Records

[ALR-bishop]

This weekend's WSJ had an article ranking the best ever records in MLB, the NBA, the NHL and the NFL. The records could involve one game, a season, career or streak. Factors included duration of the record and it's increment of superiority. Sixty Five records were considered. Bonds finished number one, but not for his 73 home runs in a season ( # 65) or his total of 762 ( #61). Rather it is his 688 intentional walks, double that of his closest competitor, Hank Aaron. The rest of the top 10:

2..Ryan's 7 career no hitters
3..DiMaggio's 56 game hit streak
4..Bottomley's 12 RBIs in a game ( this throws the whole study into some doubt for me since another Cardinal, Mark Whiten also did it in 1993)
5...Oscar Robinson's 41 triple doubles in 1962
6... Cy Young 511 career wins
7.... Chamberlain's 100 point game
8...Cy Young's 749 career complete games
9...Gretzky's 1963 career assists
10...Van Brocklin's 554 yard game

Remember...not my list

[Peter_Spaeth]

Gibson's 1.12 should be on there.

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Gibson's 1.12 should be on there.

Brown had a 1.04 in 1906.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by PolarBear

Brown had a 1.04 in 1906.

Dead ball era, apples and oranges. Compare Gibson's 1.12 to the next best ERA since, say, 1920. I think the next best is probably Maddux at something like 1.60. Gooden had something close too I think. In any case that's a huge gap.

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Dead ball era, apples and oranges. Compare Gibson's 1.12 to the next best ERA since, say, 1920. I think the next best is probably Maddux at something like 1.60. Gooden had something close too I think. In any case that's a huge gap.

Not apples and oranges. They're both in the "modern era" of baseball. In fact, they changed pitching rules in 1969, the year after Gibson's 1.12, because of the favorable pitching conditions.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Disagree. There are numerous seasons by all sorts of pitchers pre-1920 with ERAs in the 1.1s, 1.2s, etc. That all changes after 1920 or so. Gibson's season, in context, cannot be compared to Brown's.


Rank

Player (age that year)

Earned Run Average

Year

Throws


1. Tim Keefe+ (23) 0.857 1880 R
2. Dutch Leonard (22) 0.961 1914 L
3. Mordecai Brown+ (29) 1.038 1906 R
4. Bob Gibson+ (32) 1.123 1968 R
5. Christy Mathewson+ (28) 1.144 1909 R
6. Walter Johnson+ (25) 1.145 1913 R
7. Jack Pfiester (29) 1.154 1907 L
8. Addie Joss+ (28) 1.163 1908 R
9. Carl Lundgren (27) 1.174 1907 R
10. Denny Driscoll (26) 1.209 1882 L
11. Pete Alexander+ (28) 1.220 1915 R
12. George Bradley (23) 1.225 1876 R
13. Cy Young+ (41) 1.264 1908 R
14. Ed Walsh+ (29) 1.266 1910 R
15. Walter Johnson+ (30) 1.270 1918 R
16. Christy Mathewson+ (24) 1.276 1905 R
17. Jack Taylor (28) 1.295 1902 R
18. Guy Hecker (26) 1.298 1882 R
19. Jack Coombs (27) 1.300 1910 R
20. Mordecai Brown+ (32) 1.313 1909 R
21. Walter Johnson+ (22) 1.362 1910 R
22. George Bradley (27) 1.378 1880 R
23. Old Hoss Radbourn+ (29) 1.379 1884 R
24. Walter Johnson+ (24) 1.390 1912 R
25. Mordecai Brown+ (30) 1.391 1907 R
26. Harry Krause (20) 1.394 1909 L
27. Ed Walsh+ (28) 1.407 1909 R
28. Ed Walsh+ (27) 1.416 1908 R
29. Ed Reulbach (22) 1.419 1905 R
30. Orval Overall (28) 1.421 1909 R
31. Christy Mathewson+ (27) 1.428 1908 R
32. Fred Anderson (31) 1.444 1917 R
33. Mordecai Brown+ (31) 1.470 1908 R
34. Rube Waddell+ (28) 1.479 1905 L
35. Smoky Joe Wood (25) 1.487 1915 R
36. Walter Johnson+ (31) 1.488 1919 R
37. Jack Pfiester (28) 1.508 1906 L
38. John Ward+ (18) 1.509 1878 R
39. Harry McCormick (26) 1.516 1882 R
40. Doc White (27) 1.518 1906 L
41. George McQuillan (23) 1.526 1908 R
42. Dwight Gooden (20) 1.529 1985 R
43. Eddie Cicotte (33) 1.532 1917 R
44. Will White (27) 1.538 1882 R
45. Cy Morgan (31) 1.548 1910 R
46. Pete Alexander+ (29) 1.550 1916 R
Walter Johnson+ (27) 1.550 1915 R
48. Howie Camnitz (26) 1.559 1908 R
Greg Maddux+ (28) 1.559 1994 R
50. Jim Devlin (27) 1.563 1876 R


Rank

Player (age that year)

Earned Run Average

Year

Throws


51. Tim Keefe+ (28) 1.575 1885 R
52. Fred Toney (26) 1.576 1915 R
53. Eddie Cicotte (29) 1.578 1913 R
54. Rube Marquard+ (29) 1.580 1916 L
55. Chief Bender+ (26) 1.584 1910 R
56. Barney Pelty (25) 1.588 1906 R
57. Addie Joss+ (24) 1.591 1904 R
58. Ed Walsh+ (26) 1.598 1907 R
59. Luis Tiant (27) 1.603 1968 R
60. Joe McGinnity+ (33) 1.610 1904

[pokerplyr80]

Agreed on the rbi record. Even without Whiten's performance I would assume there have been plenty of 11 and 10 RBI games. Wilt's 100 point performance has to be the biggest single game record.

Hard to imagine Ripken's streak is not in the top 10. Or Wilt averaging 50 points per game for an entire season.

[Prof_Plum]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

...Wilt's 100 point performance has to be the biggest single game record. ....Or Wilt averaging 50 points per game for an entire season.

Or Wilt's averaging of 48.5 minutes per game ('61-62 season).

[jbhofmann]

Originally Posted by Prof_Plum

Or Wilt's averaging of 48.5 minutes per game ('61-62 season).

This may be mythology that I've filed away as fact but...

Wilt never fouling out of a contest, in his career.

[packs]

Johnny Vander Meer's back to back no hitters.

[Bruinsfan94]

Originally Posted by packs

Johnny Vander Meer's back to back no hitters.

I actually wouldn't be too shocked to see something like that. With all the no hitters we see, there is usually a couple times a season a pitcher will have a shot at it. I doubt anyone will ever catch Ryan for most in a career though.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Ripken's consecutive game streak hopefully was at least among the records considered.

[nsaddict]

The most incredible in my opinion, Cy's 749 complete games. Out of this stratosphere! Leader for active players is held by Sabathia at 38.. Honorable mention, Walter Johnson's 110 career shutouts . Active leader is Bartolo Colon at 13....

[EvilKing00]

Gretzkys point total - 2857 ranks 1st all time sure everyone knows that but 2ed place is 1887 by messier. Now that's a stat that not only will never be broken but dominant in his sport all time.

there have been a lot of dominant records by a lot of players in every sport but imo this was the most insane number I have ever seen.

For example a current player or future player would have to be as great as messier who played for 24 seasons and then have another 10 great seasons after that! just insane

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by nsaddict

The most incredible in my opinion, Cy's 749 complete games. Out of this stratosphere! Leader for active players is held by Sabathia at 38.. Honorable mention, Walter Johnson's 110 career shutouts . Active leader is Bartolo Colon at 13....

Further with respect to WaJo's shutout accomplishments, 24 of his 110 shutouts (25 of his 111 shutouts, including World Series) came in 1920 thru 1927 (during the live-ball era) when WaJo's age was 32 to 39. Also, WaJo led the AL in shutouts seven times during his career, with his last time and only time during the live-ball era being 1924 (with 6 shutouts), the only year Washington won the World Series.
Val

[pgellis]

Didn't Kim Jung Il get 11 Hole In Ones in 1 round?

But, how about Bobby Orr's +126 in a single season?

That's nuts!!!!

[byrone]

For a single game sports record, I can't even imagine anyone topping Bill Mosienko's three goals in 21 seconds for the Chicago Black Hawks in 1952. Absolutely amazing.

In baseball, Ripken's consecutive game streak seems unbeatable to me