Looking at some really crazy baseball records
On the heels of Barry Bonds inching closer to the all time HR record, I came across an old issue of The Baseball Research Journal #31 published by SABR. There was a very interesting and entertaining article on baseball records entitled baseball’s Most Unbreakable Records by Joe Dittmar. We often think of the most unbreakable record being DiMaggio’s hit streak or Cy Young’s Win total. But there are far more unbreakable records than these.

Firstly, DiMaggio’s streak, unlikely though its was, is certainly repeatable. There is nothing structurally about the game or its rules that makes it unlikely that it will be broken, and forever is an awfully long time. In my mind it is foolish to say that such a record can’t be broken. The same thought was made about Lou Gehrig’s streak and that was broken by a huge margin.

In fact, hard as it may seem, there were quite a few players in history who had more than a 1% chance at the record. There was an analysis of the various challengers over time in a prior issue of the BRJ, some of whom had a 4% chance at a 56 game streak at some point during a season. DiMaggio’s streak was amazing, but more so because it happened so late in baseball history, and because he had less than a 1% chance at such a streak. If you are interested in the details of this research let me know.

Similarly, Cy Young’s Win record, though much more untouchable than DiMaggio’s streak, is also “breakable.” Granted, it may take a fundamental shift in how pitcher’s are used, or even a rule change, but those could happen. OK I am stretching it. But it is at least conceivable that it could happen.

Other records seem to me to be much more unlikely to be broken even than Cy Young’s record (though it is probably in the top ten). For example, Cliff Heathcote and Joel Youngblood’s record of having played for two teams in the same day, the “Most Teams Played for In One day” record. To break this a player will have to play in three games for three different teams in one day!!

In a similar vein is the record for most grand slams in one inning, which of course is Fernando Tatis’ record of two in one inning. To break it one player has to hit three in one inning. Since no player has ever hit three home runs in one inning in the majors, and at least one player has 511 wins, it seems to me that the ratio is one to zero in favor of this record.

All joking aside though, there are really some astounding records, and I wanted to share the ones that amazed me, aside from the two referenced above:

1. Most consecutive batters reaching base safely, an astounding 19, by the Dodgers in 1952.
2. Most hits let up in a 9-inning game, 36 by J. Wadsworth in 1894.
3. Most HR allowed by a winning pitcher, 6 by two guys in the 30s (EDIT–plus Tim Wakefield in 2004 as a few readers have pointed out). This could be breakable, but it is crazy to think that it could happen.
4. Fewest Double Plays hit into (in a season!! someone pointed out that I forgot this rather obvious qualifier): 0 by future (hopefully) Hall of Famer Craig Biggio. Can someone hit into negative double plays to break it??
5. Most doubles in a game, 23 (!) by the Cards and Cubs in 1931.
6. Most inning pitched in one game, in one of the most famous games at least to baseball historians: Leon Cadore and Joe Oeschger, 26. Even fatigue couldn’t stop them, the game was halted by rain.
7. Most hits allowed by one pitcher in any game: 29 by Eddie Rommel in 1932 (see a pattern here?)
8. Most runs let up by a pitcher in one game: 24 by Aloysius Travers for Ty Cobb’s Tigers. That game has some special circumstances though. Travers pitched for the tigers even though he was just a fraternity kid; the Tigers all walked out because of a Ty Cobb suspension in one of his more noisome events of his career when he trampled a wheelchair bound fan almost to death.
9. Most Doubleheaders in a season, 44 by the White Sox. Maybe the old timers have a point about today’s players being sissies.
10. Most Complete Games in a career: Cy Young of course with 751. This is more impressive to me than the 511.

I just received a copy of SABR’s “Baseball List and Record Book,” and though I haven’t looked at it yet, I will have to find the time and see what other astounding feats are contained therein. At least it should be an entertaining read, and if you read the blog you won’t have to buy it since I will summarize the fun ones at some point. How’s that for value?
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