Baseball records that will never be broken, including Cal’s Iron Man Streak and more
By Ryan Morik
While home runs are being hit and batters are striking out at record paces, there are still some baseball records that will never be broken.
After the 2018 Yankees set the MLB record for most home runs hit in a season, with 267, four teams – including the 2019 Yanks – beat that number the following year.
In the modern game it can feel like home run and strikeout records are falling all the time, but there are several baseball record that will never be broken – nor will anyone ever come close.
Here we look back at some of the marks that shouldn’t fall any time soon.
Unbreakable baseball records: Consecutive Games Played
Cal Ripken, Jr. holds the record for most consecutive games started with 2,632. Albert Pujols is the active leader in most games played, overall, with 2,823. Miguel Cabrera is in second place with 2,400. Ripken’s streak is 232 games longer than Cabrera’s overall total games played in his career!
In the 2010s, a player’s 162-game season occurred just 36 times. Ripken alone, played in 162 or more 10 times during his career. In 1985, 1988, 1990, and 1998, the Orioles played in just 161 games — Ripken played in all of them.
So Ripken alone would have had 38.9 percent of the amount of the full seasons that were accomplished in the entire previous decade.
Lou Gehrig’s 2,130 straight games are the second-most ever. Everett Scott played in the third-most consecutive games ever, at 1,307. Ripken has him beat by more than eight seasons.
The active leader in most consecutive games played is at 247, currently held by Whit Merrifield. He’ll have to play 14.7 more seasons without missing a game — or 2,386 consecutive games — to break Ripken’s record.
So you’re telling me there’s a chance…