Complete game - wikipedia Complete game Cy Young, the all - time MLB complete games leader. In baseball, a complete game ( denoted by CG ) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played - pitchers who throw an entire official game that is shortened by rain will still be credited with a complete game, while starting pitchers who are relieved in extra innings after throwing nine or more innings will not be credited with a complete game. A starting pitcher who is replaced by a pinch hitter in the final half inning of a game will still be credited with a complete game. The frequency of complete games has evolved since the early days of baseball. The complete game was essentially an expectation in the early 20th century and pitchers completed almost all of the games they started. In modern baseball, the feat is much more rare and no pitcher has reached 30 complete games in a season since 1975 ; in the 21st century, a pitcher has thrown 10 or more complete games in a season only twice. Contents 1 Historical trend 2 Career leaders 3 Active career leaders 4 Single - season leaders 5 Other records 6 Notes 7 References 8 See also Historical trend Historical MLB complete game trend Year Games started Complete games Complete game % Ref 1904 2,496 2,186 87.6 1914 3,758 2,067 55.0 1924 2,462 1,198 48.7 1934 2,446 1,061 43.4 1944 2,484 1,123 45.2 1954 2,472 840 34.0 1964 3,252 797 24.5 3,890 1,089 28.0 1984 4,210 632 15.0 3,200 255 8.0 4,854 150 3.1 2014 4,860 118 2.4 In the early 20th century, it was common for most good Major League Baseball ( MLB ) pitchers to pitch a complete game almost every start, barring injury or ejection. Pitchers were expected to complete games they started. Over the course of the 20th century, complete games became less common, to the point where a good modern pitcher typically achieves only 1 or 2 complete games per season. ( In the 2012 MLB season, 2.6 % of starts were complete games. ) To put this in perspective, as recently as the 1980s, 10 -- 15 complete games a year by a star pitcher was not unheard of, and in 1980, Oakland Athletics pitcher Rick Langford threw 22 consecutive complete games. Years earlier, Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies threw 28 consecutive complete games, spanning the 1952 and 1953 seasons. This change has been brought about by strict adherence to pitch counts as a basis for removing a pitcher, even though he may appear to be pitching well, and new pitching philosophies in general. Many have come to believe that the risk of arm injuries becomes far more prevalent after a pitcher has thrown 100 to 120 pitches in a single game. Though Hall - of - Famer Nolan Ryan once threw well over 200 pitches in a single game ( a 1974 contest in which he pitched 13 innings ), it is now rare for a manager to allow a pitcher to throw more than 120 pitches in a start. Former pitcher Carl Erskine noted the increase in ex-pitchers on coaching staffs since the 1950s, whom he considered better evaluators of a pitchers ' ability to pitch late into games. Given this, sabermetricians generally regard Cy Young 's total of 749 complete games as the career baseball record most unlikely to ever be broken. Further supporting the belief is that only three pitchers ( Young, Ryan, and Don Sutton ) even made at least 749 starts in their careers. James Shields threw a total of 11 complete games in the 2011 season for the Tampa Bay Rays, becoming the first pitcher to reach double digits in a single season since CC Sabathia threw 10 complete games for the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers in 2008. The last pitcher to throw as many as 15 complete games in a single season was Curt Schilling, who accomplished that feat for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1998. The last pitcher to throw 20 complete games in a single season was Fernando Valenzuela, who did so for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1986. The last pitcher to throw 25 complete games in a season was Rick Langford, who had 28 for the Oakland Athletics in 1980. The last pitcher to throw 30 complete games in a season was Catfish Hunter, who did so for the New York Yankees in 1975. Career Leaders Cy Young -- 749 Pud Galvin -- 646 Tim Keefe -- 554 Walter Johnson -- 531 Kid Nichols -- 531 Bobby Mathews -- 525 Mickey Welch -- 525 Charley Radbourn -- 489 John Clarkson -- 485 Tony Mullane -- 468 Jim McCormick -- 466 Gus Weyhing -- 448 Grover Cleveland Alexander -- 437 Christy Mathewson -- 434 Jack Powell -- 422 Eddie Plank -- 410 Will White -- 394 Amos Rusie -- 392 Vic Willis -- 388 Tommy Bond -- 386 All pitchers above are right - handed, except for Eddie Plank. All also played most or all of their careers before the start of the modern live - ball era of baseball, which began during the 1920 season and was fully established in 1921. Among pitchers whose entire careers were in the live - ball era, the all - time leader in complete games is Warren Spahn, whose total of 382 places him 21st all - time. Active career leaders Through July 28, 2017, the top 10 active players who lead MLB in career complete games are : Rank Name Complete games CC Sabathia 38 Bartolo Colón 36 Félix Hernández 25 Clayton Kershaw 25 5 James Shields 23 Justin Verlander 23 7 Adam Wainwright 22 8 Ervin Santana 20 9 John Lackey 18 10 Johnny Cueto 17 Single - season Leaders Will White -- 75 ( 1879 ) Charley Radbourn -- 73 ( 1884 ) ( tie ) Pud Galvin -- 72 ( 1883 ) ( tie ) Guy Hecker -- 72 ( 1884 ) ( tie ) Jim McCormick -- 72 ( 1880 ) Pud Galvin -- 71 ( 1884 ) ( tie ) John Clarkson -- 68 ( 1885 ) ( tie ) John Clarkson -- 68 ( 1889 ) ( tie ) Tim Keefe -- 68 ( 1883 ) Bill Hutchinson -- 67 ( 1892 ) ( tie ) Jim Devlin -- 66 ( 1876 ) ( tie ) Matt Kilroy -- 66 ( 1886 ) ( tie ) Matt Kilroy -- 66 ( 1887 ) ( tie ) Charley Radbourn -- 66 ( 1883 ) ( tie ) Toad Ramsey -- 66 ( 1886 ) ( tie ) Pud Galvin -- 65 ( 1879 ) ( tie ) Bill Hutchinson -- 65 ( 1890 ) ( tie ) Jim McCormick -- 65 ( 1882 ) Silver King -- 64 ( 1888 ) ( tie ) Tony Mullane -- 64 ( 1884 ) ( tie ) Mickey Welch -- 64 ( 1880 ) ( tie ) Will White -- 64 - ( 1883 ) All pitchers right - handed except Matt Kilroy and Toad Ramsey. The record for complete games in a live - ball season is 33, set at the dawn of the era by Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1920 and Burleigh Grimes in 1923, and also by Dizzy Trout in 1944, when baseball 's player pool was severely diluted due to World War II. Other Records Jack Taylor completed 187 consecutive games he started between 1901 and 1906. Leon Cadore and Joe Oeschger share the record for the longest complete game, achieved when they pitched against each other in a 26 - inning marathon that ended in a 1 -- 1 tie on May 1, 1920. Notes Jump up ^ Dickson, Paul ( 1999 ). The new Dickson baseball dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 130. ISBN 978 - 0 - 15 - 600580 - 7. Retrieved August 27, 2011. ^ Jump up to : Baseball Prospectus 2007, p. 75 Jump up ^ `` 2013 Major League Baseball Pitching Splits ''. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 27, 2014. Jump up ^ 2012 Major League Baseball Season Summary Jump up ^ Rick Langford Game Logs 1980 Season Jump up ^ Baseball Prospectus 2007, p. 79 Jump up ^ June 14, 1974 Boxscore, Red Sox vs. Angels Jump up ^ Zimniuch, Fran ( 2010 ). Fireman : The Evolution of the Closer in Baseball. Chicago : Triumph Books. pp. 73 -- 4. ISBN 978 - 1 - 60078 - 312 - 8. Jump up ^ `` Career Leaders & Records for Games Started ''. Baseball - Reference. Retrieved July 22, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Active Career Leaders in Complete Games ''. Baseball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 27, 2014. Jump up ^ Single Season Leaders in Complete Games Jump up ^ SABR 's Baseball Biography Project : Jack Taylor Jump up ^ Complete Games Records by Baseball Almanac References Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts ( 2007 ). Baseball Between the Numbers : Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong. New York, New York : Basic Books. ISBN 978 - 0 - 465 - 00547 - 5. Retrieved March 5, 2011. See also List of Major League Baseball records considered unbreakable Baseball statistics Batting Batting average On - base percentage Slugging percentage Hit Single Double Triple Home run Extra-base hit Grand slam RBI Game - winning RBI Walk Bunt Sacrifice bunt Sacrifice fly On - base plus slugging Base running Run Stolen base Stolen base percentage Caught stealing Pitching Win -- loss record Innings pitched Pitchers of record Save Hold Run Earned ERA Strikeout Walk Perfect game No - hitter WHIP BB / 9 K / 9 Quality start Complete game Shutout Wild pitch Fielding Fielding percentage Assist Putout Error Fielder 's choice Defensive indifference Passed ball Sabermetrics Adjusted ERA+ Base runs Batting park factor Catcher 's ERA Defensive Runs Saved Extrapolated Runs Game score Isolated Power Range factor Runs created Secondary average Speed Score NERD Out of zone plays made Ultimate zone rating Weighted on - base average Wins Above Replacement Win probability added Win Shares Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Complete_game&oldid=832626013 '' Categories : Pitching statistics Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from July 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français 한국어 Latina 日本 語 Polski Русский Svenska 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 27 March 2018, at 02 : 39. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who has the most complete games in mlb history
Answer: Catfish Hunter