Mlb Records

[Guest Vern Gagne]

With Luis Castillo's 34 game hitting streak in the news. It got me wondering what baseball marks do you think are unbreakable.

 

DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak. Castillo has the 12th longest ever. He's still 22 games away from DiMaggio.

 

CY Young's 511 Wins and 316 loses. Simply not possible. You don't get enough starts.

 

36 triples in one season. I believe it was Sam Crawford, but if someone know's for sure feel free to correct me. Cristian Guzman got 20 last year, and that was considering alot.

[Guest MaxPower27]

I think that Pete Rose's record of 4192 hits will never be broken, as most of the guys with 3K hits in the league are older, and most get the 3K in their second to last or last season. Christ, I don't think that anyone will ever get to 4K ever.

 

I agree about DiMaggio's hit streak, Castillo will get to 40, but won't get past 45.

 

Hack Wilson's 191 RBI won't be broken for a while, as you need to have guys get on base, then have the ability to drive them in. Most teams have either one or the other.

 

Nolan Ryan's K record won't be broken despite what ESPN wants to see Randy Johnson do.

 

I think that Ichiro will hit .400 within the next few years.

 

Rickey Henderson's all time base stealing record will sstand for years, as well.

[Guest bob_barron]

I don't think Cal's record will be broken.

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

Ty Cobb's career batting average of .367 won't be broken, not now and not ever, unless the rules of the game are radically changed (and I'm talking like 5 strikes for an out kind of radical change).

 

I can't see Bob Gibson's single season ERA of 1.12 being broken, either, not by anybody with a significant number of innings (i.e. starters).

 

Cy Young's 511 career wins is invincible as long as the 5 day rotation is the rule in the major leagues and the bullpens are (usually) so diluted and susceptible to lead blowing. And on a related note, nobody's going to catch Denny McClain's 30 win season of 1968, and 30 isn't even the record (I don't know what it is, but Christy Matthewson had 41 wins in 1905 or 1906, so the record is at least that).

 

Ichiro might hit .400, and it'd be cool if he did, but nobody is going to hit .424, which I believe is the modern era record (held by either Honus Wagner or Rogers Hornsbery, can't remember which.)

 

Guys have flirted with Hack Wilson's RBI record, so I think that's the most breakable of the "unbreakable" records, but I'm still not holding my breath. Probably would take extending the regular season to 170 games, or more, to make this breakable.

 

Another record that isn't necessarily unbreakable but is going to be very difficult to break is Lou Gehrig's "other record": Cal snapped his games streak, but 23 career grand slams is still the all time high, and I don't think anyone else has gotten closer than 16.

 

And, in spite of all the longball friendly gimmicks and rules changes in recent years, I honestly don't see anyone breaking Hank Aaron's 755 home runs unless every ball park moves their fences in about 80 feet across the board. Like Cobb's average and Rose's career hits, only a radical rule change is going to make this record breakable. Ken Griffey Jr. was the best candidate to break Aaron's record, but he's bombed out with injuries since going to Cincinatti. Hank stayed healthy throughout his career and played past age 40. That's damn near impossible to do.

 

Also, I agree on Rickey Henderson's career SB record, as the game has changed so much to the point where the stolen base isn't a major weapon anymore. And on this note, the single season stolen base record, which I think belongs to Vince Coleman (with well over 100) isn't going to be even threatened again. Until/Unless baseball becomes a speed-friendly game again (instead of the powerhitter phase it's in now).

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

Cal Ripken's record won't be broken.

[Guest King_TIL]

Unless they decide to test for steroids I wouldn't be suprised to see someone break Hack Wilson's record within the next decade.

 

Cal's record will not be broken. It hurts teams to have players play for so long with nagging injuriers, so it would be stupid for anyone to go after it.

[Guest Choken One]

Joe Dimaggio's record will never be broken, Pete Rose got as close any one will ever get. As for Luis Castillio...I'm thinking 42. Too bad no one in Florida gives a shit.

 

Cal Ripken's record is ironclad. Players are too soft to play more a full season these days.

 

Hack Wilson's RBI record WILL be broken (191 is the record)

 

Rickey Henderson's sb's record is there to stay.

 

 

.400 hitters will occur again (likely Ichiro)

 

Hank Aarron's Home Run record will be broken but not by Bonds (695), Junior (638) but by Alex Rodriguez (782)

 

No one will ever break Pete Rose hit record.

 

Randy Johnson has a small window of chance to pass Ryan's strikeout record.

 

511 wins is never gonna happen again. 300 is a impressive feat alone.

[Guest Some Guy]

Well Robin Ventura has about 17 GS I think so he may break Gehrig's record. Manny Ramerez has about 14-15 and is still only 29.

 

Cal's consectutive game streak will not be broken.

 

Young's 511

 

Cobb's .366 over 24 seasons will not be touched, Todd Helton has the highest active career AVG. and it's about .340 over onlt like 5-6 years. Last year Ichiro won the batting title hitting .357 (I think) which is still 9 points off Cobb's career AVG. (or ten depending on who you listen to). That's amazing.

 

I doubt that Castillo will break Gehrig's hit streak.

 

The RBI record won't be broken because big power guys get pitched around so much now a days (look at Bonds' BB total, it's over 80 after 60 or so games). Manny hit 165 a few years ago with Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, and Roberto Alomar hitting in front of him and always being on base. If he didn't break his finger this year he'd most likely have over 60 by now with Damon and Nomar in front of him and Shea to protect him. But 191 won't happen. BTW Hack Wilson did that in a 154 game season, making it an "*" record for any who might break it.

[Guest alkeiper]

A few clarifications, courtesy of baseball-reference.com

 

36 triples in one season. I believe it was Sam Crawford, but if someone know's for sure feel free to correct me. Cristian Guzman got 20 last year, and that was considering alot.

 

It was Chief Wilson. Quite odd to see that he never hit more than 14 in any other season.

 

I can't see Bob Gibson's single season ERA of 1.12 being broken, either, not by anybody with a significant number of innings (i.e. starters).

 

It was broke by Dutch Leonard in 1914.

 

I don't know what it is, but Christy Matthewson had 41 wins in 1905 or 1906, so the record is at least that).

 

Christy Mathewson won 37 games in 1908. The modern record (after 1900) is held by Jack Chesbro, who won 41 games in 1904.

 

And on this note, the single season stolen base record, which I think belongs to Vince Coleman (with well over 100) isn't going to be even threatened again.

 

Rickey Henderson also holds the single season stolen base record with 130.

[Guest Army Eye]

Aaron's 755 home runs seems quite breakable to me, with the way hitters are hitting home runs right now. But the question is, can these roided-up hitters stay healthy long enough to do it.

 

McGwire certainly couldn't..

 

 

 

Hack Wilson's 190 doesn't seem all that untouchable to me.

 

Dimaggio's 56. Awfully hard but I don't consider it unbreakable. If a mediocre hitter like Luis Castillo can get 34......

 

Ty Cobb's career .367. Now we're getting somewhere. Tony Gwynn was probably as good a chance and we'll see in a long time, the absolute definition of a batting average hitter, and he ended up way off at .338.

 

Cy Young' 511. Absolutely UNBREAKABLE. Same with Jack Chesbro's 41 wins in a season.

 

Then you have Walter Johnson, I think with 113 career shutouts. Bwahahah Good luck with that one. And how about Bob Gibson with 13 shutouts IN A SEASON!

[Guest MaxPower27]

Hack Wilson's record is 191, they discovered a game that he had another RBI in, and bumped him up to 191.

 

For the record, Choken One, there are people in Florida that give a shit, I care, and about 10,000 people care. That's not a lot, but most are on the east coast anyway.

 

I think that Bonds will fade, as eventually he'll get drilled HARD for standing on top of home plate, and he'll back off.

 

What aobut Clemens' record 5(?) Cy Young awards? I think that'll stand for a while.

 

Young's 511 will stand, what with the 5 man rotation and all.

 

Ryan's 7 no hitters won't be broken, as Nomo has the most by an active pitcher, with 2. If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me.

[Guest King_TIL]

I agree with Choken One that A-Rod will be the one to break Aaron's record if anyone currently playing is going to do it. He doesn't look to be roided up either, so he should have a nice, long career to make a go for it. He's not even 27 yet and already has 250. When Aaron was 27 he was only sitting on 219. Unbelievable.

[Guest franchise632]

One that hasn't been touched on is the single season hits record. George Sisler currently holds the record with 257 hits in 1920. No one since 1930 has come all that close. The closest in recent history is Ichiro with 242 last year and Darrin Erstad with 240 in 2000. Before that the closest challenger was Wade Boggs in 1985 when he also had 240.

 

Another safe record is Career Complete games for a pitcher, Cy Young threw an amazing 749 CG's, there isnt any active player that is even in the top one hundered. This record wouldnt have an opportunity to be broken with the different game that is played now and the amount of relief pitchers used.

 

Babe Ruth's Single Season Total Bases record is probably a safe one as well, he had 457 total bases in 1921, which is the year he hit 59 homers. The most recent players to approach this record was Sammy Sosa with 425 in 2001. Luis Gonzalez had 419 that year as well.

 

In regard to A-Rod being picked as the one likely to break Hank Aaron's career home run record. A-rod is currently 25 years old and has hit 241 HRs, If he played until he was 37 or 12 more seasons, he would need to hit an average of 43 home runs <42.83333>, if he played til he was 40 he would have to hit 35 a year. Going by Choken ones prediction of 782 HRS if he played 12 more season he would need 45.25 hrs per year, if he played til he was 40 he would need to hit 36.2 per. That is assuming that he would even play that long, and with the amount of money he is making and the crappy team he is on, i would doubt he would play that long.

 

If Junior(who is 31) played til he war 40 he would have to average 33 HR per year.

 

For Bonds(who is 36 now) til 40 he would need to average 47 Hrs

[Guest phoenixrising]

Hank Aaron's 755 is reachable. I think Barry Bonds might flirt with it because he seems to be ripping off monster home run seasons, but age might catch up with him. I can see him hitting 47 homers per year until he reaches it, though. A-Rod has the best chance of breaking it - not only does he hit a lot of homers, he does it consistently, kinda like how Aaron broke the record (Aaron's career high was 47, but he hit double digit homer totals in each of his 23 seasons, and hit 20 or more homers in 20 of those seasons).

 

I don't think Cobb's .367 will be broken...it's hard enough to reach .350 in a seson, let alone a career.

 

Ichiro has the best chance of hitting .400...he makes contact with the ball rather than hitting it outof the park, and he gets a lot of infield hits. He might also go after Sisler's 257 hits (he fell short by 15 last year).

 

I can also see the RBI record going sometime soon, a couple years ago Manny had 100 at the break but got hurt...whoever does it will need to A) be a power hitter, B) hit consistently, and C) have a bunch of players who can get on base to be driven in.

 

I'm surprised no one has won a Triple Crown the past four or five years, but we've had a lot of players getting close. A lot of power hitters can hit over .300 now, so I think it's only a matter of time.

 

The win records (Jack Chesbro's 41 wins in a season and Cy Young's 511 wins) won't be broken anytime soon, or if at all. All of them were set in the days of two or three man rotations. Pitchers don't get run out there 50 times like they did at the turn of the century, or even 40 times in the days of four man rotations.

 

Johnson just might break Ryan's strikeout records. I wouldn't be surprised.

 

Dutch Leonard's record ERA is 0.96. I'd like to see someone try and break that. (A starter I mean, not a reilever).

 

Other than strikeouts and saves, none of the pitching records will fall because pitchers don't get used enough. Sure, it's better for their arms, but it cuts back on chances to break records.

[Guest RobJohnstone]

honestly, the only one I cannot see being broken is henderson, he has almost double what cobb (#2) had. Most dominate player I have ever seen, and one of the 10 best ever. I know a few of you won;t agree with me on that but the stats will.

 

--Rob

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

Interesting note about Hank's 755.

 

I recently saw a graphic during a televised game of power hitters and the number of homeruns they hit after age 38. Ruth and a couple others had numbers in and around the 62 range. Which is pretty good for people that old.

 

Hank Aaron had well over 200 at age 38 and over. I find that utterly amazing.

 

And I think THAT is what it's going to take for somebody to catch Aaron. They are going to have get hot and stay hot in the last years of their career when their body is, going by age, least likely to be incredibly productive like that.

 

Bonds is in a groove like that now, but I think it's come too little too late for him to catch Aaron, unless he can manage to play until he's 44 (and STILL hit like he hit this year and last; not bloodly likely).

 

As the "averages" people have posted on here would suggest, even A-Rod would have to be averaging nearly 50 homers a year into his late 30's/early 40's. Assuming he doesn't suffer a series of injuries along the way, like what has come along and derailed Ken Griffey Jr.

 

Aaron hit a bunch of homers not because he was a muscular hulk, but because he had just about the quickest wrists the game's ever seen. He is the King of bat speed. Plus he stayed healthy for his entire career (no major injuries). These big muscle machines are injury prone; their development leaves them susceptible to injuries smaller guys can avoid or if not avoid recover more quickly from.

 

So that's what it is going to take; it's going to take a guy who can play about 20 years, hit for great power [probably from bat speed rather than raw muscle mass], who completely avoids significant injury, and who not only doesn't lose a step with age, but actually gains a step as he gets older. And of course gets to be a regular starter in his old age because of it.

 

Alex Rodriquez probably has the best shot out of anybody going today. But one big injury in the wrong place and/or at the wrong time, and forget about it. It's not just the time missed by the injury itself, but the fact that the injury probably shaves some time off of the career at the end, and is the difference between being able to play that last season at age 41 or not.

 

And I'd agree with Rickey Henderson being one of the most dominant players at least in the last 30 years if not all time. Not so easy to see now, that he's a 40+ year old man, but in his day, he was a frickin' nightmare. Look at the numbers he put up in his prime, his first stint with the A's and his Yankees stint. Simply frightening. Speaking of Rickey, here's another unbreakable record (perhaps): Rickey's career Lead-Off-The-Game Homeruns. Last I saw he had 77. Nobody's anywhere near that.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Thanks for the correction Al.

 

While I don't agree that Rickey Henderson was a dominate player. He does rank first in 3 major categories. Runs, BB, and Stolen Bases. Only Henry Aaron leads in more... HR, RBI, EBH, and Total Bases.

 

other records

 

Babe Ruth's career .690 Slugging %

 

Rickey Henderson's 130 SB's. I'd be shocked with someone reached 100.

 

Ed Walsh's career ERA of 1.82

 

Walter Johnson's 110 career shutouts.

 

Rogers Hornsby .424 Avg in 1924.

[Guest DrEvil]

Cal Ripken's consecutive games record is probably the safest. I can't imagine anyone even wanting to try to break it, let alone being fortunate enough to approach it.

 

Cy Youngs 511 wins would be next. With 25 wins being the pinnacle of excellence for today's pitchers, they'd realistically have to play 25 - 30 seasons to reach it.

 

I also can't see anyone reaching Henderson's SB records. First there would have to be someone with that kind of hitting, patience, speed and ability, then they'd have to remain healthy enough to get up to those totals.

 

Only other record I'd consider unbreakable would be the single season wins because no manager would give a pitcher enough starts.

 

I think every other record is up for grabs eventually. With the quality of pitching deteriorated so badly, a good hitter can really clean up, and conversely, a great pitcher will seem that much better to the hitter by comparison.

[Guest DrTom]

It's hard to say that a lot of records are unbreakable. What they are is unbreakable in modern baseball, because of how the game has changed since that record was established. Henderson's SB record looks safe simply because no one steals 100 bases in a season anymore. If I can play devil's advocate for a moment, who's to say the game won't change again in five years? Maybe pitching and speed will supplant brutish power, just like hitting took the game back from pitching starting in 1969.

 

Anyway, no matter how the game changes, I think there are a few unbreakable records. Ripken's consecutive games streak is safe. Ditto Cy Young's career wins (and losses) record. Ty Cobb's career BA of .367 looks pretty untouchable, too.

 

The thing about those records is, they are marks not just for achievement, but for durability. Modern players just aren't as durable, both for the fact that they seem to miss games with hangnails, and because there's no financial incentive to play 20 years anymore.

[Guest Some Guy]

I would argue that Rickey was a dominate player. Rickey dominated from the lead off spot like no other. Where do you think all of McGuire and Canseco's RBI came from in Oakland? Rickey was always on base and always running. He caused all types of problems for pitchers by constantly moving causing them to make bad pitches. Ichiro does this more and better than anybody now. I think that's a part of the game that they should try to resurect. People like the running game.

 

BTW he also leads in lead off HRs with 79 (I think). I'd say Soriano might have a shot at that but he'll end up in the 3 spot before to long. His OBP is too low for a lead off hitter.

[Guest King_TIL]

Babe Ruth's Single Season Total Bases record is probably a safe one as well, he had 457 total bases in 1921, which is the year he hit 59 homers. The most recent players to approach this record was Sammy Sosa with 425 in 2001. Luis Gonzalez had 419 that year as well.

With the way the game has pro(re?)gressed, I think that any single season record where power hitters are favored can be broken. I'm not saying it's likely that someone will break Ruth's record in the next couple years, but I wouldn't be suprised to be alive when it happens.

[Guest Steve J. Rogers]

Surprised no one brought up consecutive no-hitters, you are asking alot for a pitcher to do it back-to-back (Johnny Van de Meer 1939ish) now a days, so try 3 straight or 27 no-hit innings, not even the best closers in baseball can manage 27 1-2-3 bottom of the ninths in a row

 

Steve

[Guest Vern Gagne]

The streak ends at 35 games. Good enough for 10th all time. But still 21 games from tieing DiMaggio.

 

Here's something really amazing. After DiMaggio's 56 game hit streak was stopped. He started a 17 game hit streak.If my Math is correct that would mean DiMaggio got a hit in 73 of 74 games.

[Guest ant_7000]

Ricky Henderson SB record is safe because nobody steals a 100 bases any more I wish they would thou.

 

Joe Dimaggio hitting streak won't be broken

 

Cal Ripken's Games played streak will be safe

 

Nolan Ryan's no hitter record won't be broken

 

Bobby Thigpen's saves won't be broken anytime soon.

[Guest alkeiper]

Like DrTom said, its hard to say because conditions change over time. I'm sure back in 1915, Roger Connor's 138 home runs looked like a mountain to climb. Its not the first time stolen bases have been down. The 50s were notoriously bad for steals as well.

 

What gets me is how when discussing power hitters of the 90s, everyone immediately brings up the inflated hitting numbers, but when discussing pitchers of the aughts and teens, nobody mentions how favorable conditions were to pitchers.

[Guest DawnBTVS]

If Ichiro continues to hit a solid .340-370 every season he may have a good chance at breaking or at least getting close to Ty Cobbs' career BA.

[Guest Some Guy]

If Ichiro continues to hit a solid .340-370 every season he may have a good chance at breaking or at least getting close to Ty Cobbs' career BA.

Possible but doubtful and he'd never be able to play 24 years in the Bigs after playing 7 in Japan.

[Guest Cataclysm911]

One thing that should be mentioned: Joe DiMaggio's streak ending game was a result of two tremendous sliding catches by the opposing team's third basesman, complemented by two amazing throws to get the close call at first.

 

DiMaggio got a hit in the next 19 games following that one.

 

Something to think about.

[Guest Shaved Bear]

DiMaggio's streak

Ripken's

Hank AAron's (sarcasm!)

and Ichiro IS old

Nolan Ryan's K record also