Journeyman Cubs infielder sets new MLB record with nine hits in his first two games

Cubs infielder Emilio Bonifacio set a record on Wednesday when he became the first player in MLB history to notch nine hits in the first two games of a season. Bonifacio, a journeyman with a career .265 batting average, has a .750 average through the first two games of the season.

So is Emilio Bonifacio suddenly the best hitter ever? Of course not.

With no disrespect to his record, he has benefited from a nice run of good fortune, from the extra at-bats afforded by Wednesday night's 16-inning loss to the Pirates, and from the way unusual baseball feats are highlighted when they happen so early in a season.

That's perhaps the strangest part: Bonifacio has gotten off to nearly this hot of a start before. He went 14-for-24 to kick off the 2009 season before reverting to being Emilio Bonifacio and finishing with a .252 average that year.

Maybe Bonifacio gets so excited for new baseball seasons that he kicks it into high gear in April, or something. But it's much more likely just a strange coincidence.

The 2009 run earned Bonifacio a note in the video for a "song" I recorded to celebrate the odd things that happen across small samples in baseball, and to warn against reading too much into them. By chance, he's even featured in the YouTube screengrab.

(Thanks to Eye on Baseball for calling our attention to this story.)