Turning to the mound, which career pitching record is LEAST likely to ever be broken?
Ed Walsh 1.82 ERA | 2 (2.35%) |
Cy Young 511 wins | 28 (32.94%) |
Young 316 losses | 5 (5.88%) |
Young 7,354 2/3 IP | 4 (4.71%) |
Young 749 CG | 34 (40.00%) |
Al Spalding .796 win % | 1 (1.18%) |
Nolan Ryan 5,714 strikeouts | 1 (1.18%) |
Ryan 7 no-hitters | 2 (2.35%) |
Lee Smith 479 saves | 0 (0.00%) |
Walter Johnson 110 ShO | 8 (9.41%) |
85 votes | 9 featured comments
Pretty much all of them will never be broken in mine or any of your lifetimes, unless the game of baseball changes so radically it isn't baseball anymore.
Yeah, I didn't vote for anything because I feel most or all of these will remain as records forever.
A better question would be the reverse (Which is the most likely...), as I could see the no-hitter record falling one day. 479 saves would be second, but I think it's very unlikely.
A better question would be the reverse (Which is the most likely...), as I could see the no-hitter record falling one day. 479 saves would be second, but I think it's very unlikely.
I didn't vote for innings pitched, but maybe I should have. Last season's AL leader was Mark Buehrle threw 245.3 innings, a career high and a lot by today's standards, raising his career total to 987.3.
If he matches his career high of 245.3 IP for each of the next 10 years, then does it again for the 10 years after that, he will -- at the age of 46 -- be just over 80 percent of the way to Young's mark.
Of course, in that same timeframe, he'd also still -- at his current pace, anyway -- still be more than 150 wins short of Young's 511. And we'd be calling him the greatest pitcher of our lifetimes by a wide margin.
I voted for Young's *losses* mark as the least likely because no team in the current environment is about to let someone fail so often and keep them around.
If he matches his career high of 245.3 IP for each of the next 10 years, then does it again for the 10 years after that, he will -- at the age of 46 -- be just over 80 percent of the way to Young's mark.
Of course, in that same timeframe, he'd also still -- at his current pace, anyway -- still be more than 150 wins short of Young's 511. And we'd be calling him the greatest pitcher of our lifetimes by a wide margin.
I voted for Young's *losses* mark as the least likely because no team in the current environment is about to let someone fail so often and keep them around.
When cyborgs/mechas start to play baseball, cy young's records will get broken. Going by this theory, I will pick ed walsh's era.
Classic tossup - is 511 wins or 749 CG more impossible? Who knows. 511 wins is just possible for a knuckleball phenom who pitches brilliantly for 25+ years, but 749 CG would be harder. 110 shutouts would be darned hard too.
Al Spalding's .796 winning percentage isn't a "real" record. Pitching in Spalding's day was about as challenging as slo-pitch pitching is today - it's not the same thing at all.
Spud Chandler's .717 is the winning percentage record as far as I'm concerned - I don't think NA records should count for anything. And that mark is certainly reachable - even Pedro is at .705.
Al Spalding's .796 winning percentage isn't a "real" record. Pitching in Spalding's day was about as challenging as slo-pitch pitching is today - it's not the same thing at all.
Spud Chandler's .717 is the winning percentage record as far as I'm concerned - I don't think NA records should count for anything. And that mark is certainly reachable - even Pedro is at .705.
Again, I think it comes down to the environment. Will we have another deadball era in my lifetime? I'd guess no. So, the Young, Walsh and Johnson marks are probably safe. Lee Smith's 479 save mark is eminently reachable. Geez, Mariano now has 366 and if he's healthy for 3 years or so, he might make it.
Not sure if you will count this as a record, but Johnny Vandermeer's two straight no-hitters might be the toughest to beat. However, we will never see that many CG again. The game has changed way to much for that ever to happen.
Good idea, shortstop -- to "break" JVM's record, e.g. to throw THREE consecutive no-hitters, seems rather incomprehensible. But that was not included in the choices for the same reason Joe D's 56-game hitting streak was not in the previous poll -- it's not really a "career" record.
The 3 straight no-hitters could occur. Remember, it was just over a decade ago that Stieb almost had 2 in a row (one out away each time). Hmmm... now there is a hard one to beat. 2 straight games coming within an out of a no-no and not getting it. Plus a third in the following season.