In writing this article, I am avoiding single season records such as victories, strikeouts, or ERA, and concentrating on some really mind-boggling career pitching numbers. In actuality, I really don’t believe any of the 5 I have listed below will ever be broken, it is just that a couple have a “snow-balls chance in HELL”, while the others don’t. So without further delay here you go.
Number 5 – Nolan Ryan – 7 No-hitters in a 27-year career
The Ryan Expressway, as Highway 288 from Houston to Alvin Texas is now referred to. But during his playing days the “Ryan Express” was mowing down batters at a rate that no player ever reached. How impressive is the 7 no-hitters? Well consider that Sandy Koufax is second on the list with 4 and after that Bob Feller, Cy Young and Larry Corcoran have 3 each. Randy Johnson with 2 is the current active leader. Then for good measure throw in the fact that Ryan also had 12 career one hitters and you can see that Nolen Ryan was one of the few pitchers who, when on, was truly un-hittable.
Number 4 – Nolan Ryan – 5,714 Strike Outs in a 27-year career
As I said all of these remarkable records can be interchanged with one another and not receive much of an argument as to whether they could actually be broken or not. Yea, maybe I should have stuck one of the other records in here to break up the “Ryan Expressway”, but I didn’t, so sue me okay. Again this number/record simply boggles the mind. Second and third place on the career strikeout list are both almost 1,000 away and are held by Roger Clements and Randy Johnson, who are 44 and 43 years old respectively, so I think it is safe to say that neither one of them will be threatening this mark anytime soon. The next active player on the list is Gregg Maddox, who is at 3,237 and not a strikeout pitcher, oh did I fail to mention that Maddox is also 41. Do you think that Pedro Martinez has a chance? Well consider that he is currently 35, has not pitched at all this season and would have to average 271 strikeouts for 10 straight seasons to get to Ryan. Hmm would you like to bet on him? No I didn’t think so.
Number 3 – Cy Young – 749 Complete Games in a 22-year career
The first of his 2 records on this list, and it is easy to see why the Best Pitcher award is named after this gentleman. Here is a record that has now been out there for 101 seasons and in all likely hood will last another 100. Second place on this list is at 746, more than 100 away and happened back in the 1890’s. For a more modern perspective, Warren Spahn had 382 complete games and finished playing in 1965 and ranks 21st on the list. The current active leader is Roger Clements at 118. This is the reason why this record, unless they shorten the game to 4 or 5 innings will never be broken.
Number 2 – Walter Johnson – 110 Shutouts in a 21-year career
The “Big Train” Walter Johnson, who also is in second place for most career victories set this impressive record 89 years ago, and like all of these records, no one has come close to the mark since. Only one other pitcher, no not Cy Young, surprise, but Grover Cleveland Alexander even has 90 in a career. No one else on the list even has 80 shutouts, so just “Shut Up” when it comes to this category. In regards to the active pitchers, Roger Clements once again is the career leader with a paltry 46, after him comes Randy Johnson at 37. So know that only leaves us with the number 1 untouchable record, which is….
Number 1 – Cy Young – 511 Career Victories in a 22-year career
WOW, 511! Consider that next on the list is Walter Johnson’s 417 wins, which make this record just mind boggling, even more so than his 749 complete games. This record has stood the test of time for 105 seasons and counting and the closest active player is, now come on, you can guess this one can’t you? Roger Clements, correct at 351, the first player to reach that level since Warren Spahn in 1963. Greg Maddox might make it to 350, but then it will, in all likelihood, be another 50 years until someone comes knocking on this door again. So in the year 2100, when this mark is 200 plus years old, people will look at it and simply shake their heads.
Well that’s all I have on this little tid-bit of information. Hope you enjoyed it.
