The Unbreakables

One of my favorite series of movies is “The Expendables”. Non stop action, a bunch of old action stars, and some pretty decent comedic breaks. While thinking about that series of films, I thought about which major league records will never be broken.

511 wins is completely safe. In this era of baseball, the starting pitcher is more about pitch count and quality starts and getting to the bullpen with a lead. 20 game winners are few and far between now. The last time a pitcher in the NL won more than 22 games, was 2004 when Randy Johnson won 24.

Verlander won 24 in the AL in 2011. They haven’t had a 20 game winner since 2019. The modern record of 41 wins in a season is safe too. Of course the last 30 game winner was Denny McLain in 1968. The last pitcher to win more than 25 games was Bob Welch with the A’s in 1990, he had 27.

I am pretty sure no pitcher will ever lose as many games as Cy Young lost either. 316. Pud Galvin is the only other pitcher to lose 300 with 306.

So here are some I think are pretty safe. Nolan Ryan’s 5,714 strikeouts. Randy Johnson was his closest rival and he only had 4,875. Cy Young’s 749 complete games. Pitchers do not go the distance much anymore. For example, Kershaw has 25 in his career and has never recorded more than six in any season.

One I had never heard of, most consecutive complete games, 202. This record was set by Jack Taylor. From June 20, 1901, to August 13, 1906. He also set the record for most consecutive complete games in a season, since 1901 with 39 in 1904.

I also think it would be very hard to break the single game strikeout number, 20. Three pitchers have accomplished this, Roger Clemens twice, Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer. But if someone got on a roll, it could happen.

Most career shutouts, 110 by Walter Johnson. Grover Alexander is second with 90. Warren Spahn had 63. In order to break Johnson’s record, a pitcher would need 5 shutouts a year for 22 years.

I do not think any relief pitcher will approach the 106 appearances by Mike Marshall in 1974, nor do I believe any relief pitcher will win 18 games like Elroy Face did in 1959. The Dodger record is 16 by Perranoski in 1963. Most in the majors since 1986 is the 14 by Ryan Yarbrough when he was with Tampa in 2018.

652 saves in a career by Mariano Rivera seems pretty safe too. Jansen and Kimbrel are tied as the active leaders with 426. Trevor Hoffman is the only other reliever over 478 with 601.

Jesse Orosco has 1252 career games pitched. No current pitcher is even close. The most shutouts in a season, 16. But the modern record is 13 set by Bob Gibson in his incredible 1968 season. The lowest ERA in a single season, .64 by Robert Keyes, a reliever in 1944. Best by a starting pitcher is Dutch Leonard’s 0.961 in 1914. Gibson’s was 1.12 in 68.

I doubt any pitcher will come close to Ryan’s seven no-hitters. Koufax is the only other pitcher with more than three. Justin Verlander could possibly join Koufax since he has three. Ryan also has the most walks issued with a whopping 2,795. Carlton is second with 1833. Active leader is Verlander with 935 as of the end of the 2023 season.

It is also pretty safe to assume that the career record for the highest batting average for a career is safe also. Ty Cobb hit .366 for his career. His closest rival, Rogers Hornsby who finished at .358. For a player who played his entire career in the live ball era, the leader is Ted Williams .344. Second to Williams is Tony Gwynn .338.

After Miguel Cabrerra retired, Jose Altuve is the active leader at .307. Six points above #2, Freddie Freeman. The high for a season is unattainable also. Hugh Duffy hit .440 in 1894. Rogers Hornsby hit. 424 in 1924. Ted Williams is the last player to hit .400 with a .406 in 1941. No player has hit higher than Gwynn’s .396 in 94.

We all know how hard it would be to pass Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak. Closest anyone has come is 44 by Pete Rose in 1978. By comparison, the Dodger record is 31.  It was set by Willie Davis in 1969.

The longest streak of getting on base is 84. This was set by Ted Williams in 1949. I consider this pretty unbreakable too. Way too many free swingers these days in baseball.

Most homers, Bonds, also pretty much out of reach. 73 in a season seems unreachable also. Judge hit 62 back in 2022. He did that while hitting .311. He also struck out 175 times that year.

Judge has 270 homers. I think it is safe to say that while there is a good chance he will get to 500, 600 is out of reach. He is already 32 years old. 500 home run hitters might become a thing of the past. Mike Trout, currently second on the all-time active leaders list, has 378. He also has 5 more years left on his deal. He has been injury prone for the last several years which probably killed his shot at 600. He could still reach 500 with some luck and a little health.

Stanton is the only one on the active list with more than 400. He is at 413 right now. He also has three full seasons and an option year on his Yankee contract. So 500 could be in the cards if he also stays healthy.

Which brings me to Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani presently has 13 homers which brings his total to 184. Ohtani is 29 years old. If he were to hit his average number of homers, 40, for the next 9 years plus, he would finish with 571 homers. But the chances he does that are pretty slim.

Most hits in a career. Safe. Rarely do hitters get more than 200 anymore. Rose’s 4,236 are pretty safe. The active leader is Freddie Freeman with just over 2100. Ichiro’s 262 base hits in a season seem pretty safe too. Darin Erstad had 240 in 200.

Rose also leads with 15,890 plate appearances. Rose played 24 years, so that seems safe too. Hank Aaron had over 6000 total bases. Freeman is the active leader with over 3600.

Bonds holds the record for the most base on balls in a season, and the most intentional walks. 232 and 120. Both were set in 2004.

Most career triples, 309, Sam Crawford. Musial is the live ball era leader with 177. The active leader, Charlie Blackmon with 63. Triples in a season, 36, set by Chief Wilson in 1912. Only three players have ever had 30. Last player to reach 20, Jimmy Rollins in 2007.

Most career doubles, 792 set by Tris Speaker. Unbreakable. You would have to have 40 or more for at least 20 seasons. Most doubles in a season is 67. Set by Earl Webb in 1931. We all know this because of Freddie’s run at 60 last year. Nick Castellanos had 58 in 2019. This could be broken if a player was a good contact hitter with some speed.

Most homers in a game, 4. It would take a very special hitter to connect for 5. First his manager would have to be willing to leave him in for 5 at bats. Since hitters today face so many different pitchers in a game, it would be very hard to hit one hard off of different styles of pitchers. 2 Grand Slams in an inning is pretty safe too.

No one is even close to the highest OBP ever. Ted Williams with a .482. Most RBIs. Hack Wilson’s 191 is still the most almost 100 years later. Babe Ruth’s 198 runs scored in a season seems pretty safe too. Highest total since 1950? Jeff Bagwell, 152 in 2000.

Most games played in a regular season, 165, Maury Wills in 1962. Unbreakable since a three game playoff to win the division would not be played anymore.

Consecutive game streaks are safe also. Managers like to rest their stars. Ripken’s 2,632 will no doubt stand.  One that is also safe I would assume, unless Ohtani’s hits when he pitches. 37 career homers by a pitcher. Wes Ferrell owns that one.

Henderson’s career and season stolen base totals could be challenged, especially with the new rules. But players just do not steal 100 bases anymore. And finally, Ty Cobb stole home 54 times in his career. Steals of home in today’s game are unheard of. This one is safe.