Try as it may, “Shatterproof” still flimsy if given the test of time

There’s no such thing as an unbreakable record.

That being said, Richard Sowers makes a… There’s no such thing as an unbreakable record.

That being said, Richard Sowers makes a pretty good case for 100 milestones that seem, at least, temporarily untouchable in “Shatterproof: The 100 Most Unbreakable Records in Sports and Why.”

Sowers’ book dissects not only the athletes and their records, but the eras in which they were tallied, to show what will make them just so hard to beat.

It makes good fodder for barroom wagers or bathroom reading. It’s basically a fact book, with context and interesting tidbits.

“Shatterproof” makes three minor references to Pitt football, the most significant being the fact that Dan Marino – who would go on to throw an NFL-record 61,361 career yards passing – went to Pitt.

The Steelers get an even worse treatment: two references, one of which points out that the Steelers cut future legend Johnny Unitas in training camp. The Penguins’ Mario Lemieux is used as a comparison to show just how great The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, was.

Gretzky holds the records for most assists in a season (163) and points in a season (215 – 52 goals, 163 assists). Lemieux, Gretzky’s closest challenger in both categories, only ever reached 114 assists in a season and 199 points in a season, which he got by adding 85 goals to his 114 assists.

Gretzky also holds the record for most goals in a season with 92.

The Pirates’ Chief Wilson receives an honorable mention in “Shatterproof” for hitting 36 triples in 1912.

The one flaw in Sowers’ book is that there’s a simple way to break any record: Change the rules. Sowers does a good job of accounting for changes that have already taken place and their effects on the record books.

But he doesn’t, and in fact can’t possibly, foresee future adjustments to the rules and styles of professional sports.

This season’s high-scoring version of hockey is markedly different from previous seasons and, as Sowers notes, baseball has undergone an offensive boom in the last decade.

It’s unlikely – but not out of the question – that, in 20 years, professional quarterbacks will be playing an extra four games a season, or that college basketball games will be 10 minutes longer.

Sowers points out a number of game changes that have made records more durable – such as the decrease in number of starts a pitcher gets in an average season. But who’s to say that what’s done in professional sports can’t be undone, or what’s more, completely reversed and compensated for?

Maybe baseball will make moves back to fewer teams and shorter playoffs. Maybe the age of the specialist in the NFL will one day come to a close.

Nobody knows.

At any rate, Sowers’ book and the records inside it are, for the time being, safe. “Shatterproof” is galvanized by extensive research and exhaustive reasoning.

It’s a fun read and worth picking up, if for no other reason than to scour over its 100 records, looking for holes, cracks and possible shortcomings.