Baseball's Unbreakable Records

They say records are made to be broken.  Sometimes it just takes 61 years!  Sometimes it takes longer.  But there are also some records where that saying doesn't apply.  Especially in baseball.  Some of baseball's most hallowed records are so hallowed mainly because they'll never be broken.  Although, I probably shouldn't say "never."  Because, as highly unlikely as it might be, it's still theoretically possible that these records could fall one day.

Baseball, in fact, has a lot of "unbreakable" records simply because of how much the game has changed over time.  There are also some records that are impossible to break.  Barring another rules change, every pitcher hitting record is safe (Ohtani doesn't count).  So are most of the records set during the Dead Ball Era, when the style of play was completely different.

Some of those records are so obvious they aren't even worth mentioning.  Anything set in the 1800s, for example.  But there are others that, even though they're "unbreakable," they're among the most hallowed in the sport.  Records such as...

Cy Young's 511 wins & 749 complete games: The pitching award is named after him for a reason!  The benchmark for pitching excellence is 300 wins, and some people even think that number's becoming unreachable.  Cy Young won 211 games more than that!  And the 749 career complete games is about 15 years' worth of complete games for the entire Major Leagues in the modern game.

Walter Johnson's 110 shutouts: With the death of the complete game has also come the death of the shutout.  Thus, Walter Johnson's record is safe.  Among active players, Clayton Kershaw is the career leader with 15 shutouts...in 15 years!

Christy Mathewson's 3 World Series shutouts: This record, frankly, is mind-boggling!  And it's completely unfathomable today!  Not only did Mathewson throw three shutouts in a single World Series, he did it within the span of a week!  Nearly 120 years later, it remains one of the most amazing feats in baseball history.

Nolan Ryan's 5,714 strikeouts & 7 no-hitters: Consider all the great pitchers who've never thrown a no-hitter.  Then think about the fact that Nolan Ryan threw seven!  His career spanned 27 years, so that longevity certainly played into it, but, still, no one's getting anywhere near seven no-hitters.  Nor is anyone getting anywhere near 5,714 strikeouts.  Another number that is simply mind-boggling!

Connie Mack's 3,731 managerial wins & 50 years managing: Speaking of longevity, Connie Mack managed the Philadelphia A's from 1901-50!  We'll never see someone manage 50 years again, let alone 50 years with the same team!  That, of course, is a big reason why Mack, much like Cy Young, holds the all-time records for games managed, wins AND losses.

Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive games: Here's a great example of an "unbreakable" record being broken.  Lou Gehrig's 2,130 consecutive games.  And Cal Ripken's pursuit of the streak was rightly celebrated as it was happening.  Cal's streak ended very differently...when he voluntarily sat down.  But, when you consider the fact that teams build in off days for their stars and no one's even allowed to play 162 games in a season anymore, playing every game for 15-plus years doesn't look like it's happening.

Pete Rose's 4,256 hits: Miguel Cabrera got his 3,000th hit this season, making him just the 33rd player in history to reach that mark.  Derek Jeter retired in 2014 in sixth place on the all-time list...with 3,465 hits.  Two players have 4,000.  Pete Rose and Ty Cobb.  When you consider Jeter, a Hall of Famer who played at an elite level for 20 years, finished his career nearly 800 behind Rose, the thought of anybody catching him borders on impossible.

Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak: Of all the hallowed baseball records, this is perhaps the most well-known.  The closest anyone has come to DiMaggio since 1941?  Pete Rose with 44 in 1978.  Jimmy Rollins is the most recent player to have one that was reasonably long.  His streak ended at 38!  Even thinking about a modern-day player getting a hit every day for two months while facing three or four different pitchers a game and having the pressure mount every at-bat the longer the streak continues makes you appreciate what DiMaggio did so much more.

Rickey Henderson's 1,406 stolen bases: Rickey Henderson has a lot of records that are pretty close to untouchable.  The stolen base is simply not a part of today's game.  That might change with the rule changes next season, but 1,400 career steals is pretty far out of reach regardless.  So is his 130 steals in 1982.  This season's MLB team leader is the Texas Rangers with 125.  As a team!  He had 130 by himself!

Hank Aaron's 25 All*Star Games: In fairness, there were two All*Star Games for four seasons from 1959-62 and playing in both of those games counts as two separate All*Star appearances.  But, still, even if you combine them in those years, Aaron was still an All*Star 21 times!  In order to match that, someone would need to play 21 years and be named an All*Star every season, including their rookie year and final season.  Not impossible, but the likelihood of a 21-year career is incredibly slim.  And if they don't do the first part, they can't do the second.

That's actually what makes things like Judge's pursuit of Maris so great.  Baseball's been around for so long and has so many records, some of which are completely untouchable.  So, when somebody gets close to one, it's exciting.  And when they tie and/or break it, it's something we know we might not ever see again.  Which is why we appreciate it so much!