Are They Human:
Major League Career Pitching Records
Thomas Allen
Most of the following statistics are from https://www.mlb.com/stats/pitching/wild-pitch/all-time-totals?expandehttps://www.mlb.com/stats/pitching/wild-pitch/all-time-totals?expande. Clayton Kershaw is still active.
Most seasons pitched: Nolan Ryan 27, Tommy John 26.
Games pitched: Jesse Orosco 1252, Mike Stanton 1178.
Games started: Cy Young 815. Nolan Ryan 773
Complete games: Cy Young 749, Pud Galvin 639.
Games finished: Mariano Rivera 952, Trevor Hoffman 856.
Innings pitched: Cy Young 7356.0, Pud Galvin 5941.1.
Total batters faced: Cy Young 29,567, Walter Johnson 23,420.
Wins: Cy Young 511, Walter Johnson 417.
Win-loss percentage: Spud Chandler 0.717, Clayton Kershaw 0.695.
Strikeouts: Nolan Ryan 5714, Randy Johnson 4875.
Strikeouts per 9 innings: Chris Sale 11.13, Max Scherzer 10.65
Fewest walks per 9 innings: Tommy Bond 0.58, George Bradley 0.67.
Strikeout to walks rate: Chris Sale 5.25, Tommy Bond 4.83.
Shutouts: Walter Johnson 110, Grover Alexander 90.
No-hitters: Nolan Ryan 7, Sandy Koufax 4.
1-hitters: Nolan Ryan 12, Bob Feller 12.
Fewest hits per nine innings: Nolan Ryan 6.54, Sandy Koufax 6.79.
Fewest walks and hits per innings pitched: Addie Joss 0.97, Ed Walsh 1.00.
Lowest batting average against: Nolan Ryan .204, Sandy Koufax .205.
Earn run average: Ed Walsh 1.82, Addie Joss 1.89.
Saves: Mariano Rivera 652, Trevor Hoffman 601.
Many of these records may stand for another century and perhaps forever.
Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_records_considered_unbreakable) identifies the following as career pitching records that may never be exceeded.
Most career wins – 511: Cy Young, 1890–1911;
Most career complete games – 749: Cy Young, 1890–1911;
Most career shutouts – 110: Walter Johnson, 1907–1927;
Most career no-hitters – 7: Nolan Ryan, 1966–1993;
Most career strikeouts – 5,714: Nolan Ryan, 1966–1993;
Most career bases on balls – 2,795: Nolan Ryan, 1966–1993;
Most career wild pitches thrown – 343: Tony Mullane, 1881–1894.
Analyzing the records above, it is clear why the most prestigious award for pitchers, the Cy Young Award, is named after Cy Young; he holds five of the 21 records. Ironically, Ryan also holds six of the 21 records, but he never received the Cy Young Award. Ryan also holds the career records for 2-hitters (18), 3-hitters (31), 200-strikeout seasons (12), 300-strikeout seasons (6), 26 seasons with at least one win, and many more career records.
Copyright © 2025 by Thomas Allen.
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