The Untouchables

No, this post is not about Eliot Ness and his bunch, it is about baseball records that probably will never be surpassed. Records are made to be broken. No one ever thought Ruth’s 60 homers would be topped. Yet in 1961, 13 years after the Bambino died, Roger Maris did just that. The pressure of the chase caused him to lose some of his hair.

They thought no one would ever pass the Babes 714 homers either, but on April 8, 1974, Hammering Hank did just that with a blast to left off of Dodger lefty, Al Downing for # 715. Many of the unbreakable records were set in the dead ball era, so let us look at those first.

Career Wins: 511. Cy Young won 511 games over his 21-year career, 1890-1911. He had 5 seasons where he won 30 or more games with a career high 36 wins in 1892.Young also holds the record for the most compete games in a career, 749. He had nine seasons where he completed 40 or more games. 18 seasons he completed 30 or more.

Most Wins in a season: 60. Set in 1884, Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn won 60 and lost 12. His ERA that season was 1.38. In the span of two seasons, he won 108 games. He won 48 in 1883. His career record was 310-194 in 11 years. The so-called modern record was set in 1904 by Jack Chesbro when he won 41 games. Modern pitchers do not pitch enough to come close to any of these records.

The most complete games in a season was set by Will White in 1879 when he had 75. The modern record is 48 set by Jack Chesbro, photo above, in 1904. The live ball era began in 1920, and three pitchers have had 33 complete games since then, Grover Alexander, 1920, Burleigh Grimes, 1923, and Dizzy Trout in 1944. Pitchers today barely make 30 starts, so the chances of any of these records being broken is nil. The current complete games for a career leader is Justin Verlander, who has just 26 in his career.

Most career shut outs is 110, set by “The Big Train”, Walter Johnson. Johnson had 11 seasons where he recorded at least 6 shutouts. The closest pitcher to him is Grover Cleveland who recorded 90. Cleveland is also tied for the most shutouts in a season, 16 in 1916. The record was first set by George Bradley in 1876. Bob Gibson holds the live ball era mark with 13 set in 1968.

Most career no-hitters, seven by Nolan Ryan, Koufax is second with four. Doubtful that will ever be touched. Pitchers do not go that deep into games. Verlander, the active leader has three. Most career strikeouts are pretty safe too. 5714 by Ryan, Randy Johnson, the second-place pitcher had 839 fewer than Ryan. Again, safe because pitchers just don’t pitch that many innings. Safe to say his high for a season, 383 will never be touched either. Koufax still holds the record for a lefty.

Pete Rose’s record of 4,256 hits will never be touched. The only professional player other than Rose to accumulate 4,000 or more hits in his professional career was Ichiro Suzuki, who between MLB and the Japanese League put up 4,391 hits. Suzuki also holds the record for hits in a season, 262, another stat unlikely to be broken.

Most career total bases, held by Hank Aaron looks pretty unbreakable. Hammering Hank had 6,856, 600 more than Albert Pujols. The active leader, Freddie Freeman, who is 36, has 4,145. Suzuki had the most consecutive seasons with 200 or more hits, 10. A pure contact hitter could do that if he was very consistent. Doubtful though.

Career doubles, 792 set by Tris Speaker. Freddie Freeman currently the active leader has 547. Pete Rose came close, falling 46 doubles behind Speaker at the time he retired, 746. Most career triples are held by Sam Crawford at 309. Cobb is second, 14 behind him. Modern day players have little chance of approaching that total. The season record for triples is 36 set by Chief Wilson in 1916. No modern era player has had more than the 23 Curtis Granderson put up in 2007. Only five other modern era players have hit 20 or more.

Carrer batting average, .372, held by Josh Gibson of the Pittsburgh Grays. This record has only been official since the Negro League records were finally recognized by MLB in 2024. The prior career leader was Ty Cobb at .366. The record for highest BA in a season, .466, is also held by Gibson. He accomplished that in 1943. The previous record holder was Hugh Duffy who hit .440 in 1894. The last player to hit .400 or better was Ted Williams in 1941.

Most RBIs in a season, 191 by Hack Wilson. Hank Greenburg, and Lou Gehrig are the only other players to drive in more than 180. Billy Hamilton set the record for runs scored in 1894 at 198. Ruth holds the modern record at 177.

Highest career OBP is .482, this one belongs to Ted Williams. The Babe is second at .474. Since Williams retired, only five players have posted a season OBP above .482, for eight times total, Barry Bonds 4 times, Norm Cash, Mantle, Frank Thomas and Juan Soto. Bonds finished his career at .444. Active leader is Juan Soto at .417.

Most games played in a season, 165, set by Maury Wills in 1962. The three games at the end of the season added were not considered playoff games in 1962. Just an extension of the season to name a pennant winner. Now if teams tie, they play one extra game, but just like 1951, back in the day they played 3.

Most consecutive games played 2,632 set by Cal Ripken Jr. in 1998. Ripken passed Lou Gehrig’s 2,130 in 1995. Only seven players have ever played over 1000 consecutive games. Third place is held by Everett Scott, a SS who played for 14 years. All of those players played in the American League. Former Dodger, Steve Garvey holds the NL record at 1,207 games played from 1975-1983.

Longest hitting streak, 56 games set by Joe DiMaggio in 1941. Second place belongs to Willie Keeler at 45. Pete Rose hit in 44 straight in 1978. The chances of this streak ever being broken are very slim. With the emergence of specialist type pitchers, the way defenses are set up now, it just does not seem likely at all. 30 game hit streaks are even extremely rare. DiMaggio’s streak was actually 57 games if you count the fact that he got a hit in the All-Star game which was right in the middle of his streak. Immediately after the streak was broken by the Indians, Joe D. went on a 17-game hitting streak. He also holds the minor league record at 61 games set in 1933. DiMaggio’s streak also allowed him to win the AL MVP award over Ted Williams who hit .406 that year.

Most stolen bases in a season and most career stolen bases are both held by Rickey Henderson. He stole 130 bases in 1982. He was caught 42 times that year. No player has even attempted stealing 130 base since Vince Coleman in 1985. Base stealing has declined since the 1980’s but has seen a boost the last couple of years with the larger bases and new rules pertaining to pitchers and the number of times they can throw over to a base to try and pickoff a runner. His career record, 1,406, saw him lead the league in steals 12 times and included three 100 steal seasons, and thirteen seasons where he stole 50 or more.

Well, there they are, the Untouchables. Records that will stand long after we all are gone.