Strongest Baseball records

[Ryan F]

I read somewhere recently that the chances of a 56 game hitting streak happening in a season calculated out at 1 in 10,000... Hey, it could be another 10,000 years before we see it happen again.

[Brad N.]

No one will beat Nolan Ryan's record. Ever. For many years pitcher's innings have gotten less and less. A complete game is getting more and more rare now and it is only getting less. The relief game and closer game is more common now and it wouldn't shock me in the future to see the average starter only going 5 or 6 innings tops before turning it over to the bullpen. Johan Santana is the perfect example as he is still fairly early in his career and there is no way he could throw 225 more strikeouts per year for another 20 years (he'd be forty-eight) to break Ryan's record. That record will stand forever.

[En Sabah Poo]

Just for fun, here are some of those records from the early days of baseball that we can't really consider but will never be broken:

Will White - 78 complete games in 1879 for the Reds
Will White - 680 innings pitched in 1879 (also the reason for previous record)
Grover Alexander throws 16 shutouts in 1916 for the Phillies
(he also threw 12 in 1915)
Matt Kilroy throws 513 K's in 1886 for the Orioles
Old Hoss Radbourn gets 59 wins in 1884 for the Providence Grays

[changingshades]

Just for fun, here are some of those records from the early days of baseball that we can't really consider but will never be broken:

Will White - 78 complete games in 1879 for the Reds
Will White - 680 innings pitched in 1879 (also the reason for previous record)
Grover Alexander throws 16 shutouts in 1916 for the Phillies
(he also threw 12 in 1915)
Matt Kilroy throws 513 K's in 1886 for the Orioles
Old Hoss Radbourn gets 59 wins in 1884 for the Providence Grays

59 wins

in one season

good fucking god.

[En Sabah Poo]

59 wins

in one season

good fucking god.

He only started 73 games that year too. Which seems like a lot to us, but to win 59 of them is pretty awesome.

[En Sabah Poo]

More fun facts:

Gotta mention my boy Walter Johnson of Twins history, holds the career shutout record of 110. That's just insane. That's 20 more than #2.

Cy Young threw 7,356 innings in his career. An indicator of why he has so many wins. That's 1500 more than the #2. For comparison, Roger Clemens has thrown 4700+ innings thus far. Young also holds the record for games started with 815. Nolan Ryan is #2 with 773.

Cy Young, while holding the record for wins, also holds the record for career losses at 316. Not a very nice record.

Nolan Ryan owns the career BB record, allowing 2,795 free runners. Thats almost a 1000 more than #2. Interest to consider with his K record.

Manny Ramirez is only 3 grand slams away from breaking the all time career GS record set by Lou Gehrig at 23.

Although Bonds will pass Aaron in HR this year, Aaron still holds the all time RBI record, with Bonds trailing by over 300.

Reggie Jackson holds the strikeout record at 2,597. He had 9,864 career AB.

[Brewtown Andy]

No one will beat Nolan Ryan's record. Ever. For many years pitcher's innings have gotten less and less. A complete game is getting more and more rare now and it is only getting less. The relief game and closer game is more common now and it wouldn't shock me in the future to see the average starter only going 5 or 6 innings tops before turning it over to the bullpen. Johan Santana is the perfect example as he is still fairly early in his career and there is no way he could throw 225 more strikeouts per year for another 20 years (he'd be forty-eight) to break Ryan's record. That record will stand forever.

Ryan's no hitter mark is more untouchable. No active pitcher has 2, much less Ryan's SEVEN.

[King of Mars]

No one will beat Nolan Ryan's record. Ever. For many years pitcher's innings have gotten less and less. A complete game is getting more and more rare now and it is only getting less. The relief game and closer game is more common now and it wouldn't shock me in the future to see the average starter only going 5 or 6 innings tops before turning it over to the bullpen. Johan Santana is the perfect example as he is still fairly early in his career and there is no way he could throw 225 more strikeouts per year for another 20 years (he'd be forty-eight) to break Ryan's record. That record will stand forever.

Santana's not really early in his career, though. He was kind of a late bloomer.

Teams are bringing up pitchers at very young ages, players are hacking away like never before, and guys are routinely playing into their late thirties/early forties because of advances in conditioning. It may take awhile, but Ryan's record will fall.

[King of Mars]

Ryan pitched until he was 46 and was still doing complete games when he retired, which is why I say Ryan will be an all time leader in strikeouts for the rest of our lives

Sure, but he was facing a different type of hitter then. A modern day pitcher may not pitch as many innings as Ryan did, but he will face guys who aren't as disciplined as the old school players when hitting with two strikes.

[En Sabah Poo]

Santana's not really early in his career, though. He was kind of a late bloomer.

Teams are bringing up pitchers at very young ages, players are hacking away like never before, and guys are routinely playing into their late thirties/early forties because of advances in conditioning. It may take awhile, but Ryan's record will fall.

But striking out 200 guys is considered an elite pitcher. No pitcher will be able to do that for 30 years. You'd have to play from 20 to age 50. That just isn't going to happen.