10 MLB Records That’ll Never Be Broken
Baseball is a sport built on records, but some are so absurd and out-of-this-world that they might as well be set in stone. There are legends who have completed milestones in the record books, daring future generations even to come close. This list stands as proof of baseball’s most outstanding performances.
Cy Young: 511 Career Wins
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Pitchers today would need to average 25 wins per season for 20 years to sniff 500, and that’s in an era where even the best barely crack 20 in a single season. Meanwhile, Cy Young played from 1890 to 1911, throwing complete games like they were nothing and racking up wins before modern bullpen usage took over.
Nolan Ryan: 5,714 Career Strikeouts
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Nolan Ryan threw heat for 27 seasons and piled up 5,714 strikeouts, over 800 more than the next closest pitcher, Randy Johnson. Ryan blew hitters away with a fastball that aged like fine wine. He was still throwing 98 mph in his 40s! The workload alone makes this record safe.
Cal Ripken Jr.: 2,632 Consecutive Games Played
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While some records are about skill, Cal Ripken Jr.’s is about pure toughness. He seemed to haven’t taken a day off for over 16 years and played 2,632 straight games. Modern players take scheduled rest days to stay fresh for October.
Joe DiMaggio: 56-Game Hitting Streak
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Hitting in 56 straight games is the baseball equivalent of running a marathon every day for two months. Joe DiMaggio’s streak in 1941 is the stuff of legends. Hitting is hard enough when facing the same pitchers, but DiMaggio did it against different arms, different stadiums, and with no video scouting.
Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn: 59 Wins in a Season
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Old Hoss Radbourn played in 1884 when pitchers threw every other day, and his arm probably felt like rubber by September. Winning 59 games is laughable today, given that a Cy Young winner might notch 20 in a great year. Radbourn carried the Providence Grays on his back and pitched 678.2 innings that season.
Rickey Henderson: 1,406 Career Stolen Bases
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The all-time stolen base king swiped 1,406 bags and made defenses look foolish for over two decades. Modern analytics have devalued the stolen base, and teams rarely let players run wild like Rickey Henderson did. The closest active player isn’t even at 500. The art of stealing bases has changed, which is exactly what makes this record one of the safest in MLB history.
Johnny Vander Meer: Back-to-Back No-Hitters
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Throwing one no-hitter is incredible; throwing two in a row is some Twilight Zone stuff. In 1938, Johnny Vander Meer pulled off this impossible feat, something no pitcher has come close to repeating. No-hitters require dominance, luck, and everything going right. Now add the pressure of throwing another one immediately after.
Hack Wilson: 191 RBIs in a Season
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Hack Wilson set this single-season RBI record in 1930 when the ball flew off bats like a rocket. Since then, only a handful of players have come within 30 RBIs of this mark. Pitching is dominant, and run production is too widespread for anyone to drive in 191 runs again.
Chief Wilson: 36 Triples in a Season
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Chief Wilson legged out 36 triples in 1912, and since then, no one has even hit 30 in a year. The reason was that ballparks were massive back then, and outfield fences were practically in a different zip code. Now, with smaller stadiums and stronger arms in the outfield, triples are rare.
Tris Speaker: 792 Career Doubles
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Doubles require a mix of speed, power, and longevity, and Tris Speaker had all three. His 792 doubles from 1907 to 1928 remain the most in history, and the closest active player isn’t even at 700. With home run-or-bust approaches dominating modern baseball, extra-base hits that don’t clear the fence are becoming rarer.
Walter Johnson: 110 Career Shutouts
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Pitchers just don’t throw shutouts anymore. Complete games are rare, and teams don’t let their aces go deep into games like they used to. Walter Johnson’s 110 career shutouts are so far ahead of the competition that nobody is even within 20 of him. The current leader, Clayton Kershaw, has 15.
Barry Bonds: 232 Walks in a Season
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Barry Bonds was so feared in 2004 that pitchers simply stopped pitching to him. He walked 232 times, including 120 intentional passes. That’s a free pass on nearly every other plate appearance! No hitter will ever command that level of avoidance again. Modern baseball doesn’t allow for one guy to be that dominant without being pitched to at all.
Ichiro Suzuki: 262 Hits in a Season
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Ichiro’s bat was a machine. His 262 hits in 2004 broke a record that had stood for 84 years, and nobody has even come close since. Today’s hitters focus on power over contact, making a high-hit season like this practically extinct. With strikeouts up and batting averages down, Ichiro’s single-season hit total is here to stay.
Will White: 75 Complete Games in a Season
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Back in 1879, pitchers didn’t get pulled for pitch counts. Will White started 75 games that year and finished every single one. That kind of workload is unheard of now, with pitchers getting shut down after 100 pitches. The complete-game leader in 2023? Six. This record has become ancient history.
Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves: 26-Inning Game
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A 26-inning game in 1920 ended in a 1-1 tie because, well, darkness. That’s two full games plus extras! The longest game since then lasted 25 innings, and with modern pace-of-play rules, it’s hard to imagine baseball ever allowing another marathon like this. This one is safely locked in the history books.