The Iron Men of Baseball

In September of 1998, Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken, Jr., sat out a game, voluntarily ending his remarkable streak of 2,632 consecutive games played. Between the years of 1925 and 1939, New York Yankee Lou Gehrig played 2,130 consecutive games, a record which many fans thought would never be broken. Since the beginning of major league baseball, 124 players - Ripken and Gehrig among them - have held the title of Iron Man, a designation reserved for the active player with the most consecutive games played. This reference book contains an historical and statistical review of each player who has held the title of Iron Man. From Paul Hines (1876) to Miguel Tejada (2004), the players are arranged chronologically with information addressing the beginning and ending date of each streak as well as basic biographical details. Statistics include games played, at-bats, runs scored, hits, home runs, runs batted in, strikeouts and batting average. Appendices provide a chronological listing and season-by-season review of major league Iron Men; longest consecutive playing streaks (500 or more games) with their dates and progression; miscellaneous consecutive games played records; and a season-by-season review of players' perfect attendance.