Rocky Marciano’s 49
Boxing
Marciano began his professional career in 1947 by beating Lee Epperson, and over the next eight years, he proceeded to defeat all 49 of his opponents – 43 by knockout. In doing so, Marciano became the first heavyweight to go undefeated throughout his entire career.
Michael Schumacher’s 7 championships
F1 Driving
Schumacher made his Formula 1 debut in 1991, and just one year later, he managed a third-place finish in the overall drivers’ standings. By 1994, Schumacher had truly arrived, winning the first of his seven F1 points titles. He performed the feat again in 1995, then moved over to the Ferrari team and won each year between 2000 and 2004.
Ty Cobb’s 366 career batting average
Baseball
The Georgia Peach played 24 seasons from 1905 to 1928, and outside of his rookie year, he never hit below 316. Regardless of one’s opinion of Cobb as a person, his incredible statistics are indisputable: he hit over 380 nine times, batted above 400 three times, and finished with a career batting average of 366, well ahead of Rogers Hornsby, whose 358 places him second.
Nolan Ryan’s 7 no-hitters
Baseball
Nolan Ryan broke into baseball in 1966 as the second-youngest player in the league. By the time he retired as Major League Baseball’s oldest in 1993, he had thrown seven no-hitters, making him by far the all-time record holder (Sandy Koufax sits second, with four). Ryan’s first no-no came on May 15, 1973, and he recorded his second exactly two months later.
Wayne Gretzky’s 215-point season
Hockey
This mark set in 1985-86 simply can’t be surpassed. During this magical season, The Great One averaged 2.69 points per game. In NHL history, only Mario Lemieux has even come close to matching that pace over a campaign, but he didn’t play all 80 games, as Gretzky did.
Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point night
Basketball
Wilt’s 100 points in a game will not be challenged simply because the sport has changed so much. In an era in which entire teams often struggle to score 100 points in a game, a repeat of what happened on March 2, 1962 isn’t likely. During the game, Chamberlain also set records for most field goals (36), free throws (28 of 32), points in a quarter (31), and points in a half (59), while breaking his own record of 78 points in a game set earlier that season.
John Wooden’s 88 straight wins
Basketball
This record harkens back to when college players stuck around for four years and turned their programs into dynasties. Under the tutelage of the Wizard of Westwood and with Bill Walton leading the way, the UCLA Bruins won 88 straight games – between two losses to Notre Dame on January 23, 1971 and January 19, 1974 – a span that included three of the record seven straight NCAA championships won by UCLA from 1967 to 1973.
Improve your vocabulary!
proceed – postępować, kontynuować
defeat – pokonać
entire – cały
indisputable – bezsprzeczny
likely – prawdopodobny