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Everyone is fascinated by the records in professional sports because they represent a lifetime of work and sacrifice to become the very best there is, the king of the mountain, the all-time leader.
Major League Baseball sports more than 120 years of history, and in that time many records have risen and fallen. Many will surely fall in the future, but some will stand as the ultimate highs throughout history. Since baseball is the only major sport going on at this time of the year, I figured I’d delve into some of baseball’s most hallowed pitching records – those which could be broken and those that will never fall.
Pitching Records that Will Never Fall
Career Wins: 511, by Cy Young (career: 1890-1911)
No one will ever come close to this record. Only one other pitcher in the history of the game even has 400. Back when Cy was around, starting pitchers started every three games or so, but that pace couldn’t be kept up by any of today’s starters.
Career Losses: 316, by Cy Young
Another one no one will ever come close to. You’d have to be pretty bad to get close to this one, and you probably wouldn’t anyway, because you’d be so bad you’d be back in the minors faster than you can say Hideki Irabu.
Career Complete Games: 749, by Cy Young
Surprise, surprise! Cy holds this record as well, and it, too, will never be touched. Pitchers these days just don’t go the full nine innings that often any more. They usually go between 5 and 7 innings when they’re pitching well, making having a solid bullpen much more important than it once was.
Career Starts: 815, by Cy Young
Larger rotations make for fewer starts per year for pitchers, so this is another one that will never come close to being broken.
Career Innings Pitched: 7356.0, by Cy Young
I think you get it by now.
Career ERA: 1.82, by Ed Walsh (1904-1917)
No one else even has a career ERA below 2.00. This is a time of big bats, smaller ballparks, and high-scoring games. Even the best pitchers of today couldn’t come close to this mark. It’s from back in the day when pitching was incredibly dominant and there were virtually no “big” hitters.
Career Strikeouts: 5814, by Nolan Ryan (1966-1993)
Roger Clemens is second on the all-time list, but he’s still more than 1000 behind. He’ll probably the one that comes closest, and he’ll still finish a distant second.
Career No-hitters: 7, by Nolan Ryan
In my opinion, one of the greatest feats ever accomplished in baseball history. Imagine the sheer skill (and a little bit of luck) it takes to hold a team hitless just once. But seven times? Simply incredible.
Single-Season Losses: 48, by John Coleman (1883)
This was Coleman’s first season in the majors, pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies. I don’t think any manager will ever allow a pitcher of theirs to have a season this bad. If they do, they’re probably managing the Colorado Rockies and need immediate psychiatric treatment.
Records that Could Fall in the Not-too-Distant Future:
Career Saves: 478, by Lee Smith (1980-1997)
There are two active pitchers currently chasing him that could potentially catch and surpass him. John Franco of the New York Mets is second on the all-time saves list with 424 and is the closest to reaching Smith’s record. Trevor Hoffman of the San Diego Padres is the only other active pitcher in the top 5. He currently has 366 saves and seems much more likely to set the record. Franco is in his 20th year in the majors, while Hoffman is only in his 12th season. Time seems to be in Hoffman’s favor as he approaches this record.
To be honest, this is the only pitching record that seems like it could be broken any time soon, if ever. Virtually every other major record is held by someone who has a massive lead over the player in second place.
Stay tuned for Unbreakable, Part 2: Hitting Records.
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