Jack Taylor of the Chicago Orphans (Cubs) began an extraordinary streak of 187 consecutive complete game starts on June 20, 1901, when he took the loss against the Boston Beaneaters. The streak did experience a brief interruption after the first 39 games, when Taylor appeared as a relief pitcher for 15 games, before resuming his role as a starter. If one factors in his relief appearances, Taylor thus had 202 consecutive appearances in which he was not relieved by another pitcher. The total streak ran from June 1901 to August 1906, during which Taylor accrued 1,727 innings of work.
these kinds of streaks and Ripken’s too seem impossible. I mean how in the hell can anyone go that long and not miss a day a work! Incredible! Blows my mind.
I suppose it helps when you love what you do. But yeah, playing sick? Playing hurt? Not sure I could do it, myself.
and ya know i think ripken played most of these games in their entirety as opposed to pinch hitting or filling in at the end on defense just to extend the streak. that’s just an insane number of games however many it was. it’s like 2500 or whatever divided by 162? Cripes, that’s freaking 15 seasons in a row. impossible.