In 1973, former baseball commissioner Ford Frick published a list of ten baseball feats that he felt would never be repeated and of records he considered unbreakable. Frick is well known as the man who put the asterisk next to Roger Maris' single-season home run record and who helped launch the Baseball Hall Of Fame. His list, however, has not stood the test of time very well (noder's comments indented and italicized)...


1. Cy Young's pitching record of 511 games won during his career.

2. Charles Radbourn's record of sixty pitching victories in a single season.

3. Kid Nichols' feat of winning thirty or more games per season for seven consecutive seasons.

None of the above are likely to be broken until radical changes are made to the way pitching staffs are handled in modern major league baseball.

4. Walter Johnson's lifetime record of 3,508 strikeouts.

Broken by Steve Carlton in 1983, and followed by eight others. The current record holder is Nolan Ryan with 5,714.

5. Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive games.

Broken by Cal Ripken, Jr. on September 7, 1995. Ripken hit a home run in a 4-0 defeat of the California Angels at Camden Yards.

6. The record of one-hundred or more RBIs for thirteen consecutive seasons - also by Lou Gehrig.

Manny Ramirez (9) and Alex Rodriguez (10) probably have the best chance of breaking this. Albert Pujols (6) has an outside shot.

2012 Edit: A-Rod tied the record with 13. Pujols had 10 straight but came up one short of 100 last year. Ryan Howard is at six right now and Miguel Cabrera is at eight.

7. Ty Cobb's record of 4,191 lifetime hits.

Broken by Pete Rose of the Reds on September 11, 1985. Rose singled to left-center off Eric Show of the Padres.

8. Joe DiMaggio's record of hitting safely in fifty-six consecutive games.

9. Babe Ruth's lifetime record of 2,056 bases on balls.

Broken by Rickey Henderson of the Padres on April 26, 2001, drawing a ninth inning walk off Jose Mesa of the Phillies. Umpire Al Clark called ball four. Subsequently decimated by Barry Bonds (currently over 2,500 and counting). Good one, Ford.

10. Don Larsen's perfect World Series game.

This is sort of ridiculous to have on the list because it's not a breakable mark.