By TR Robertson
Watching a San Diego Padres baseball game the other day and listening to the conversation announcers Don Orsillo and Mark Grant were having inspired me to do a little research and put together a fun sports article for you sports fans out there. They were discussing, between batters, sports records that they felt would never be beaten, specifically baseball. I decided to expand the topic a little and include a few other sports records that many feel are untouchable as far as someone in this day and age being able to establish a new record. Don and Mark also discussed some of the reasons they feel many of these records will stand the test of time. Their reasoning dealt mostly with the changes that are occurring in sports dealing with playing time for athletes, for example pitchers being pulled after 5 or 6 innings even if they are leading and pitching a good game or in football the continued substitution of players in positions such as receiver or running back. Players also seem to not be playing as long in their various sports. There are not many playing as long as LaBron James, just finishing his 21st season, or Tom Brady who played football for 23 years. The grind of the game seems to wear many of them down earlier in their careers.
In no particular order, these are some of the current records many feel will never be broken. Some are worth a friendly argument, which you can have with your friends. Some have had athletes come close, but these still remain. Also listed is the current second place athlete for that particular record. There are many more records for each of the sports that were not covered, but you can always google the sport and type in the sport and ask for records in the sport. Every sport has records that may never be broken. This article just covers a few sports otherwise you would be reading pages and pages. The records also reflect, for the most part, the modern era records. For example, there are baseball records that go back to 1887 (not included) when the game was a much different game. Enjoy and be amazed by many of the records that still exist.
Records That May Never Be Broken
• Basketball – LaBron James – 40,000 Career Point (still playing) – Kevin Durant 28,342
• Football – Emmitt Smith – 18,355 career rushing yards – Walter Payton 16,726
• Football – Jerry Rice – 22,895 career receiving yards – Larry Fitzgerald 17,492
• Hockey – Wayne Gretzky – 1,963 career assists – Sidney Crosby 972
• Baseball – Cy Young – Pitched 749 complete games – Pud Gavin 639
• Basketball – Wilt Chamberlain – 50.4 points per game average – Elgin Baylor 38.3
• Basketball – Boston Celtics – 8 straight NBA titles – LA Lakers and Golden State 3 each
• Gymnastics – Simone Biles – 23 World Gymnastics titles – Svetlana Khorkina 9
• Baseball – Cal Ripken 2,632 consecutive games – Lou Gehrig 2,130
• Basketball – Un. Of Connecticut Huskies Women’s BBall 111 game winning streak
• Baseball – Rickey Henderson – 1,406 career stolen bases – Lou Brock 938
• Baseball – Rickey Henderson – 130 stolen bases in a season – Lou Brock 118
• Olympic – Michael Phelps – 28 Olympic medals – Larisa Latynina (Russia) 9
• Football – Antonio Cromartie – longest return of kick-off 109.9 yds – Cordarrelle Patterson 109 yds
• Golf – Tiger Woods – 148 consecutive cuts made – Byron Nelson 113 cuts
• Basketball – John Stockton – 15,896 career assists – Jason Kidd 12,091
• Wrestling – Aleksandr Karelin – 13-year unbeaten amateur record 173-0 – Jordan Burroughs 69-0
• Football – Tom Brady – 98 TD’s to different receivers – Drew Brees 73
• Football – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 26 straight losses – Jacksonville Jaguars 20
• Football – James Morris – 45 rushing attempts in a single game – Rudi Johnson 43
• Cycling – Lance Armstrong – 7 Tour de France titles (controversial) – 4 others have 5
• Football – DaRon Bland – 5 interceptions for TD’s in a season – Several have 4
• Baseball – Joe Boxing – Floyd Mayweather 50-0 record – Rocky Marciano 49-0
• Olympics – U.S.A. – 2,959 total medals – Russia/Soviet Union 1,749
• Baseball – Nolan Ryan – 7 no-hitters – Sandy Koufax 4
• NASCAR – Richard Petty – 200 wins – David Pearson 105
• Basketball – UCLA – 7 Championships in a row
• Basketball – UCLA – Most Championships 11 – Kentucky 8
• Tennis – John Isner vs Nicolas Mahut – Wimbledon’s longest match 11 hrs 5 min. – Kevin Anderson vs John Isner 6 hrs 36 min
• Baseball – Barry Bonds – 688 career intentional walks – Albert Pujols 316
• Baseball – Barry Bonds – 73 HR in a season – Mark McGuire 70 – Most in the 2000’s Matt Olson 54 – #1 & 2 also controversial
• Golf – Jack Nicklas – 18 PGA Tournaments won – Tiger Woods 15
• Baseball – Nolan Ryan – 5,714 strikeouts – Randy Johnson 4,875
• Baseball – Ichiro – 262 hits in a season – George Sisler 257
• Track – Usain Bolt – 9.58 sec in 100-meter dash – Tyson Gay 9.69
• Baseball – Hack Wilson – 191 RBI’s in a season – Lou Gehrig 185
• Baseball – Chief Wilson – 36 triples in a season – Joe Jackson 26
• Golf – #3 Tiger Woods – Longest drive recorded 498 yards 2002 – #4 Dustin Johnson 489 – The #1 & 2 are somewhat questionable, look them up.
• Baseball – Pete Rose – 15,890 plate appearances – Carl Yastrzemski 13,992
• Baseball – Ron Hunt – 50 hit by pitches – Hughie Jennings 46
• Baseball – Rickey Henderson – Career runs scored 2,295 – Ty Cobb 2,245
• Baseball – Billy Hamilton – Runs scored in a season 198 – Babe Ruth 177
• Eating – Joey Chestnut – 76 hot dogs – Matthew Stonie 62
• Boxing – Andy Bowen vs Jack Burke – Longest boxing match – 110 3 min. rounds – 1893 – no winner announced.
There you go. Which ones do you think may be broken some day and which ones are untouchable? Again, this is but a sample of the hundreds of sports records that have been established.
