MLB: TOP-10 MOST UNBREAKABLE RECORDS

MLB: TOP-10 MOST UNBREAKABLE RECORDS

By: Matthew Blittner

Records are made to be broken.

Anybody who has ever been involved with sports at any level knows that records and milestones are always at the forefront in the minds of fans. 

There is a certain excitement that is palpable when your favorite player is approaching a well known record, and when they match and surpass it, a huge celebration occurs.

Not all records are attainable. Contrary to the saying above, "records are made to be broken," not all records can be had, and when that special player comes along and actually does the unthinkable, it is all the sweeter.

Without further ado, here is a list (in no particular order) of the 10 most unbreakable records in Major League Baseball.

1. 511 WINS -- CY YOUNG

In today's Major Leagues most starting pitchers don't go beyond six-innings pitched in a given start. With the advent of specialized bullpens starting pitchers don't rack up wins at nearly the pace that they used to. 

Cy Young never had the luxury of having a specialized bullpen. He pitched in an era where it wasn't uncommon for teams to carry only three starters and each was responsible for pitching the entire game. Starters even pitched both ends of double-headers. To further differentiate between the eras, Young won 30 or more games multiple times, where nowadays, pitchers rarely win 20 games in a season, let alone 30.

2. 5,714 STRIKEOUTS -- NOLAN RYAN

The Ryan Express pitched 27 seasons in the Majors and racked up more strikeouts than any other pitcher in history. With a fastball that stayed at 100mph until his last seasons, Ryan used his heater and occasional breaking ball to overwhelm hitters. Of course, Ryan was also just as likely to walk a batter as he was to strike them out. On sheer stuff alone Nolan should have rarely lost games, but his command was always an issue.

Recording 5,714 strikeouts is impressive, but it's not Ryan's only unattainable record. The Ryan Express also registered seven career No-Hitters, three more than his closest competitor (Sandy Koufax).

3. 7 NO-HITTERS -- NOLAN RYAN

Most pitchers can go their entire careers without throwing a single No-Hitter, let along seven. To throw one involves having everything working in the pitcher's favor, including having incredibly good luck.

Since 2010, there has been a spike in No-Hitters across the Majors, but most of these pitchers are not even All-Stars. They just happened to get lucky on that given day. Some pitchers, like Homer Bailey, Jake Arrieta, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer are among the lucky few who have thrown two No-No's in their careers. But even they are nowhere close to Ryan's record of seven.

4. .366 CAREER BATTING AVERAGE -- TY COBB

Just take a minute to let this one sink in. Most hitters will go their entire careers without ever sniffing a .366 batting average for a season, let alone a career. 

To hit .366 for even a month in today's Major Leagues is impressive, to average that for a career will never happen again.

5. 1,406 STOLEN BASES -- RICKY HENDERSON

The Greatest of All-Time made his mark in the record books by stealing more bases than any other player to suit up for a Major League game. 

With an emphasis on efficiency on the base paths, no player is likely to ever come within shouting distant of this record.

6. 56 CONSECUTIVE GAMES HITTING STREAK -- JOE DIMAGGIO

The streak began in May 1941 and lasted well into the summer, as Joltin' Joe put together the most impressive sustained stretch of hitting in Major League history. 

Even more remarkable is the fact that the game after this streak was ended, Joltin' Joe D immediately went on a 16-game hitting streak, which makes for an otherworldly 72 of 73 games in which he recorded a hit.

7. 2,632 CONSECUTIVE GAMES PLAYED -- CAL RIPKEN JR. 

The Iron Horse Lou Gehrig played in a record 2,130 consecutive games, until the disease that would bear his name ended his career. 

When Cal Ripken Jr. broke Gehrig's record late in the 1995 season many people couldn't believe that he had managed such a feat. So now, it is probably safe to say that nobody is going to break Iron Man's record.

8. 59 WINS IN A SEASON -- OLD HOSS RADBOURN (41 WINS IN A SINGLE SEASON MODERN ERA -- JACK CHESBRO)

Starting pitchers average roughly 32 starts per season. Even if a particular starter won every one of their starts, they would still fall well short of both records. (Pre-modern and Modern). 

Back when teams only carried three starters, and those starters completed basically every game they pitched in, these records were possible. With the emphasis on pitch-counts, innings-limits, and specialized bullpens, these records are as close to impossible as it gets.

9. 110 CAREER SHUTOUTS -- WALTER JOHNSON

If starters aren't around to receive credit for their wins, how are they going to receive credit for an absurd amount of shutouts. Most starters are lucky if they throw two complete games in a season nowadays, so, even assuming that every complete game is a shutout, it would take a pitcher 55 years to match this record, and nobody is pitching that long.

10. 749 CAREER COMPLETE GAMES -- CY YOUNG

The logic behind Cy Young's wins record and Walter Johnson's shutouts record applies here. This staggering sum is unthinkable and most starters don't even appear in this number of games over the course of their careers.

So there you have it, the 10 most unbreakable records in Major League Baseball. Feel free to comment down below.