What is Major League Baseball's most unbreakable record?

[HercDriver]

Longest streak without a World Series Championship. 1908 until the sun burns out.

Geno

[queencitysportscards]

Has to be the Consecutive Games played record by Cal Ripken Jr. No modern day player will play in that many consecutive games...ever.

[triwak]

Hugh Duffy's 1894 season batting average of .440

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by WhenItWasAHobby

Yes, great point on Wilbur Wood. He pitched on two days rest in his prime. As for the ambidextrous pitcher, my guess is that he'd more likely pitch with both arms in one game rather than alternative days so that he would have an advantage on left or right handed batters. I don't know if they made rules for switch pitching or not. It would also require a special glove. It's hard enough to make to the big leagues on one great arm, let alone two.

I've got to think there aren't any rules for switch pitching (as long as he avoids balks), since it's probably only been attempted a handful of times. The guy in the minors did have a special glove and was able to alternate pitch to pitch if he chose. I totally agree, it's greatest use would be for righty/lefty matchups, but could also play havoc with batters mid at bat/managers/switch hitters. Can you imagine how nasty a guy would be if he threw from different angles per side? Say over the top right handed, but sidearm or submarine left handed, and change mid at bat. That could screw a hitter up.

BTW- love the Willie "Pops" Stargell avatar, a true gentleman and N CA baseball great. Anytime I read one of your posts, I just assume you're a nice guy like Stargell.

[packs]

I don't think anyone will hit home runs in 9 straight games. Donnie Baseball and Griffey each had 8.

Ken Brett hit a home run in 4 consecutive starts. I think that's the pitcher record.

[travrosty]

Pete Gray played baseball with 1 arm, to break it you would have to play with no arms. that is the ultimate record that is impossible to break.

[rainier2004]

Fox Sports Detroit just ran a segment on Doug Fister and the fact that he is ambidextrous and made him sign his name both ways. Seems like he'd be a good candidate but I didnt have the impression he had ever tried it. Also, in case of injury there's another arm to use.

Youngs complete games seems like tougher record than the 511 wins, although neither will be toppped. Cobbs lifetime BA will never have anyone close as well in my opinion. Interesting thread.

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Bobby,

I thought about Rogers Hornsby averaging over .400 across five full seasons as a choice. I personally don't ever see that happening again. Problem is, hitting .400 isn't really a record, so I left Hornsby out.

As for Bonds, I included him because I doubt anyone will hit 73 in a season for a long, long time. Unless, of course, the steroid era has a renaissance or they start building much smaller ballparks.

Great content...from everyone.

Carry on and have fun!

Best Regards,

Eric

My primary objection to Bond's being listed was the steroid taint that is smeared all over him....

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Originally Posted by itjclarke

I've got to think there aren't any rules for switch pitching (as long as he avoids balks), since it's probably only been attempted a handful of times. The guy in the minors did have a special glove and was able to alternate pitch to pitch if he chose. I totally agree, it's greatest use would be for righty/lefty matchups, but could also play havoc with batters mid at bat/managers/switch hitters. Can you imagine how nasty a guy would be if he threw from different angles per side? Say over the top right handed, but sidearm or submarine left handed, and change mid at bat. That could screw a hitter up.

BTW- love the Willie "Pops" Stargell avatar, a true gentleman and N CA baseball great. Anytime I read one of your posts, I just assume you're a nice guy like Stargell.

No doubt that if a pitcher can throw effectively with both hands could be a hitter's worst nightmare.

Thanks for the kinds words. I enjoy your insightful posts also.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

What about a list of modern records? I know pretty much all the pre-war ones are untouchable because of the changes in the modern game. Just be curious to what people would think about the modern records.

[ValKehl]

An obscure home run record that I doubt will ever be broken is the record for consecutive pinch hit homers, which is 3. Lee Lacy first accomplished this feat on 1978, and in 1979 this feat was duplicated by this player (when he played for the Phillies), who was my favorite player with the expansion Washington Senators of the late 1960s:
Val

[pitchernut]

Breaking Ryan's career 7 no-no's

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by itjclarke

I've got to think there aren't any rules for switch pitching (as long as he avoids balks), since it's probably only been attempted a handful of times. The guy in the minors did have a special glove and was able to alternate pitch to pitch if he chose. I totally agree, it's greatest use would be for righty/lefty matchups, but could also play havoc with batters mid at bat/managers/switch hitters. Can you imagine how nasty a guy would be if he threw from different angles per side? Say over the top right handed, but sidearm or submarine left handed, and change mid at bat. That could screw a hitter up.

BTW- love the Willie "Pops" Stargell avatar, a true gentleman and N CA baseball great. Anytime I read one of your posts, I just assume you're a nice guy like Stargell.

There is a rule MiLB created because of Pat Venditte, I imagine that if he came to the Majors the rule would have to be adopted by MLB.

There have been a couple of other switch pitchers but the only one that anyone here may remember would be Greg Harris

[DaveW]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Joe Who?? you ask.

Well Joe has the highest career ERA in Major League history.

He accomplished this feat in a one game career in 1945.

He faced nine batters with the following results

3 hits
5 walks
1 strike out &
7 earned runs

for an ERA of

189.00

You know, I think that I could break this record if only I could get an MLB team to let me pitch for one inning. Maybe the Astros in late August ....

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Originally Posted by bn2cardz

There is a rule MiLB created because of Pat Venditte, I imagine that if he came to the Majors the rule would have to be adopted by MLB.

There have been a couple of other switch pitchers but the only one that anyone here may remember would be Greg Harris

I wasn't aware of Harris nor Venditte pitching both ways. Thanks for posting that information.

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by WhenItWasAHobby

I wasn't aware of Harris nor Venditte pitching both ways. Thanks for posting that information.

There were four 19th century guys too (The most well known was Tony Mullane), but I would have to assume it was easier with way pitching was done at that time.

I had just recently looked into this because a few months ago I was having a conversation with a coworker about how great it would be if someone were to be a switch pitcher (the night before I had practiced throwing with my left hand). He said it would be impossible... so I had to prove him wrong .

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by bn2cardz

There is a rule MiLB created because of Pat Venditte, I imagine that if he came to the Majors the rule would have to be adopted by MLB.

There have been a couple of other switch pitchers but the only one that anyone here may remember would be Greg Harris

Awesome! That's the guy (Venditte).. I didn't know his name but remember that crazy at bat that would never end. And base baseball had to go make a rule and take all the fun out of it.

94 over the top right handed, 85 side arm left handed.. nastiness

[bbeck]

Eddie Layton played for the N.Y. Yankees, the N.Y Knicks and the N.Y. Rangers. Impossible record to break, so what if he was the organist (Gladys Gooding only played for the Knicks and Rangers).

[sox1903wschamp]

I find scoring 11 runs in one inning on (1) one hit, impressive. The "Go-Go Sox".

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by bbeck

Eddie Layton played for the N.Y. Yankees, the N.Y Knicks and the N.Y. Rangers. Impossible record to break, so what if he was the organist (Gladys Gooding only played for the Knicks and Rangers).

I'm guessing Mr. Dave Winfield could have done similar had he chosen. He was drafted first overall in baseball as an outfielder, but was one of, if not the best pitcher in college baseball.. and was also drafted by NBA/ABA basketball teams and the Vikings in the NFL (Vikes drafted on his potential only.. like when Rockies took Michael Vick).

Bummer in today's world of travel teams/AAU that there's so much more specialization, and so many the multi sport freaks get discouraged/weeded out earlier.. though there's still a fair amount of college football/baseball players running around.

[darwinbulldog]

Radbourn. If somebody in the near future wins more than 59 in a season, I'd feel pretty confident that Cy Young's career number would be in jeopardy. The best season someone can realistically have in today's game would get him about half way to Radbourn, but it's possible there's some kid out there today who will, within a generation, be universally recognized as the greatest pitcher in MLB history. If that kid ends up pitching for 20 or more healthy seasons and has the good fortune to play for teams with very good offense, he'd get pretty close to 511. It's a long-shot definitely, but with the way we play the game now, not nearly as much of a long-shot as winning more than 59 in a single season.

Think of it this way. Which MLB pitcher has the best shot to win 60 games this season? I don't know the name, but it would almost certainly have to be a middle reliever for some team that has weak starting pitching and a ferociously good offense. (A starting pitcher, even one who literally pitched a perfect game every 5 days, couldn't get anywhere close.) Now think about how unlikely it is that a middle reliever in that situation, even a very good one, would even win 10 games. Then think about how rare it is for a great pitcher to be used as a middle reliever. So yeah, Radbourn.

[Paul S]

Originally Posted by CMIZ5290

My primary objection to Bond's being listed was the steroid taint that is smeared all over him....

His cap size record could be unbreakable

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by CMIZ5290

My primary objection to Bond's being listed was the steroid taint that is smeared all over him....

Kevin,

I see your point and completely agree that the record is tainted. I wonder if MLB will ever put an asterisk next to 73...and 762, for that matter.

Having said that, I hope you'll agree that leaving Bonds in this poll makes more sense than me including Frank Baker in my last one.

The board is weighing in with great content, and it has been a pleasure to hear everyone's thoughts. I am rather surprised at one thing, though.

Nobody seems to have mentioned Eddie Gaedel.

Best Regards,

Eric

[triwak]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Highest career ERA in Major League history. 189.00

I think the Cardinal's reliever, Mitchell Boggs might have a chance at this one.

[Deertick]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

i think they're all unbeatable!!!!!!!!

I agree. If most are never to be broken, how can you pick a least likely?

[ctownboy]

How about Connie Mack's length of time and Games, Won - Loss record as a Manager?

David

[packs]

Chase Wright gave up 4 home runs in a row. Has that ever happened before? Hard to beat that one.

[dabigyankeeman]

25 victories a year for 20 years and you still havent reached Cy Youngs victory total, thats gotta be the one!!

[tschock]

Originally Posted by queencitysportscards

Has to be the Consecutive Games played record by Cal Ripken Jr. No modern day player will play in that many consecutive games...ever.

How about adding a twist. Most consecutive games played for the same team? Even less likely to happen (as remote as it already is).

[tedzan]

The way the game is played nowadays, I do not think Joe D's exciting 56-game streak will be broken. Furthermore, I will venture to say that it will not
even be approached.

Another single-season record that may never be broken is one that was achieved the same year Joe did his streak, 1941......Ted Williams batting .406

Most good-hitting ballplayers don't WALK much any more. To hit for a .400 BA you have to do a lot of Walking. In fact Ted had 147 WALKS in 1941.....
which reduced his official AB's to only 456.





TED Z

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by tedzan

The way the game is played nowadays, I do not think Joe D's exciting 56-game streak will be broken. Furthermore, I will venture to say that it will not
even be approached.

Another single-season record that may never be broken is one that was achieved the same year Joe did his streak, 1941......Ted Williams batting .406

Most good-hitting ballplayers don't WALK much any more. To hit for a .400 BA you have to do a lot of Walking. In fact Ted had 147 WALKS in 1941.....
which reduced his official AB's to only 456.

Another thing that will make both these hitting records really tough to match/exceed are the difference in fielding gloves. Today's gloves give infielders, and to a degree outfielders much more effective range than they had back then. I've shagged flies many times with an old Mel Ott model glove and know it limits the type/range of catches that can be made. I obviously can't watch full games from the pre-war era, but I suspect there were far fewer clean diving stops, or back handed stab and throws from the hole at short or behind 2nd, or outfielders leaping to rob homeruns at the wall. These things still happened back then, but much less often, and those few hits make all the difference when chasing .400... however if both Brett and Gwynn can hit .390 plus post 1980, I've got to think it can be done again.

Still vote Cy's as most unbreakable though.

[frohme]

Originally Posted by kcohen

Chief Wilson's 36 triples in 1912 - With today's groomed fields and modern gloves, that record is unassailable.

I agree, Ken - Nobody's been over 25 in how many years? I said the same on the thread last time this went around ...

I think Chesbro's 41 modern-era wins is another one.

--
Mike

[jasonc]

With Baez' Inside the park home run, this got me thinking: A couple records that are not mentioned, but will be absolutely unbreakable are Tom McCreery's 3 Inside the park home runs in one game and Sam Crawford's 12 inside the park home runs in one season.... I think if a player had 3 in their entire career that would be amazing.

I tried to google it, but didn't have any luck finding it; does anybody have a list of the most career inside the park home runs for active players?

[JustinD]

any complete games record is completely unbeatable.

The league leader average may soon be at just one game per season.

[Rich Falvo]

Originally Posted by jasonc

With Baez' Inside the park home run, this got me thinking: A couple records that are not mentioned, but will be absolutely unbreakable are Tom McCreery's 3 Inside the park home runs in one game and Sam Crawford's 12 inside the park home runs in one season.... I think if a player had 3 in their entire career that would be amazing.

I tried to google it, but didn't have any luck finding it; does anybody have a list of the most career inside the park home runs for active players?

Best I could find so far was Curtis Granderson with three. Jimmy Rollins had four, but I don't think he ever joined a team this year?

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by HercDriver

Longest streak without a World Series Championship. 1908 until the sun burns out.

Geno

Haters gonna hate .

[packs]

No one will ever throw 3 no hitters in a row so I'm fairly confident Vander Meer's record of two in a row is safe.

[mr2686]

Originally Posted by packs

No one will ever throw 3 no hitters in a row so I'm fairly confident Vander Meer's record of two in a row is safe.

+1

[drcy]

20 wins a year for 25 years, or 25 wins a year for 20 years, and you still haven't reached Cy's record-- speaks for itself.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Fernando Tatis's two grand slams in one inning...to break it you would have to hit three!

This would be my pick

[Jason19th]

This may sound crazy but I actually think a potential change in relief pitcher use could put cys record in reach. Bill James has argued that basically the best way to use your best pitcher is basically to look and Andrew Miller and take it one step further - i.e. If it's the bottom of the forth and your up by two and it's 2nd and 3rd with no outs that when you bring in your best pitcher to give you somewhere between 7-9 outs. James argues and I agree that under this ussage a pitcher could easily win 30-35 games a year under the current scoring rules. I realize this would be a big change but at the same time think about how much the relief role has changed over the last 40 years

[mark evans]

Originally Posted by smtjoy

Another to add would be breaking Johnny Vander Meer's record of throwing two consecutive no-hitters.

Agreed.

[BobC]

I actually think Cy has two records that will never be broken, his total career losses, and total career complete games. As someone else mentioned, there is a possibility that some pitcher gets close to his career wins total of 511 but, what team would keep sending out a pitcher who loses over 300 games like Cy did? No one will the way the game is played now, especially with the dollars paid to starting pitchers. That person will end up in the bullpen or the minors before ever getting close.

And as for career complete games, didn't Cy pitch something like 749 complete games out of the 815 he started in his career? As someone else pointed out, the way that pitchers are handled today and kept on pitch counts, if a top pitcher has even 2 or 3 complete games a year, that is a big deal. But 749 for an entire career, that will never happen again. Think about it, if a pitcher had 10 complete games pitched a year, it would take them 75 years to equal Cy's record. You have to go back to 2011 and James Shields for the last pitcher to even reach 10 complete games in one season (he had 11), and before that back to 1999 and Randy Johnson with 12 complete games. And even then, Cy's got over 100 more than Pud Galvin who's 2nd on the all time complete game list.

Neither one of these will ever even be approached.

On all these other records, like the hit streak, no-hitters in a row, consecutive games played, those are obtainable even though highly unlikely. Designated hitters don't have to play in the field and could play for a long time if they tried. Pitchers and batters can get hot and go on crazy streaks, even DiMaggio's hit streak can be approached one day. Heck, Altuve might make a run at it in the next couple of years even. The one comment about triples is interesting and very tough also but, that is more a function of the way they build ballparks nowadays. You don't have the huge open expanses from the early playing fields they had at a lot of old ballparks back in the day. They're more like bandboxes now and too small to get around to 3rd on most of the time. Still, I think Cy has the two most impossible to break of all.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Ease

I voted for Cal Jr., but Bill Bergen's lifetime .170 batting average with over 2500 at bats would be hard to "beat!"

I could beat that easily if only I could find some team dumb enough to let me play long enough to get 2500 AB. I'd probably end up very close to .000 (Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and over what would probably be 7500+ pitches I'd maybe get lucky and hit a handful of them)

Anyone work for a team desperate enough and clever enough to try to promote it for the gate draw? I'll gladly take the MLB minimum...

Steve B

[JollyElm]

I know it's not a record per se, but homering in your first major league at bat will never be 'beaten.' You can't homer twice in your first MLB AB. (Uh oh, I left it wide open for someone to bring up the ole 'he homered in his first AB, but the game was rained out and then he homered in his first AB of the make-up game' scenario.)

[packs]

Under the new rules it's possible to have a 2 pitch inning. You could intentionally walk someone without throwing a pitch, get a double play on the next pitch, and then get the next guy out on the first pitch too. Never would have thought a 3 pitch inning could be beaten, but now it could.

[bnorth]

Not the most unbreakable but Bonds 7 MVPs and Clemens 7 Cy Young Awards are going to be very hard to break.

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by Jason19th

This may sound crazy but I actually think a potential change in relief pitcher use could put cys record in reach. Bill James has argued that basically the best way to use your best pitcher is basically to look and Andrew Miller and take it one step further - i.e. If it's the bottom of the forth and your up by two and it's 2nd and 3rd with no outs that when you bring in your best pitcher to give you somewhere between 7-9 outs. James argues and I agree that under this ussage a pitcher could easily win 30-35 games a year under the current scoring rules. I realize this would be a big change but at the same time think about how much the relief role has changed over the last 40 years

You've got to be kidding, right??

[CMIZ5290]

In all reality, I don't think any of the records listed in the OP's post will be touched, but Bonds should not be listed IMO....

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by mark evans

Agreed.

Absolutely right about Vander Meer....