# Unbreakable sports records **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbreakable-sports-records/314499 "2005-07-28T01:19:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbreakable-sports-records/314499/61 "2005-07-29T14:15:35Z")
Even more remarkably, it was (IIRC): 7 races; 7 gold medals; and 7 world records. > [@jrfranchi](#): > > How about Mark Spitz 7 Gold Medals in 1 olympics, is that unbreakable? ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbreakable-sports-records/314499/62 "2005-07-29T14:33:27Z")
> [@jrfranchi](#): > > Umm, I could be wrong, but it sounds like the new agreement may have a “massive shift in the way hockey is played” in it. > So maybe in 20 more years someone will be assaulting the great ones records. Well, not to be a total homer (ahh what the hell, to be a total homer!) but The Great One himself says that Sidney Crosby could be the one that breaks all of his records, so with the opening up this could be a realistic possibility (though I doubt he’s going to assault Selanne’s record, I’m afraid). > [@](#): > > Tell ya what…the Cubs get to the big dance, I move the Red Sox to pending. In the meantime, refer to jrfrnachi’s comment. I don’t see why it has to be the Cubs, who probably won’t even be a wild card this year. The White Sox are probably the hottest team in the American League and though it would only make the record 88 years instead of 86, it’s still breaking it. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbreakable-sports-records/314499/63 "2005-07-29T15:24:43Z")
> [@vinniepaz](#): > > How about the player (i forget who) who hit two grand slams in one inning? > > That seems like such a ridiculous convergence of luck and skill it will never happen again. and CERTAINLY never be broken April 23, 1999. Fernando Tatis, of the St. Louis Cardinals, off Chan Ho Park in Dodger stadium in the third inning. To nobody’s surprise, the Dodgers lost the game 12-5. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbreakable-sports-records/314499/64 "2005-07-29T16:28:20Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > April 23, 1999. Fernando Tatis, of the St. Louis Cardinals, off Chan Ho Park in Dodger stadium in the third inning. To nobody’s surprise, the Dodgers lost the game 12-5. I really wish people would stop bringing that up. Particularly since I’m a Dodger fan who saw that on TV. And since I went to the game yesterday, in which we were thumped. And since we’re playing the Cardinals today. On the plus side, Chan Ho Park doesn’t play for us anymore. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbreakable-sports-records/314499/65 "2005-07-29T16:33:03Z")
With regard to Major League Baseball’s lifetime records, one must always consider the way the game is played at any one time before determining if a record can be broken or not. The most extreme example of this, of course, is the comparison between starting pitching now and a century ago. Certain records are unbreakable simply because of changes in the way the game is played and without further radical changes, these records cannot be broken. Among these are Charley Radbourn’s 59 wins in 1884, Cy Young’s 511 wins or Matt Kilroy’s 513 strikeouts in 1886. On the other hand, there are records that were considered unassailable for a long time but have been broken because of shifts in strategy over time. A prime example of this was Ty Cobb’s records of 96 stolen bases in a season and 892 career stolen bases. These records gained the “unbreakable” reputation shortly after Cobb retired. Between the time he retired (1928) and 1960, only two players stole 60 bases in a season (Ben Chapman 1931, George Case 1943). Dom Dimaggio led the NL in 1950 with 15 stolen bases and Stan Hack led the AL in 1938 with 16. Stolen bases were not a priority for managers and so, with the league leaders stealing only 20-30 bases a year, the records seemed safe. That all changed in the late 50s/early 60s when Luis Aparicio and Maury Wills arrived on the scene. Sure enough, Wills soon took Cobb’s season record and Lou Brock went on to capture his career mark. Another example of this is the career strikeout record for batters. For a long time, the “record holder” was Babe Ruth, with 1330. Ruth was the career strikeout leader – and yet he never struck out 100 times in a season. His career high was 93 in 1923 (the year he also had his highest batting average - .393). It wasn’t until 1964 when Mickey Mantle broke that “record.” Why did the record stand so long? And why is it that today (as of the start of the season) there are seven players with more strikeouts than Ruth did in his career? The reason is because back in the “old days,” unless you were a Hall-of-Fame caliber hitter - if you struck out a lot you were sent back to the minors. A player like Adam Dunn of last year would have been sent back to the minors in mid-season – despite the home runs. As such, some records are not unbreakable because the game has changed, but because of the style of the game and the shifting of strategies. Just as once the stolen base was important, then de-emphasized, and then was made important again, so too other records which seem unbreakable may, in fact, become breakable again depending on the style of play. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Airblairxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbreakable-sports-records/314499/66 "2005-07-29T17:05:56Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Airblairxxx - Means exactly what it says. Seven years, one non-championship year, and then another three in a row. Agree with seven in a row, but IMHO this is even more impressive. Oh. Well, it didn’t happen that way. UCLA won the NCAA championship back-to-back in 1964-65, didn’t get it done in '66, then ripped off the next 7 straight titles, didn’t get it done again in '74, then won in '75, right after John Wooden announced his retirement. (Legend has it he did so because an alumni congratulated him after winning the semifinal with “Hopefully you won’t screw it up like you did last year.”) > [@](#): > > And I think that if the only way to rip on the Duke Blue Devils is to jump on the UCLA bandwagon, and this based on events that happened years ago, that’s pretty pathetic. IIRC, there were fans on this board _of other ACC teams_ that did this. :rolleyes: I agree it’s pathetic. There are PLENTY of ways to rip on Duke. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbreakable-sports-records/314499/67 "2005-07-29T17:19:05Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Max - Ehhh…statistically, after what seems like fifty straight 1-1-2 Triple Crown horses, someone should’ve won the dang thing. And Phil Mickelson should have more than one stinkin’ major. It’s amazing how some seemingly doable accomplishments are, in actual practice, incredibly rare. Agreed. I’m not saying “wow, I can’t believe that record hasn’t been broken yet”. I’m saying "if I go into suspended animation for 100 years, and wake up, and someone tells me that someone had a 61 game hitting streak, I’ll be relatively unsurprised. If someone tells me that someone broke Ripken’s consecutive game streak, I’ll be FAR more surprised. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbreakable-sports-records/314499.md?page=3)