What do you think is the MLB's most unbreakable record?

Question

For me it's Matt Kilroy's 513 strikeouts, or if you don't want to allow it because he threw from the 50 foot distance (in his defense batters still got to call pitch elevation), Ty Cobb's .367 career batting average.

I can agree about Cy Young's win totals. A pitcher would need to average 25 wins per year for 20 years in order to reach 500.

Just for fun here are a few more things...

To reach 514 strikeouts in a season a pitcher throwing 34 games per season (lets say 7 innings per game) would have 714 possible outs. Of these 72% need to be strikeouts; 15 k's per game.

some more records to ponder...
Hugh Duffy's .440 avg in 1894

Ty Cobb's 54 steals of home (24?) stolen without other runners stealing.
(Max Carey's 33 is 2nd)
(Shockingly Ruth did it 10 times)

Ty Cobb's 8 steals of home in 1912.
(Pete Reiser is 2nd with 7 in 1946)

{When was the last time this happened in a MLB game?}

Ed Walsh's 1.82 career ERA.

LS
"ALL BASEBALL HISTORIANS AGREE"

An extremely bold statement, and one I have only heard from you; I read an awful lot of stuff, so I should ahve come across it before but alas I never have.

Pre WW2 ball players were just as good if not better than their modern day counterparts. You name a few ballpark measurments to back you claim, and don't seem to account for the fact that the average baseball of the time was actually bigger than modern fields. Also, the pitchers in the past did have 90+ mph heat, Walter Johnson was clocked at 91mph in 1917, slightly after his arm began to give out; earlier in his career one of his pitches outran a motorcycle traveling 98 mph, so which recording will you believe.

You also have the problem of determining how much movement the pitchers in question posessed. It is nigh impossible to truely determine movement from most broadcast game film, especially the older films. Many of today's guns read 4-6 mph faster than actual.

The older models had a roughly + or - 5mph degree of accuracy. There is also the question of how much warming up the pitchers did, and how rested they were.

Answer 1

cy young's wins

NEVER TO BE TOUCHED!

Answer 2

Cy Young's 511 wins. It could be a long time before we even see 300 again.

The culture of the game has changed so much from the time Cy Young pitched. As many as five days between starts was unheard of. Today, pitching on "only" three days' rest is BIG news.

Back then, a pitcher fully expected every game to be a complete game, win or lose, and had no reason to think otherwise. Today, a complete game is a rare sight. Fewer complete games means more wins for the bullpen, and fewer wins for the starters.

Young also had advantages that do not exist to modern-day pitchers. For a time during his career, the ball was delivered underhand and sidearm. For a time, the pitcher stood only 50 feet from home plate, not the 60'6" of today.

To get to 511 wins, a pitcher would have to AVERAGE just over 30 wins a year for 17 seasons. If he wins 20 games EVERY YEAR, he's there during his ~~26th~~ season. That's just not happening.

For the record, NO pitcher won 20 games in 2006.

Ripken's "ironman" streak is the mark of a well-conditioned, durable, good player. That's unlikely, but I can see it happening. DiMaggio's hitting streak is incredibly difficult to match, but many have had good runs at it. It's possible.

The single-season strikeout record is pretty unbreakable, for the same reason as Young's wins record; different culture in terms of pitching.

Cobb's career average is also pretty unbreakable; too much talent these days to neutralize hitters.

Answer 3

i wouldn't say any of those because they were a different era with LESS players and LESS TEAMS and ALL BASEBALL HISTORIANS AGREE that those times baseball was played at a very low level compared to the past 5 to 6 decades.

only unbreakable record is joe's 56 game hitting streak.

and i personally don't even count stats until after ww2

and that includes teddy ball games 400 hun and ruths 60. ruth played on a field (and used corked bats mind you) with a right field wall of 290 and a left field wall of 289 (softball fields are bigger) then there's the question of scoring teddy's 400..how many were legit hits? the scoring to this day..again by baseball historians-as being questionable.

anyway i'm gonna stick with the 56 game hitting streak. that's very legit.

Answer 4

1. Cy Young's wins, no one can win 500 games in his career!

2. Ty Cobb's .367 career batting average, no one will EVER break it.

3. Nolan Ryans strikeouts. Roger Clemens leads active leaders with over 4,000 strikeouts. And he's 45!!!

Answer 5

Cy Young's 511 wins. Glavine may be one of the last to get 300 wins. Impossible anyone gets over 400 with the way the game is played now with pitchcounts and solid specialized bullpens.

Answer 6

The Iron Man Cal Ripken Jr. He is a legend. Ty Cobb's is not a record.

Answer 7

Either cy's wins or Nolans 7 no hitters!

Answer 8

Johnny Vandermeer of the Cincinnati Reds pitched back to back no hitters. What are the odds of someone tossing three consecutive no-nos. Not in our lifetimes.

Answer 9

1.joe d's hitting streak.
2.cy young's wins.
3.ty cobb batting average.

Answer 10

DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak.

Answer 11

I'd say the iron man record. Number of consecutive games played without missing one game due to injury/sickness.