<P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <Ol> <Li> Cy Young--749 </Li> <Li> Pud Galvin--646 </Li> <Li> Tim Keefe--554 </Li> <Li> Walter Johnson--531 </Li> <Li> Kid Nichols--531 </Li> <Li> Bobby Mathews--525 </Li> <Li> Mickey Welch--525 </Li> <Li> Charley Radbourn--489 </Li> <Li> John Clarkson--485 </Li> <Li> Tony Mullane--468 </Li> <Li> Jim McCormick--466 </Li> <Li> Gus Weyhing--448 </Li> <Li> Grover Cleveland Alexander--437 </Li> <Li> Christy Mathewson--434 </Li> <Li> Jack Powell--422 </Li> <Li> Eddie Plank--410 </Li> <Li> Will White--394 </Li> <Li> Amos Rusie--392 </Li> <Li> Vic Willis--388 </Li> <Li> Tommy Bond--386 </Li> </Ol>

Who has the most complete games in mlb history