May 30th, 2014 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka If someone were to ask you what baseball’s most impossible record is, what would your answer be?
Would it be Barry Bonds’ 762 career home runs? Would it be his 73 home runs in a single season? Would it be Pete Rose’s 4,256 hits? Would it be Ricky Henderson’s 1,406 career stolen bases?
All of these are very good choices and each has a legitimate chance of never being broken, but the truth of the matter is that they pale in comparison to the one record that absolutely positively will never be broken – not ever. That impossible record belongs to Johnny Vander Meer, who is the only pitcher in major league history to throw two consecutive no-hitters – a feat which he accomplished on June 11 and on June 15, 1938 respectively, with the latter occurring against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.
Although many believe that nothing is impossible, breaking Johnny Vander Meer’s record of two consecutive no-hitters is as impossible as it gets. (AP photo)
Why is Vander Meer’s record untouchable? Well first of all you would have to tie his record by throwing two consecutive no-hitters which, as indicated, no one other than the Prospect, New Jersey native has done in the 145-year history of the game. And then you would have to throw a third consecutive no-hitter which is, quite frankly, impossible.
On Friday evening all eyes will be on Dodgers right-hander Josh Beckett, who threw the 283rd no-hitter in baseball history last Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Ballpark. It was the first no-hitter of the 2014 season and, as such, makes Beckett the only current pitcher in the MLB with a shot at tying Vander Meer’s incredible record. Should he pull this off (and the chances of him doing so are astronomical), then and only then would he have a shot at breaking the most impossible record in baseball history.
The Dodgers are displaying the uniform that Josh Beckett wore during his no-hitter on May 25, 2014 during the current home stand.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
A remarkable side note to all of this no-hitter stuff is that Beckett’s opponent on Friday night will be left-hander Francisco Liriano who himself threw a no-hitter on May 3, 2011 while a member of the Minnesota Twins. Liriano’s catcher that day was Drew Butera who also caught Beckett’s no-hitter last Sunday.
Although anything is possible in the game of baseball, it’s safe to say Johnny Vander Meer’s record is in zero danger of being broken. Now if Beckett does throws a no-hitter tonight, we’ll have to revisit this issue.
Posted in 
As we know, many consider DiMaggio’s 56 consecutive game hitting streak the hardest record to beat but I’m sure they are talking about offensive records. When it comes to Vandermeer’s record, as you say, it’s the hardest to break because it has to be tied first and very few have come anywhere near accomplishing that. I was reading in “Dodger Insider” that Deron Johnson’s lead off HR in the 5th inning after one of Koufax’s no-hitters, was the longest wait for a hit by a Dodger pitcher after that pitcher pitched a no-hitter. I don’t know if anyone did better than that.
Yes I agree, This is the hardest record to beat and may never be broken.
I agree that this record is 99.9% unlikely to ever be broken but in my eyes there is only one record that has a 100% chance of never even being approached…511.
511 wins set by, you guessed it, Cy Young. Any other record you can think of can be broken with the right circumstances, be them longevity, skill set, or just simple luck (every long hit streak has several seeing eye singles or dying quails). 511 wins is impossible because ‘the right circumstance’ simply do not exist in today’s game.
To get to 300 wins is THE number now and only a handful of pitchers have reached that mark and it will be a while until we get the next one. 400 wins will not happen again, let alone 500 and it’s not for lack of talent. You would have to win 25 games a year or more, every year, for 20 seasons to hit that number and that just won’t happen. Or 30 wins for 17 seasons and that is just ridiculous. Even if a pitcher had Cy Young stuff every start two things will stop him; age eventually catching up to him (unless you’re Roger Clemens) and his manager. That’s right, the biggest obstacle for hitting 511 isn’t even something the pitcher can control.
In Cy Young’s day pitchers didn’t have relievers. They would pitch both games of a double header and into extras if needed. If they had the stuff they stayed in the game. Pitch count? They only counted balls to make sure they didn’t run out and have the game end. There was no thought of protecting arms, specialized relievers and certainly no pitch count. In today’s game a pitcher will be pulled in the 7th and hope his guys can hold the lead for him, and unless it’s a decent lead, more times than not they can’t. Most of a pitchers can’t get to 20 wins in a season, let alone 25, because they don’t pitch 20 complete games a season. Relievers are great at what they do but sometimes the hitters are just better and seeing a new arm is all it takes for a team to snap out of their funk.
Sometimes a pitcher is amazing and only gives up 1 run but his opposition throws a shutout. Now win for you because your offense couldn’t deliver. That same offense puts up 8 runs the next night but that does nothing for the other guy though, that start has come and gone.
There are just too many variables that a pitcher can’t control in today’s game to allow that record to even be approached. Nearly every other record is individual, this one is truly a team record. Rest easy, Cy, you’re safe.
I would think also that for the fact that pitchers only pitch every 5 days would affect things more than anything.
@Think_BlueLA where is that uniformed being displayed? LF concourse?
RF Reserved today.