The hardest record to break in major league baseball is a pitching record. Complete games. This record is not in any jeopardy and since it is a career record it can be accurately projected that no one will break this record in this century. Cy Young pitched for 22 years and completed 749 of the 815 games he started; both are major league records. Over ninety percent of the games he started he finished. Compare that to Roger Clemens; arguably the best pitcher in the last forty years, he only completed 118 of the 707 games he started. Even Babe Ruth was able to complete over 100 games as a starting pitcher. Of the top 20 active pitchers today not one has more complete games than Roger Clemens and all but Roy Halladay, who has 31 complete games, is on the downside of their career.

Pitchers today are no longer groomed to go nine innings. From a young age there are restrictions put on pitchers that will insure that Cy Young's record will probably never be approached. Pitchers are not given the chance to complete games. The game has changed too much. There is too much money invested in them. And it's not up to the manager either. If you think about it, it is easier to replace a manager than a twenty game winner. A stud pitcher can easily sign for hundreds of millions of dollars and no owner or general manager will ever allow a manager to use a pitcher in a way that will jeopardize their investment. There are meetings that outline how a pitcher will be used, where he pitches, who he pitches against and when and how many pitches he can throw.

Today's game has been carved up into little pieces. The starter is expected to last five, maybe six innings. Then the middle relievers cover the seventh and eighth innings and then the closer comes in to nail down the ninth. There are also specialists that are only expected to face one batter a game. Usually some odd throwing lefty whose only job is to get out the other teams big lefty hitter. For instance, the Yankees always have a lefty whose only job is to get "Big Papi" of the Red Sox out.

For years when a starting pitcher was given the ball by the manager, the game was his and he was expected to finish it. There was no pitch count. There were no relievers. If you got into trouble you had to work your way out of it. No one coddled you. You had to pitch to keep your job. Before free agency you could be buried in the minors and if you got hurt you were tossed onto the heap of used up arms that littered ballfields across the nation.

If you were in the bull-pen it usually meant you were not good enough to be a starter. Starters working on three days rest was not unusual. Four man pitching rotations were the norm. And if you were unlucky enough to be on a staff with only a couple of good pitchers, well good luck. Get ready to log a lot of innings. Plus the best pitchers were always juggled around to face the other teams ace.

Over the last forty years the trend has been to limit starting pitchers with a pitch count. Many of us think that the pitch count is a new thing but actually this started in the 1950s What used to be known only to the pitching coach and manager is now posted on scoreboards and annoyingly referenced by announcers every time a pitcher gets into trouble.

Due to the increasing size and speed of todays athlete every single season record is fair game and will probably be eclipsed. Every offensive career total is in jeopardy as well. But one thing for sure if you are looking for a record that is safe then you need go no further than the career record in complete games. Rest easy Cy.

Learn more about this author, Jay Nolan.
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