A famous pitcher established a new mark for an individual major league pitching record during the 1986 season. That pitcher extended his record during the 1987 season but finished the year sharing the record with another well known hurler. The second pitcher added to his total during the 1988 season to set a new mark for this record.

Question: What is the record and who are the pitchers who set new marks for it in 1986 and 1988?

Hint #1 – both pitchers are HOFers

Hint #2 – another well known pitcher may set a new mark for this record in the 2014 season

Congratulations to ReliefMan! He correctly identified that, from 1986 to 1988, first Steve Carlton and later Nolan Ryan held the record for the longest streak of consecutive starts without a complete game. Carlton set the record of 56 starts without a CG on Sep 23, 1986, later extending it to 59 games before notching his next CG in 1987. Ryan equaled Carlton’s total on Oct 4, 1987 and extended his streak to 66 games before his next CG in 1988. Today, Ryan’s mark is good for a tie with Jeremy Hellickson for 187th place, while Carlton has slid all the way to 260th spot, tied with Felix Doubront.

The current record-holder is Kirk Reuter who finished his career in 2005 riding a streak of 193 starts since his last CG in 1999. The active leader is Max Scherzer who has never pitched a complete game in 165 career starts. He is thus poised to pass Reuter with a full slate of starts in 2014. Unless, of course, Scherzer finally goes the distance in one of them.