What's the most astonishing record in sports?

[JS School]

The Chamberlain and Russell thread got me thinking about this. I always thought Wilt getting 55 rebounds in a game was more impressive than 100 points. Particularly since the game was against Boston, although I don't know if Russell played.

DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak is baseball's most famous, but I once thought it was breakable. Particularly when Rose reached 40 games. But with today's reliance on relief pitchers, I think it's more unbreakable than ever.

Mario scoring goals 5 different ways in one game? I'm not the biggest hockey fan, but that seems more like taking advantage of opportunities that were presented,

Byron Nelson winning 11 golf tournaments in a row? I know the competition was watered down during WW II, but I think both Hogan and Snead were back.

My top 3:

3) Cy Young winning 511 games in his career. You could average 20 wins per season for 25 years and still be short.

2) Secretariat getting the Triple Crown by winning the Belmont by 31 lengths. I don't care if only seven horses were entered, most trainers didn't bother because the knew they had no chance.

1) Bob Beamon's long jump in the 1968 Olympics. I know it was at Mexico City's altitude and close to being wind aided, but he broke the record by nearly 2 feet in in a sport where records are usually broken by inches or fractions of a second. We often wonder how old timers in other sports would fare today due to advancements in training. Well, I believe his jump is still the Olympic record and second longest ever.

Just something to argue about when we are short of sports topics to discuss.

 

[joeydavid]

0-18

 

[JS School]

0-18

Astonishing? Kevin Stallings was the coach.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Tiger Woods winning the US Open by 15 strokes is in any discussion. I know it’s a singular event. But he beat the field by 15 strokes. In the US Open. If you’re not a golf fan that might not sound like anything but believe me, it’s up there. He lapped the field many times over.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Wilt having sexual relations with 20,000 women.

 

[JS School]

Tiger Woods winning the US Open by 15 strokes is in any discussion. I know it’s a singular event. But he beat the field by 15 strokes. In the US Open. If you’re not a golf fan that might not sound like anything but believe me, it’s up there. He lapped the field many times over.

I came up with this topic rather hastily. I anticipated there were going to be quite a few examples that I didn't think of off the top of my head. This is definitely one of them.

 

[CJsE]

For career records, probably Gretsky's points or Nolan Ryan's Strikeouts.

 

[JS School]

Wilt having sexual relations with 20,000 women.

Don't underestimate the curiosity of women.

 

[JS School]

For career records, probably Gretsky's points or Nolan Ryan's Strikeouts.

I looked at the NHL record book a few years ago and was amazed at how much better Gretzky and Mario were than everyone else.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Cy Young's 749 complete games. It's basically silliness in the context of baseball now. Like the 56 game hit streak could happen, albeit very unlikely, I can't imagine someone throwing like 40 complete games a year for a few decades.

 

[Las Panteras]

A ballplayer today would have to collect 200 hits a season,

For 20 seasons,

And still be more than 400 hits away from Pete Rose.

No one will ever come close let alone break this record.

 

[JS School]

Cy Young's 749 complete games. It's basically silliness in the context of baseball now. Like the 56 game hit streak could happen, albeit very unlikely, I can't imagine someone throwing like 40 complete games a year for a few decades.

The thing I don't understand about Cy Young is whether he was still the best alternative for his team no matter how tired or old he got, or did the team owner just figure he was already paying a pitcher and he wasn't signing another.

 

[CJsE]

Cy Young's 749 complete games. It's basically silliness in the context of baseball now. Like the 56 game hit streak could happen, albeit very unlikely, I can't imagine someone throwing like 40 complete games a year for a few decades.

I took this thread as to mean ridiculous, not as unbreakable. Obviously Cy's record is unbreakable, but the game was so different at the time. Pitchers were completing 50-60 games per year.

Cy Young's best season in complete games is tied for 124th all-time for most complete games in a season. His greatest accomplishment compared to his contemporaries is his longevity. He lead the league in ERA, innings pitched, and Strikeouts only twice each. He lead the league in complete games 3 times.

Don't get me wrong, he was amazing but the complete games and wins are from such a different era that they might as well be from a different sport.

 

[JS School]

I took this thread as to mean ridiculous, not as unbreakable. Obviously Cy's record is unbreakable, but the game was so different at the time. Pitchers were completing 50-60 games per year.

Cy Young's best season in complete games is tied for 124th all-time for most complete games in a season. His greatest accomplishment compared to his contemporaries is his longevity. He lead the league in ERA, innings pitched, and Strikeouts only twice each. He lead the league in complete games 3 times.

Don't get me wrong, he was amazing but the complete games and wins are from such a different era that they might as well be from a different sport.

I didn't know this. This post may end up being the most astonishing thing of all.

 

[PittAU]

Ripkin's consecutive game streak is pretty incredible in today's world.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Obviously Cy's record is unbreakable, but the game was so different at the time.

That's the thing with a lot of the old team sport records. No one today can do what Cy Young did because the game is completely different. No one today can break Gretzky's single season records because the game is completely different. No one is going to average 50.4 points per game like Chamberlain did because the game is completely different.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Levon Kendall scores 41 for the Canadian National Team

 

[CougarClaws]

Modern NHL hockey - top 2 scorers by year:
1982 212 - 147
1983 196 - 124
1984 205 - 126
1985 208 - 135
1986 215 - 141
1987 183 - 108

Wayne Gretzky put up insane numbers, and the guy that was 2nd in scoring was usually either on his line or Mario Lemieux.

 

[Ronnyp91]

Team thing but the Bills losing four straight Super Bowls will be tough to do again.

Brady 5 TD passes in a quarter.

Scott Skiles 30 assists in a game and Klay’s 37 point quarter come to mind too.

 

[levance2]

A ballplayer today would have to collect 200 hits a season,

For 20 seasons,

And still be more than 400 hits away from Pete Rose.

No one will ever come close let alone break this record.

If Ichiro had a complete MLB career he would have done it.

I don't think some MLB records like this one are so unreachable, they just will take a once-in-a-century guy to do it. I'm not going to project him to play until age 45, but Mike Trout is actually 200 hits ahead of Rose at the same age. If anything, the issue these days is the veteran salaries guys are expecting and there's just no reason for a very rich man to be hitting .250 at 45 years old.

For MLB, I actually think Ted Williams hitting .400 (not a record, but most recent) is something that won't ever be replicated.

 

[bayardstreet]

The Beamon thing is impossible for anyone in any type of sprint, long distance or jump event to beat if you are measuring it by percentage increase. What he did was bizarre adding 2 feet to a record. That percentage increase will never be beaten. Watch the video of his jump and it’s like he was never going to land. Wild

for me it is two baseball records. DiMaggio 56 game hitting streak and Hack Wilson 210 runs batted in.

also Mario 5 goals 5 different ways can’t be broken but only matched. It will never be matched. NEVER !

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Good point on Cy Young and complete games! I get your thread better now. In terms of being ahead of peers, Babe Ruth retired with 714 home runs when no one else had ever hit 400 to that point (and only a handful of players had ever hit 200)

 

[Cap pitt]

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat

 

[CJsE]

Good point on Cy Young and complete games! I get your thread better now. In terms of being ahead of peers, Babe Ruth retired with 714 home runs when no one else had ever hit 400 to that point (and only a handful of players had ever hit 200)

In 1919 Babe Ruth hit 29 Home Runs, one of the lowest totals in his career. 10 out of the other 15 teams in the league hit less 28 Homers that same year. The next season he hit more Home Runs than all but 1 other team. The rest of the league started catching up that point, at least as far as teams combined hitting more home runs that Ruth but those first few years might be the most ridiculous stats. I hadn't even thought about him.

 

[HOF Coach]

SMF saying "SMF knows basketball" over 1 trillion times and still counting...

 

[wbrpanther]

The Chamberlain and Russell thread got me thinking about this. I always thought Wilt getting 55 rebounds in a game was more impressive than 100 points. Particularly since the game was against Boston, although I don't know if Russell played.

DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak is baseball's most famous, but I once thought it was breakable. Particularly when Rose reached 40 games. But with today's reliance on relief pitchers, I think it's more unbreakable than ever.

Mario scoring goals 5 different ways in one game? I'm not the biggest hockey fan, but that seems more like taking advantage of opportunities that were presented,

Byron Nelson winning 11 golf tournaments in a row? I know the competition was watered down during WW II, but I think both Hogan and Snead were back.

My top 3:

3) Cy Young winning 511 games in his career. You could average 20 wins per season for 25 years and still be short.

2) Secretariat getting the Triple Crown by winning the Belmont by 31 lengths. I don't care if only seven horses were entered, most trainers didn't bother because the knew they had no chance.

1) Bob Beamon's long jump in the 1968 Olympics. I know it was at Mexico City's altitude and close to being wind aided, but he broke the record by nearly 2 feet in in a sport where records are usually broken by inches or fractions of a second. We often wonder how old timers in other sports would fare today due to advancements in training. Well, I believe his jump is still the Olympic record and second longest ever.

Just something to argue about when we are short of sports topics to discuss.

Beamon's record was astounding. Everyone talks about the thin air but I didn't see any other jumpers with career jumps like that.
Cal Ripkin's consecutive game streak is untouchable. In this day and age when a player takes a game off for a bruised pinkie I don't see it happening.
Secretariat Triple Crown will never be equaled. Not the way he did it, winning each race in record time. The horse I feel sorry for was Sham. In any other year he probably would have won the triple crown. But he finished second to Secretariat in all three races. A little known fact is Secretariat was the first horse to break 2 minutes in the Kentucky Derby. What people don't realize is Sham was the second to do it, finishing behind Secretariat in 1:59 and 4 tenths.

 

[wbrpanther]

In 1919 Babe Ruth hit 29 Home Runs, one of the lowest totals in his career. 10 out of the other 15 teams in the league hit less 28 Homers that same year. The next season he hit more Home Runs than all but 1 other team. The rest of the league started catching up that point, at least as far as teams combined hitting more home runs that Ruth but those first few years might be the most ridiculous stats. I hadn't even thought about him.

And he was one of the best pitchers in baseball for the Red Sox before the trade.

 

[Las Panteras]

If Ichiro had a complete MLB career he would have done it.

I don't think some MLB records like this one are so unreachable, they just will take a once-in-a-century guy to do it. I'm not going to project him to play until age 45, but Mike Trout is actually 200 hits ahead of Rose at the same age. If anything, the issue these days is the veteran salaries guys are expecting and there's just no reason for a very rich man to be hitting .250 at 45 years old.

For MLB, I actually think Ted Williams hitting .400 (not a record, but most recent) is something that won't ever be replicated.

I'm pretty sure that the year Ted William's hit .406, sacrifice flies counted as at bats.

I think Teddy Ballgame had 8 or 9 sac flies that year.

 

[PITTstorm]

The Beamon thing is impossible for anyone in any type of sprint, long distance or jump event to beat if you are measuring it by percentage increase. What he did was bizarre adding 2 feet to a record. That percentage increase will never be beaten. Watch the video of his jump and it’s like he was never going to land. Wild

for me it is two baseball records. DiMaggio 56 game hitting streak and Hack Wilson 210 runs batted in.

also Mario 5 goals 5 different ways can’t be broken but only matched. It will never be matched. NEVER !

Hack Wilson - 191 RBIs (still won't be broken!)

 

[Thee Jackie Treehorn]

In 1919 Babe Ruth hit 29 Home Runs, one of the lowest totals in his career. 10 out of the other 15 teams in the league hit less 28 Homers that same year. The next season he hit more Home Runs than all but 1 other team. The rest of the league started catching up that point, at least as far as teams combined hitting more home runs that Ruth but those first few years might be the most ridiculous stats. I hadn't even thought about him.

That's nuts. Safe to predict that no MLB player will ever again achieve a single season home run total greater than the entire output of other teams.

For a modern MLB record, Ripken's consecutive game streak won't be surpassed or even remotely approached.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA

 

[bayardstreet]

My mistake on hack Wilson. For some reason I thought it was 210 but it is 190. What’s 20 RBI anyways. LOL

These types of one season or one game records are separate category versus lifetime or career records.

 

[Panther Parrothead]

Longest runs from scrimmage (NFL):

Tony Dorsett and Derrick Henry - 99 yds.

Might be tied, but will never be broken.

 

[Voice of Danno]

A little off topic but Lemieux winning the scoring title the year he missed about a quarter of the season. And had to deal with the after effects of radiation. I always thought it was the greatest individual sport accomplishment.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Sir Don Bradman's Test average of 99.94 in cricket.
Both in the never will be broken realm and the way above the peers of his time realm.

'The second-best Test average from a completed career is Graeme Pollock's 60.97'

Bradman also lost eight years to war or would have had an average easily over a century (his post WW II average was 105.72.)

This is very roughly equivalent to having a baseball player, say Ty Cobb, had batted a little over .500 while everyone else's average remained the same.

 

[CJsE]

A little off topic but Lemieux winning the scoring title the year he missed about a quarter of the season. And had to deal with the after effects of radiation. I always thought it was the greatest individual sport accomplishment.

I didn't even think about that, in that case I'd like to add the entire career of Jim Abbott including his no-hitter.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Mark Madden is a troll but I do enjoy when he talks about stuff like this:
"Steve Zungul - Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame. Known as The Lord of All Indoors, Zungul set just about every indoor soccer scoring record during his 12 year career. Zungul was to indoor soccer what Wayne Gretzky was to hockey. In 423 games he scored 652 goals, 471 assists and 1,123 points."

 

[runshadyrun]

Montreal Canadiens 1976 - 1977. Total of 8 losses, 132 points, + 216 goal differential. They only lost one home game on the year!

 

[PittAU]

Modern NHL hockey - top 2 scorers by year:
1982 212 - 147
1983 196 - 124
1984 205 - 126
1985 208 - 135
1986 215 - 141
1987 183 - 108

Wayne Gretzky put up insane numbers, and the guy that was 2nd in scoring was usually either on his line or Mario Lemieux.

Lemieux's numbers compare very favorably to Gretzky. Wayne averaged 1.92 ppg and Lemieux averaged 1.88 ppg.

If Lemieux did not have the cancer his numbers would have been right there. He missed three seasons right after 161 & 122 point seasons.

Lemieux averaged 0.75 gpg and Gretzky averaged 0.6 gpg.

The first Stanley Cup season Lemieux only played 26 regular season games. He played 23 in the playoffs and was a +14. In 1993-94 he played just 22 regular season games.

 

[PittAU]

Montreal Canadiens 1976 - 1977. Total of 8 losses, 132 points, + 216 goal differential. They only lost one home game on the year!

My favorite team, other than the Penguins, as a kid. That team was incredible. I loved Guy Lafleur.