# Longest/most impressive streaks in sports. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 16, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060 "2005-05-16T13:46:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/61 "2005-05-18T09:43:04Z")
…which in turn, pales in comparison to Cal Ripken Jr.'s streak of 2,632 consecutive games started and played over a 16+ year period. ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/62 "2005-05-18T12:03:57Z")
I beg to differ. It’s not as if other players were actively trying to hurt Ripken everytime he touched the ball. NFL quarterbacks probably suffer more serious injuries/player than any other position in professional sports. Is there any analogy in baseball to Joe Theisman’s leg? Troy Aikman’s multiple concussions? Hockey, perhaps, but certainly not baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/63 "2005-05-18T12:32:02Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > To compare across different sports, I would suggest that a streak be compared with who was second for the same achievement. What was the second best hitting streak? What was the second (Byron Nelson) best made-cut streak? I posit that the best streak is the one that most exceeds the second best. I think that would be a fair thing to do. I’ll try to come up with some numbers throughout the day, with a little help from you guys. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/64 "2005-05-18T13:07:19Z")
I thought that DiMaggio’s hitting streak was now largely regarded as a fiction due to the number of home-town scoring decisions that allowed it to continue. For example Dan Daniel scored 21 of these games and said: ‘Scoring during DiMaggio’s hitting steak was a precarious life. His fans would gather behind the press box in the stadium, and they raise Cain. They felt every time he hit the ball it should be a hit. You got something like 15 dollars a game, and it wasn’t worth the trouble. The responsibility was heavy. I wouldn’t have done it again for $5,000.’ ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/65 "2005-05-18T14:20:42Z")
NFL quarterbacks probably suffer more serious injuries/player than any other position in professional sports. Bah. The rules are written so that “breathing on the passer” is now a five-thousand-yard penalty, with loss of two downs and forfeiture of seven points, plus an automatic fine of sixteen billion dollars. Owners have successfully lobbied the league to add layer after layer of protection to the player who generally represents a huge chunk of their payroll. While there is, of course, the risk of injury, it’s significantly less than in hockey (or hurling, or Aussie Rules Football), where concussed dudes take stitches in the hallway and never miss a shift. Not to say that Favre’s streak is not impressive, by any means. But a quarterback has a week (sometimes two) of rest in between games and doesn’t get touched in practice. The rest time, as well as the protections afforded Favre (and other QBs) by the rules of the game ensure that suckitude, rather than injury, will end a consecutive-games-played streak. And, since Favre isn’t going to borrow Ryan Leaf’s toothbrush and catch a case of the suck any time soon, he’s much safer than Theismann was. Now, Jim Marshall was a defensive end, playing a much more high-impact position, where injury is much more likely. In fact, I’d say that Bruce Matthews, an o-lineman’s 229 games at a position where people regularly crash into you, pile on you, jam thumbs in your eye, punch you in the groin, spit on you, twist your ankles, bend your fingers, is a more impressive mark than Favre’s streak of hanging in a busted pocket until someone touches him and the whistle blows. So I guess **I nominate Jim Marshall’s streak** as more impressive than Favre’s. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/66 "2005-05-18T14:21:43Z")
By “Jim Marshall,” I of course mean “Bruce Matthews.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/67 "2005-05-18T14:33:01Z")
> [@](#): > > However, no hits for 18 straight innings is something that probably won’t happen again even against weak hitting teams. I wager that many pitchers in baseball history have thrown 18 straight no-hit innings. Of course, the overwhelming bulk of those pitchers were relievers stringing the innings together over a number of appearances, but nevertheless. > [@](#): > > Most remarkable: UCLA’s run. Ten National Championships in 12 years, seven consecutive, playing in single elimination tournaments, and including the 38 game tournament winning streak and overall 88 game winning streak. Much less remarkable when you consider the numerous recruiting violations that allowed UCLA essentially their pick of the top talent in the land, year after year. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/68 "2005-05-18T14:44:09Z")
The 1977 season, Eckersley’s first as an All-Star, also included a 21-inning hitless streak, which was the second longest next to Cy Young’s 1904 mark of 24. So, the winner is Cy Young at 24 consecutive hitless innings. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/69 "2005-05-18T15:27:17Z")
Thanks, **Uncommon Sense**. If your resource for those numbers includes relievers in its calculus, I stand corrected that “many” pitchers have thrown 18 consecutive hitless innings. But I still maintain that such a feat is far less impressive than pitching consecutive no-hitters. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/70 "2005-05-18T17:36:13Z")
[QUOTE=Gadarene] I wager that many pitchers in baseball history have thrown 18 straight no-hit innings. Of course, the overwhelming bulk of those pitchers were relievers stringing the innings together over a number of appearances, but nevertheless. QUOTE]Yes, the probablity of stringing together 18 consecutive hitless innings against a team with a team batting average of .250 is about 1 in 3500. However for no-hit games, the beginning of the hitless inning streak must coincide with the beginning of a game. A much rarer event. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/71 "2005-05-18T21:22:02Z")
> [@sewalk](#): > > I beg to differ. It’s not as if other players were actively trying to hurt Ripken everytime he touched the ball. NFL quarterbacks probably suffer more serious injuries/player than any other position in professional sports. Is there any analogy in baseball to Joe Theisman’s leg? Troy Aikman’s multiple concussions? Hockey, perhaps, but certainly not baseball. OK, 410 consecutive games played by Phoenix’s Tony Amonte, the longest active streak in the league. Toronto’s Robert Svehla is second with 300, followed by teammate Jonas Hoglund with 253 and Nashville’s Greg Johnson (246). ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/72 "2005-05-18T22:09:47Z")
As a Clevelander I regret not thinking of these impressive streaks earlier: the Cleveland Browns football team’s 27 game unbeaten streak from 1947-49 (there were a couple tied games), that same team’s 5 straight league championships from 1946-1950 (4 in the All-American Football conference and 1 NFL) and 10 straight league championship game appearances (1946-1955, which included 4 AAFC titles and 3 NFL titles). In order to make an apples to apples comparison, I note that the Patriots’ recent streak of 21 straight wins included 2 overtime games, which of course would’ve been ties back in the day. It is impossible to say whether the old AAFC Browns would’ve won or lost its tied games if OT had been played. ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/73 "2005-05-18T23:08:18Z")
> [@Yeticus Rex](#): > > OK, 410 consecutive games played by Phoenix’s Tony Amonte, the longest active streak in the league. Toronto’s Robert Svehla is second with 300, followed by teammate Jonas Hoglund with 253 and Nashville’s Greg Johnson (246). Those are current streaks. Surely there are all-time records that eclipse these. Ripken and Gerhig go over 2000 and no one else has ever hit 500? I don’t buy that for a New York Yankee minute. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/74 "2005-05-19T00:32:18Z")
> [@Gadarene](#): > > Much less remarkable when you consider the numerous recruiting violations that allowed UCLA essentially their pick of the top talent in the land, year after year. I don’t recall any recruiting scandals during the John Wooden years at UCLA. Maybe my memory is failing, but I don’t remember anything like that. Are you certain? ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/75 "2005-05-19T00:40:12Z")
Not exactly recruiting violations that I am familiar with but different recruiting rules. In Wooden’s day players could switch teams from year to year and I believe often did. For example you would have a star sophomore or something on another team that transfered to UCLA to play for Wooden. Nowadays you have to sit out a year so most players are less inclined to do it. Certainly no major players have done it that I can remember. I also believe UCLA wasn’t limited in total scholarships or scholarships per year. Today I believe its a max of 4 per year and either 12 or 15 for the whole school. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/76 "2005-05-19T01:20:48Z")
> [@treis](#): > > **Not exactly recruiting violations that I am familiar with** but different recruiting rules. \ (Bolding mine) Ok, so the playing field was level. Wooden worked within the same rules as his contemporaries did. I don’t see anything there that detracts from UCLA’s accomplishments. As much as memory serves, Lew Alcindor (Later known as Kareem), Bill Walton, Sidney Wicks, Henry Bibby and many more stars all played their entire college career at UCLA. There _could_ have been transfers in, but I don’t remember any. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/77 "2005-05-19T03:48:06Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t recall any recruiting scandals during the John Wooden years at UCLA. Maybe my memory is failing, but I don’t remember anything like that. Are you certain? Violations may have been the wrong word, as that implies NCAA sanctions. How about “wealthy boosters giving recruits money to play for UCLA”? Ever hear of [Sam Gilbert](http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/ce/multi/0,1329,2142892_55,00.html)? An excerpt: > [@](#): > > “Everybody knows what went on during the Sam Gilbert era,” Fresno State coach Tarkanian recently told the Los Angeles Times. “The only (team) with a higher payroll was the Lakers. During the Sam Gilbert era, UCLA was in a different class. All those guys lived in beautiful apartments and drove beautiful cars.” > > * * * > > In UCLA Basketball: The Real Story, published in 1972, H. Anthony Medley wrote that “Gilbert did more to keep the UCLA team together and seemingly happy during those years than any other individual.” (The article is worth reading, and is more even-handed than those quotes imply.) And from [here:](http://www.allsports.com/cgi-bin/showcomments.cgi?comment_id=1304) > [@](#): > > John Wooden’s name keeps coming up in Bob Knight stories, as if Wooden were a saint at all times and Knight a sinner at all times. The old UCLA coach created teams that won 10 national championships. He did it with players who benefited from the generosity of a booster named Sam Gilbert, a Los Angeles building contractor whose largesse was such that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in his autobiography, explained in some detail how Gilbert helped him over some financial worries early in his UCLA career: ". . . Sam was a very valuable and influential friend to me. He never did anything illegal; all he did was ignore the NCAA’s economic restrictions about helping athletes. He was like everybody’s grandfather, got us stuff wholesale, knew where to get inexpensive tires for your car or a cheap apartment. . . . “Sam steered clear of John Wooden, and Mr. Wooden gave him the same wide berth. Both helped the school greatly. Sam helped me get rid of my tickets, and once the money thing worked out, I never gave another thought to leaving UCLA.” By Abdul-Jabbar’s account, then, Wooden tolerated and condoned repeated violations of NCAA rules as he used the fruits of those violations to build a dynasty. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/78 "2005-05-19T04:55:24Z")
> [@sewalk](#): > > Those are current streaks. Surely there are all-time records that eclipse these. Ripken and Gerhig go over 2000 and no one else has ever hit 500? I don’t buy that for a New York Yankee minute. Having a hard time finding the record…I did find that Craig Ramsey from the Blackhawks played 776 straight games from 1973-1983…the fourth longest streak. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/79 "2005-05-19T11:34:44Z")
> [@Gadarene](#): > > Violations may have been the wrong word, as that implies NCAA sanctions. How about “wealthy boosters giving recruits money to play for UCLA”? Ever hear of [Sam Gilbert](http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/ce/multi/0,1329,2142892_55,00.html)? > > An excerpt: > > (The article is worth reading, and is more even-handed than those quotes imply.) > > And from [here:](http://www.allsports.com/cgi-bin/showcomments.cgi?comment_id=1304) Never heard that before. Live and learn. ---
**Author:** ![colour\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@colour\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colour_wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060/80 "2005-05-19T12:10:35Z")
> [@Yeticus Rex](#): > > Having a hard time finding the record…I did find that Craig Ramsey from the Blackhawks played 776 straight games from 1973-1983…the fourth longest streak. Doug Jarvis has the record at 964 games. Even more amazing is Glenn Hall’s 502 consecutive games as a goalie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-most-impressive-streaks-in-sports/304060.md?page=5)