In the beginning I used to make one terrible play a game. Then I got so I'd make one a week and finally I'd pull a bad one about once a month. Now, I'm trying to keep it down to one a season.

After describing Gehrig as "the finest example of a ballplayer sportsman and citizen that baseball has ever known" McCarthy could stand it no longer. He batted fourth in the lineup to Ruth's third in the order making it impractical to give up an intentional walk to Ruth. His 184 RBIs in 1931 remain the American League record as of 2010 and rank second all-time to Hack Wilson's 191 RBIs in 1930.

He was selected to each of the first seven All-Star games (though he did not play in the 1939 game as he retired one week before it was held) and he won the American League's (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1927 and 1936. His streak long considered one of baseball's few unbreakable records stood for 56 years until finally broken by Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles on September 6 1995.