Major League Baseball Consecutive Games Played Streaks
Listed below are the 15 longest consecutive games played streaks in Major League Baseball history. To compile such a streak, a player must appear in every game played by his team. The streak is broken if the team completes a game in which the player neither takes a turn at bat nor plays a half-inning in the field.
The record of playing in 2,632 consecutive games over more than 16 years is held by Cal Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles. Ripken surpassed Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees, whose legendary record of 2,130 consecutive games had stood for 56 years. Before Gehrig, the record was held by Everett Scott, a shortstop with the Red Sox and Yankees whose streak ended in 1925, less than a month before Gehrig's began.
The record for a National League player is held by Steve Garvey of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres (1975–1983), though Garvey's 1,207-game streak is less than half the length of Ripken's. Previous holders of the National League record include Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs (1963–1970), Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals (1952–1957), and Gus Suhr of the Pittsburgh Pirates (1931–1937).
A notable recent streak was compiled by Miguel Tejada of the Oakland A's and Baltimore Orioles, who played in 1,152 consecutive games from 2000 to 2007. As of August 1, 2012, the current player with the longest active Major League consecutive games streak is Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers with 285, taking the record after Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers was placed on the disabled list, ending his streak at 399 games.
Of the 15 people on this list, eight (Ripken, Gehrig, Williams, Sewell, Musial, Fox, Ashburn, and Banks) are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Read more about Major League Baseball Consecutive Games Played Streaks: Key, List, Official Definition, Streak Starts, Continuations, and Ends, Consecutive Innings, Combined Japanese/U.S. Streak
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There’s naught to kill but the animated dead;”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
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—Bible: Hebrew, Job 5:19-23.
“One of the baseball-team owners approached me and said: “If you become baseball commissioner, you’re going to have to deal with 28 big egos,” and I said, “For me, that’s a 72% reduction.””
—George Mitchell (b. 1933)
“In the past, it seemed to make sense for a sportswriter on sabbatical from the playpen to attend the quadrennial hawgkilling when Presidential candidates are chosen, to observe and report upon politicians at play. After all, national conventions are games of a sort, and sports offers few spectacles richer in low comedy.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Albert Camus (1913–1960)