

Still, nothing has been quite as compelling as the daily tracking of Bradley’s hitting streak — tied for fourth-longest in Red Sox history and the longest in the Majors since Dan Uggla’s 33-game streak in 2011.

Hitting streaks have been mythologized since Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 straight games in 1941. That number — 56 — is sacred to baseball fans.

In the 75 years since, no one has really gotten close. Pete Rose made a nice run in 1978 with a 44-game streak, and Paul Molitor got to 39 in 1987.

To watch DiMaggio’s streak go essentially unchallenged for six decades is a tribute to the accomplishment in itself.

That Bradley …

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