Nolan Ryan leads 5 candidates for strongest MLB records never mentioned

Some MLB records, such as the seven no-hitters of Nolan Ryan, are known by even the general public that doesn’t follow baseball. But, what is the strongest MLB record never mentioned?

Most baseball fans know about Joe DiMaggio’s consecutive-game hitting streak record, set in 1941, and that Ted Williams became the last .400 hitter for a full season the same year. Or, even Nolan Ryan and his seven-career no-hitters. But how many know these also amazing nominees for the strongest still-standing MLB record?

The Challenges:

1) Late in the last century the only MLB player to ever personally blitz-bomb another team dropped two grand slams in the same inning on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

Who did that, and which team did he play for? For extra credit, come within three months of the date of this feat.

2) On May 17, 1945, an oddball MLB record was set by the entire American League that had nothing to do with accomplishments on the field. Which record is that? For extra credit explain why this is very possibly the most unassailable record still on the books, perhaps even more so than Cy Young’s total victory record.

3) Game-winning runs batted in (GWRBI) was an official statistic from only 1980 until 1988, so records for them will stand forever, or at least until game-winning batters are again deemed “countable.” What, then, is the “eternal” MLB record for consecutive GWRBI, and who holds that?

4) Give the MLB career pitching record for walks.

5) Finally, on June 6, 1939, the record for home runs by one team in one inning was set, and although later tied, has never been broken. Which team originally set this record, and which players participated in the bombing campaign?

The Answers:

1) On April 23, 1999 (Shakespeare’s 435^th birthday), the St. Louis Cardinals’ Fernando Tatis smashed two Big Fours off Chan Ho Park in the third inning of a Redbirds’ 12-5 win at Dodger Stadium. Tatis had never hit a grand slam before that in the majors. With two that inning, that day, he also set the MLB record for runs batted in for one frame (eight – pretty obviously). Tatis was on his way to the best year of his career – 24 homers, 107 RBI, and a .298 BA.

2) Seventy-three years ago, May 17 saw the fourth consecutive day that all scheduled AL games were rained out. This is a record likely never to be broken because there are more teams in each league now, they are spread out across the entire country, and there are domed stadiums, making it quite unlikely that an entire league’s slate of games will ever again be followed by “ppd, rain” – much less, four days running.

3) Kirk Gibson set the consecutive GWRBI mark at five while he played for the Detroit Tigers.  He set the MLB record between July 13 and 20, inclusive, 1986. Only one of his game-winning RBI came on a walk-off home run, on July 19 in a 5-3 win over Texas in the 12^th inning.

4) Nolan Ryan holds the career record for walks with 2795, and is 962 ahead of the second player on list, Steve Carlton. The first active player on the list, CC Sabathia, is 1774 behind Nolan Ryan. Sabathia was No.108 on the list as of May 29.

5) The MLB record for most HRs in an inning was originally set by the New York Giants. Those who homered were Burgess Whitehead, Manny Salvo, Jo-Jo Moore, Harry Danning and Frank Demaree. Salvo was a rookie pitcher, and the home run he hit that day was his only one. This team record was later tied by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1949, the San Francisco Giants in ’61, the Minnesota Twins in ’66, the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006, and the Washington Nationals in ’17.

Next: Tony Gwynn: Mr. Padre’s legend and legacy

This seems a record that may eventually fall in the current era of launch angle examination, but then again, it has been tied five times already but hasn’t fallen in almost 80 years.