10 most impressive sports streaks of all time

2. Cal Ripken Jr.’s Iron Man Streak (1982-98)

If you go down the injury report of any professional sports team in the modern era, you’re going to laugh now and then at some of the ailments keeping players out of action. Perhaps the most hilarious instance comes from the NBA when San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich sat out Tim Duncan with the listed reason being “DNP – Old.” While factual, instances like that and the minor injuries that players sit out with make what Cal Ripken Jr. accomplished all the more astounding.

Obviously it’s at least slightly unfair to compare injuries in the 1980s and 90s to now given the advances in training and medical technology since then. Even still, it’s hard to fathom someone playing more than 2,500 consecutive games in a streak that spanned 16 MLB seasons. However, that’s what Ripken accomplished over the course of his Iron Man streak.

Lou Gehrig previously held the record for most consecutive games played for a streak that spanned 14 seasons and 2,130 games. However, Ripken absolutely shattered that mark somehow as his total finally rounded out at 2,632 games. Even if you’re one of those naysayers that doesn’t believe in the physical toll that baseball can take on your body, that kind of longevity, endurance and durability is incredible. It’s a record that surely won’t ever be broken and that truly stands singular in the attributes needed to achieve it.