They say records are meant to be broken. We’re about to see one of the biggest records in all of sports fall. But in the world of baseball, that magical number of 755 pales in comparison to other more incredible works. Here’s what Rich and I think are the top ten records in all of baseball.
10. Stan Musial and Willie Mays’ 24 Consecutive All Star Games: Sure, fan voting helped both players in the twilight of their careers. But playing at a high level for a quarter of a century is difficult to do. That’s why we look up to Stan The Man and the Say Hey Kid as two of the best ever. In case you’re looking to compare it to modern players, Ken Griffey Jr. has appeared in 13 Midsummer Classics, while Barry Bonds has played in 14.
9. Orel Hershiser’s 59 Consecutive Scoreless Innings: It’s tough to top Hershiser’s 1988 season with the Dodgers, where he won the Cy Young Award, NLCS MVP, and World Series MVP. But in the midst of all that hardware, he put together the most dominant month in baseball history. Talk about clutch. Hershiser didn’t give up a run in the final month of the season and then gave up just five in October.
8. Hank Aaron’s 755 Homers: It’s hard to put a record this famous so low on the list. But consider this. When Barry Bonds passes Aaron, he’ll likely lose the record in five or six years to Alex Rodriguez. After A-Rod hangs it up, it’s not far-fetched to see Albert Pujols nipping at his heels. Give it ten years and Hammerin’ Hank might be 4th on the list. That’s a damn shame.
7. Eric Gagne’s 84 Consecutive Saves: If anybody wants to break this record, they’re going to have to spread their work over a couple of seasons. The closest mark to Gagne’s 84 is Tom Gordon’s 54 consecutive saves back in 1998-99. Gagne’s record spanned three seasons. It began in August of 2002 and didn’t end until July of 2004. That’s a lot of pressure-packed situations without failure.
6. Ty Cobb’s Lifetime .367 Average: Aside from being the biggest asshole to ever play Major League Baseball, Cobb was also one of the best. He batted over .400 three different seasons and hit over .320 for 22 straight years. Tony Gwynn, considered the best hitter since Ted Williams, hit .338 in his career. The closest active player is Todd Helton’s .333 average.
5. Joe DiMaggio’s 56 Game Hit Streak: I may catch some flak for putting this record as low as it is right now, but hear this out. Every year, guys in the majors make a run at the record and, while it’s still my firm belief that nobody will ever break this record, sometimes guys come close. That’s my only justification for it being as low as it is. As for the record, it’s truly remarkable. It’d be very easy for a pitcher to cop-out and walk you a few times and not give you a pitch to hit. Lets also remember that Hall of Famers’ in this game fail 7 out of 10 times at the plate. That’s what makes DiMaggio’s 56 straight pretty damn incredible.
4. Cy Young’s 511 Career Wins: Now we’re into the upper echelon of records that simply won’t be touched. While Young also holds the record for most losses in a career (316), his 511 wins are absolutely mind blowing. Greg Maddux, for example, is only at 340 wins despite his illustrious 21 year career. There’s simply no way anyone who is human would be able to pitch that many games to even come close to Cy’s record. Then again, I guess why he has that one award named after him.
3. Cy Young’s 749 Complete Games: As if you needed another reminder to how much of a beast Cy was. Young started 815 career games and went the distance on 749 of them. Wait, what? That’s a video game statistic. I’ll once again jump to Greg Maddux for comparison on this one. Maddux has 106 career complete games. Only 643 left. Think about it though, and consider how fragile pitchers nowadays are and how much baseball relies on a pitch count. There’s absolutely no way anyone will ever sniff this record. The great part about this stat is over 200 times he went the distance and lost the game. Cy Young belongs in this top five more than once because he was simply that good. Unbelievable.
2. Nolan Ryan’s 7 No-Hitters: Like the famous quote goes from the movie The Big Lebowski “He’s the man for his time and place.” That was Ryan. Before you can completely fathom his 7 no-no’s, know that he also threw 12 career one hitters. The Ryan Express was everything it was built up to be and some. Most pitchers think it’s a career accomplishment to throw one no-hitter and here’s Ryan shooting for double digits. Before I move on, go ahead and try and think of 7 no hitters in the past 10 years. It’ll take you a little bit. That’s how remarkable this record is.
1. Cal Ripken’s 2,632 Consecutive Games Played: Here’s a record I’m glad I was alive for and our most impressive baseball record. The longevity factor alone makes this record unbelievable. How do you play that many games over that many years and not take one single day off because of a bruise or a strain? Ripken had them, thats for sure, but he played through them. This record is about true grit and determination. To put this one into perspective, Miguel Tejada was the closest current player to Ripken’s streak and until taking a day off because of a broken wrist a few weeks ago, he would have still needed to log over 10 years more of consecutive games played. That’s why Cal’s called the Iron Man and thats why this record is the most impressive of all.
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pretty cool list ryan. Those are very interesting predictions about the homerun crown, I have never thouht about it like that, but your’e right.
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56 game hitting streak will never be beaten, simply because hitters now face 3 to 4 pitchers a game back then when just about all starters were expected to go the distance it was easier