Unbreakable: MLB Records That Will Never Be Broken

I got to thinking about this the other day when I was researching another story. The unbreakable records. How many even have a chance of being broken? Well in today’s game, one most unlikely to fall is Ripken’s consecutive games played streak. Players today no longer play every day. And that includes the stars. Freeman missed three games last season, and Trea Turner missed two. Only two other players appeared in as many as 140, Bellinger and Betts. So, it is probably a safe bet that Steve Garvey’s NL record won’t be broken either.

DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak is pretty safe too. The closest anyone has ever come is Pete Rose who had a 44-game streak in 1978. DiMaggio had bested Wee Willie Keelers 45 game streak from 1896-97. Rose’s streak was also the last time any player has surpassed 40. Jimmy Rollins had a 38-game streak in 2005-6. The longest Dodger streak ever was Willie Davis with 31 games back in 1969. Andre Ethier is the only other Dodger to ever post a 30-game streak. Freeman also had one when he was a Brave.

Will anyone ever hit .400 again? Doubtful. Has not been done since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. The closest any player has come is when Tony Gwynn hit .394 in 1994. He might have had a shot at .400 if not for the player’s strike. The MLB mark of .440 set by Hugh Duffy in 1894. The AL mark is .426 set by Napoleon Lajoie in 1901, the first year of play in the AL. I am pretty sure Ty Cobb’s career .366 mark will never be passed. He and Oscar Charleston, a Negro League star, have ever bested .360. Rogers Hornsby is the closest to him otherwise with a .3585 average.

Wins anyone? Cy Young’s 511 are more than safe. Starting pitchers today will be lucky to just make that many starts in a career. In his 15-year career, Kershaw has made 398 starts. He will get his 400th with his second start this season. Young also is the career leader in loses with 315. But he does not hold the AL record for career wins, that belongs to Walter, The Big Train Johnson with 417. All of them with the pitiful Senators. Had Johnson pitched for a good team, he might have won a lot more games. The NL record won’t be touched either. Grover Cleveland Alexander, and Christy Mathewson both tied with 373 to hold that title. Winningest lefty ever goes to Warren Spahn. 363 wins for him. Steve Carlton, Eddie Plank, Tom Glavine and Lefty Grove are the only lefties with 300 or more wins.

Nolan Ryan has seven no-hitters. With very few pitchers today allowed past the seventh inning, that might stand a very long time. So will Barry Bonds 7 MVP awards and Roger Clemens 7 Cy Youngs. Randy Johnson earned 5. The closest player to Bonds is Mike Trout who has 3. Mike could win again but I think 7 is out of reach. Lowest ERA, 1.12 Bob Gibson. No shot in today’s game. You get below 2, you are a superstar.

Barry’s 73 HRs in a season is pretty safe as is his career mark. He and McGwire remain the only two players to ever hit 70 or more in a season. And McGwire is also the only player in history to hit 60 or more two years in a row. Sammy Sosa is the only player to surpass 60 in a season 3 times. The AL record was set last year by Aaron Judge at 62. Pujols joined the 700-homer club last year. There are now four members, Ruth, Aaron, Bonds and Albert. Rodriguez fell just short with 696. The only active player with 500 or more is Miguel Cabrera. He has no shot at 6 or 7 hundred.

Cobb’s 12 batting titles seem safe. No one else has as many as 9. Honus Wagner and Tony Gwynn have 8. No one has won more than two in years. Carew had 7. Only 2 players have 4000 or more hits, Pete Rose and Ty Cobb. The last player to reach 3000 was Albert Pujols in 2018. Beltre got his in 2017. Ichiro may become the only player in the Japanese Hall of Fame and the MLB Hall of Fame. He is a lock for election, maybe even first ballot next year.

Ryan is the only pitcher ever with more than 5,000 strikeouts. Randy Johnson is a distant second with 4,875, which is almost 1,000 less than Nolan. Two active pitchers have more than 3,000, but little chance to get to 4,000, Verlander and Scherzer. Kershaw and Greinke are the closest current pitchers with a chance to reach 3,000. Greinke has 2,882 and Kershaw 2,807. Reggie Jackson holds the record for the most strikeouts by a hitter. Mr. October whiffed 2,597 times. Jim Thome is not far behind at 2,548. Only one current player is over 2,000, Miguel Cabrera at 2031.

Here is one I did not know: the season record for strikeouts by a pitcher is 503 set in 1886 by Matt Kilroy. It is listed as such on that page in baseball reference. The modern record is 373 by Nolan Ryan in 1973. NL record of 372 set by Koufax in 1965. the single season record for strikeouts by a hitter belongs to Mark Reynolds with 223 set in 2009. Reynolds is also the only player to top 200 Ks in a season three times. Joey Gallo could join him if he does it one more time.

Barry Bonds holds the career record for the most base on balls, 2,558. Ruth walked 2,042 times. Bonds also holds the record for most intentional walks in a season with 120 in 2004. A season where he was walked a total of 232 times.

Here is another record that is totally safe, most complete games in a career and a season. Cy Young threw 749 complete games in his career. His closest competitor, Pud Galvin, is 103 behind him! Most complete games in a season are 75 set by Will White in 1879. Cy Young has the most since 1900 with 41 in a season in 1902. The most by a pitcher since 1950, is 33 by Robin Roberts in 1953.

The most wins ever by a pitcher in a season is 60, set by Old Hoss Rabourn in 1884. The most since 1900 is Jack Chesbro’s 41 wins in 1904. Ed Walsh had 40 in 1908. Those are the only two pitchers since 1900 to record 40 or more wins. By contrast, Denny McLain in 1968 is the last pitcher to record 30 wins when he won 31 for the Champion Tigers. Cy Young won 30 or more games 5 times in his career. Grover Cleveland Alexander did it 3 times, but the all-time champ with 7 seasons of 30 or more wins is Kid Nichols.

Well, there you have it. The list of unbreakable records. I probably missed a few like career triples and doubles. I know the record for triples in a season will never be broken. Sam Crawford, a teammate of Ty Cobb had 306 career triples. Cobb right behind him with 295. The most in a season, is 36 by Chief Wilson in 1905. The league leaders last season, Gavin Lux and Brandon Nimmo had 7.