Baseball's Safest Records

[catman]

I'm sure this topic has been discussed before, but here is a list of the records that are the hardest to reach: Baseball's untouchable milestones
Which records are the safest?

[Saber]

Innings pitched.

[DirtyKash]

Not a particularly great list that FOXsports.com put up there, especially since hitting .400 isn't really all that out of the question (Tony Gwynn at .394 just needed a bit more, tough but not untouchable), nor is the consecutive game hitting streak to be honest. It just takes someone to get hot at the right time. The consecutive games played streak could be broken; honestly an easy way would be for one manager to decide to start a guy, pull him after 1 inning to ensure he stays healthy, and repeat this for 18 straight years.

These are hard, but they're not out of the realm of possibility like a few other records like wins, innings, complete games, shutouts, etc. that were set during pre-modern baseball, obviously because of the way the game has changed with rotations, bullpens, etc etc etc.

• Cy Young 7,356 innings pitched -- Active leader: Jamie Moyer with 4,020 innings pitched and Moyer is 253 years old

• Cy Young 749 complete games -- Active leader: Roy Halladay with 58 complete games has 320 career starts

• Walter Johnson 110 shutouts -- Active leader: Roy Halladay with 19 shutouts

• Nolan Ryan 2,795 walks issued (That's crazy) -- Active leader: Tim Wakefield with 1,158 walks issued

• Barry Bonds 46 injections in one season (just kidding)

[NYgiantsfan5689]

DK that was a great post. The only thing I disagree with is I really do think that consecutive games played streak is untouchable. First of all, said manager would have to have a job for 18 years which is unheard of now a days. Second of all, if a manager set his sights to do that day in and day out solely to break the record, the public outcry would be outrageous, and I think that would prevent a guy from getting an inning a night for 18 years. Plus, the guy would be completely wasting his career and would be the guy known for cheating his way to the record, so no player would agree to that. I know you were somewhat exaggeraring, but thats literally what it would take to beat the streak

[HollywoodLeo]

i still dont think it's as untouchable as people think. All it really takes is being a very good player for 18 years and a bit of luck that you never get injured.

it's that last part that makes it very hard, but not untouchable imo.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

If thats the case, then why has no one even come CLOSE to the streak? Miguel Tejada has come the closest since Ripken, and he didnt even get halfway there before Doug Brocail decided to be that guy. The NL record is Steve Garvey who also isnt even halfway there. Whats the current active streak? Its laughable. It's 204 games, by the one, the only, the great Matt Kemp. That means, at THE LEAST, the earliest it could be broken is in just barely under FIFTEEN seasons. So, Ripken's streak is officially safe for at least the next 15 seasons. There's no way, I'm sorry.

[DirtyKash]

To break the complete games record, you need 750 of them. By making 35 starts a year, a pitcher would have to complete every single one of his starts every year for nearly 22 straight years. That's all I'm sayin'.

[HollywoodLeo]

like i said, it's very hard. People get injured a lot and others fall off in ability before they can get there. You don't think Derek Jeter would get it if he was lucky enough to not get injured anytime in his career?

It's a very tough record to beat for sure, but I still don't put it up there with all those insane pitching records from before the days of baby'd starters and expansive use of the bullpen.

The odds of somebody beating Ripken is very low, but it's still concievable. I wouldn't say it's even concievable that somebody comes close to 511 wins anymore, for instance.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

1) I completely agree with you on the wins record. The game is so different now that its not going to happen.

2) I still think the argument that "you need to be lucky enough to not get injured" is flawed because nobody is. The game is also different now. Its like this across sports. Medicine and technology is at an all time high, but so are injuries. Look at football, theyre the most obvious, but I think it spans across all sports. Nobody will be able to compete at that high of a level and make it injury-free for 18 seasons.

[HollywoodLeo]

2) I still think the argument that "you need to be lucky enough to not get injured" is flawed because nobody is.

Ripken was.

But injuries happen, no matter what age you're talking about.

I just think that's really the only hump (but it's a huge one) for a very good player to get over.

But, it's like I said, I'm not arguing the notion that it's an extremely hard record to beat so it probably is very safe. I just don't put it quite in the same category as all those pitching records that probably have less of a chance of happening than me hitting the jackpot on the MegaMillions and then the PowerBall on consecutive nights.

[catman]

Leo, I've edited your post a bit for clarity.
Also, a point was brought up to me by a friend -- no one will ever lose as many games as Cy Young did in his career -- 316.

[HollywoodLeo]

what did you edit?

[love_that_reefer]

I disagree with Dirty on the 56 game hitting streak. Pete Rose came close and was still 12 games short of tying the record. In today's game and media, I think it will be next to impossible to break that record. Guys can't even hit 20 straight without the media bombarding them with questions of the streak.

[catman]

what did you edit?

I just fixed your quote. Nothing big.

[Tobywan]

I think the old pitching records are the ones that will never be matched for the same reasons given, the game, especially the pitching aspect is so different. I also feel the games played streak is likely out of reach now as is the hitting streak. I just watched *61 the other night, kind of amazing to me any of them even get through a season with their sanity in tact when you think how the media is 100 times worse now.