Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Which pro sports career stat record is least likely to be broken? for example career rushing yards, career rebounds, etc...

I'm only talking about career stats here - things like Wilt's 100 point game or DiMaggio's hit streak do not qualify.

I nominate John Stockton's 12,713 assists. I would be surprised if someone could convince me otherwise.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

I find a pro athletes career is shorter than ever before because of the huge money these guys are making now. You won't see many 20 year careers anymore.

Because of this economic fact, career records will be tougher to be broken IMO.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Walter Johnson's 530 complete games. Active leader Roger Clemens isn't in the top 50 all time.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

NO ONE will ever beat Cy Youngs record 511 wins. There are 5 man rotations and middle relievers who claim wins that starters used to get when Cy young played.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Cy Young's record for both wins and losses will never even come close to being matched. Most pithcers don't start 500+ games in their career, so winning 500 would be a very tough feat.

I find it hard to believe more people don't recognize this as the sports record that will TRULY never be broken. At least the 56 game hitting streak COULD be broken. Nobody will ever even have the chance to break Cy Young's records.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

[ QUOTE ]
Cy Young's record for both wins and losses will never even come close to being matched.

[/ QUOTE ]
kevin brown has a shot at the loss record
seriously though, ryans K record probably doesnt get touched

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

yep that's better


(I guess I lied, I wasn't that surprised after all)

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Ripken's record is never going to be broken, mostly since it's a pretty useless record and no one is going to try for it.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Gretsky's records for goals/assists/points.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

So what kind of records did people talk about as 'never going to be broken' before they got broken. What did people say about the homerun record back in '85. Did anyone ever care about the consecutive games played record before Ripken jr broke it. Have records that at first seemed like they would be impossible to break ever been broken before? I don't know any sports history to give poignant examples so I'm asking for help here.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

With dominant pitchers like Johnson and Clemens performing well into their 40s, I think Ryan's record is not completely safe, although it may last a while. Randy Johnson will probably not get there, but could very conceivably hit 5000, which shows you that it's touchable.

With teams in the NBA starting to run again and having success with it, a PG could come along to challenge Stockton's records as well. It's basically like 10 assts/gm for 15 full years. Someone will pass that eventually.

Like others said, pretty much all MLB wins/losses/CGs/SOs pitching records plus Gretzky's points will not be broken.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Well on Lou Gerhig's HOF plaque it mentioned that his record was "meant to stand for all time" so people pretty much saw that as unbreakable. Bob Beamon's long jump was thought to be unbreakable for a long time as well.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

This will be broken eventually, but Michael Johnson's 19.32 in the 200m may be the most impressive current record out there. Has anyone else even broken 19.6?

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

[ QUOTE ]
Gretsky's records for goals/assists/points.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

[ QUOTE ]
ryans K record probably doesnt get touched

[/ QUOTE ]

<---------- [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Seriously though, I agree that things like Cy Young's win record are the safest.

If you limit it to records set in the last half of the century, then I think Gretzky's scoring records are the most untouchable. And not just because there's no hockey right now.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Gretsky's records will probably stand because of the mess the NHL is in.

I'd say that someone would pass Nolan Ryan on the strikeout list before someone passes Rickey Henderson's 1406 career SBs . The total runs scored record is another one. Henderson is at the top with 2295 but Bonds has 2070, so a couple more years (depending on how he recovers) and it will be his.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

The guy (whose name escapes me) who hit two grand slam home runs in the same inning off of Chan-Ho Park. I don't think anyone will ever hit three in one inning off the same pitcher.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

[ QUOTE ]
Gretsky's records for goals/assists/points.

[/ QUOTE ]

Particularly since the NHL might cease to exist.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Cy Young had over 500 wins. The best pitchers from here on out will be lucky to get half of that.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Sorry to go ouside of the big 4 here, but if you do, Richard Pettys 200 career wins, is far and away the career record that will never be broken.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

[ QUOTE ]
This will be broken eventually, but Michael Johnson's 19.32 in the 200m may be the most impressive current record out there. Has anyone else even broken 19.6?

[/ QUOTE ]

This doesnt qualify, as we are talking about career records.

However, EVERY single track and field record that is standing at this current moment will be broken eventually. Thats just plain fact. The human body continues to evolve to be bigger and faster. Not to mention that science continues to evolve and that helps performance too.

yeah, his record is pretty damn awesome, but 40 years from now top high schoolers will be breaking that.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

[ QUOTE ]
The guy (whose name escapes me) who hit two grand slam home runs in the same inning off of Chan-Ho Park. I don't think anyone will ever hit three in one inning off the same pitcher.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fernando Tatis. With the Cardinals!

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Wilt Chamberlain's career rebounds per game record of 22.9 will never be broken. It's probably 100:1 that anyone will top that figure for a single season ever again.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Pete Rose - 4,256 career hits. I player could average 200 hite a year for 21 years and still be short.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Julio Franco will top the hits record when he's 89.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

MLB's career triples leader has 309.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

I remember coming home from cross-country practice in high school just in time for that 200m final. It is the only time I've ever seen televised track and field and been blown away by a performance.

Now on to the meat of what I was going to say: The world record that Michael Johnson broke in 1996 was held by Pietro Mennea of Italy, with a 19.72. That record was set in 1979. 26 years later, I find a grand total of 4 official, legal 200m times faster than this. 3 of those are held by Michael Johnson. 3 of them are within .06 of that 1979 record. Your comment that top high school runners in 40 years will be beating Michael Johnson's record - which is currently a full .3 seconds faster than anything else officially timed under legal conditions, as far as I can tell - just seems kind of silly when held up to these results.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Yup. It's been 9 years since 19.32 and no one has even sniffed anything close. Compare times from ~40 years ago to ones being run now. Lee Evans 43.86 in 1968 400m would have topped Jeremy Wariner's 44.00 to win the gold in Athens 2004. We're not improving nearly as fast as you think.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

[ QUOTE ]
Julio Franco will top the hits record when he's 89.

[/ QUOTE ]

Next year?

-d

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Thanks.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Did you see the race? Wariner was almost walking across the finish line.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Cy Young, Total Wins, as mentioned...

The other LOCK, not mentioned is Kareem's Total NBA Career Points. Never going to see that longevity again.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

I did see the race, and remember him pulling away on the final 100, but don't remember if he let up in the last 10m or not. Nevertheless, his 44.00 is his personal record, so I can't imagine he was taking it THAT easy.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

[ QUOTE ]
Yup. It's been 9 years since 19.32 and no one has even sniffed anything close. Compare times from ~40 years ago to ones being run now. Lee Evans 43.86 in 1968 400m would have topped Jeremy Wariner's 44.00 to win the gold in Athens 2004. We're not improving nearly as fast as you think.

[/ QUOTE ]

wow, I just did some google, and that lee evens must have been pimp, but he has the only times on like the top 200 times that are pre 1970 (linky)

So we are clearly still evolving, and to say that micheal hohnsonsmark will never be broken is just completely ludicris. Maybe in 40 years HS wont be beating it, the smaller distances have less room for improvment, but I will guaruntee that someday they will be.

I remember my dad telling me about whats his nuts breaking the 4 minute mile, and how they said it was impossible, and then said it would never get faster than that. Now there ARE high schoolers that beat that.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Rickey "Today, I am...the greatest...of all time" Henderson's stolen base + total bases record maybe?

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

I really don't think that's evolution at work. I think it is superior nutrition and training methods, coupled with the technology level that allows some people to devote their lives to those things.

-d

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

Career records that will never be broken are ones where the underlying strategy of the game has changed to the point that the conditions that lead to the records don't exist anymore. Case in point is starting pitching in baseball. Records for wins, losses, innings pitched, etc. were set in an era when the starting pitcher's role was different than it is today. They were expected to pitch more innings per game and games per season. Many of them had lengthy careers because their arms were not subject to the injuries modern players get, and they had economic incentive to keep playing vs. having to get a real job.

Another example is stolen base records, and tangentally, the 3 base hit. The stolen base is becoming increasingly irrelevant to the modern power game. IF they decide to deaden the ball, which I can't forsee happening, then the stolen base could become important again.

I think all the NFL career dropkick records are safe too.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

[ QUOTE ]
I really don't think that's evolution at work. I think it is superior nutrition and training methods, coupled with the technology level that allows some people to devote their lives to those things.

-d

[/ QUOTE ]

I wholely agree that that has a ton to do with it, but its also because we keep getting bigger and stronger and faster. I doubt the kid who runs the sub 4 minute mile in high school is more devoted than the guy who first broke it. I also doubt he has better nutrition. His training technique is better, but I think a HUGE part of it is just that we keep evolving.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

this is not evolution, it is understanding nutritiot, our genetics and form better. evolution could not have an impact in two generations. plus, humans who run slow are not getting taken out of the gene population. I think evolution is about... zero percent of this.

Re: Who has the safest career stat lead??
 

[ QUOTE ]
Cy Young, Total Wins, as mentioned...

The other LOCK, not mentioned is Kareem's Total NBA Career Points. Never going to see that longevity again.

[/ QUOTE ]

Malone could easily top this. I'm not saying he will, but he decided he wanted to it would not be difficult at all.