Baseball's Best Decade (26 page)

Who almost made the list?
George Uhle at 808, Red Faber at 804, Bob Shawkey at 788.

1930s –
Lefty Grove continued his string of seasons leading the American League in strikeouts through 1931. Lefty Gomez led the league in strikeouts 3 times, and Red Ruffing was the league’s strikeout king only in 1932. In the National League, Carl Hubbell racked up the most strikeouts for the decade while leading the league only once. The St. Louis Cardinals’ Dizzy Dean was the senior circuit’s strikeout champion four times before injury curtailed his career.

Who almost made the list?
Tommy Bridges at 1,207, Van Mungo at 1,022, Charley Root at 1,018.

1940s –
Hal Newhouser led the major leagues in strikeouts during the 1940s, though his strikeouts-per-9-innings ratio (5.8) was lower than that of runner-up Bob Feller (6.6), who led the American League in strikeouts in 5 of the 6 full seasons he played. In the National League, Johnny Vander Meer led in strikeouts 3 times.

Who almost made the list?
Kirby Higbe at 853, Allie Reynolds at 791, Mort Cooper at 772.

The Top
Strikeout Pitchers for Each Decade (1950s-1970s)

From 1920 through 1959, only one Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher led the National League in strikeouts: Preacher Roe (left) in 1945. During that period, every other team in the league had at least two strikeout leaders. In the next 4 decades, the only other Pirate to lead the NL in strikeouts was Bob Veale in 1964.

Sandy Koufax (left) tied for third in strikeouts during the 1960s with teammate Don Drysdale. Koufax led the NL in strikeouts 4 times before retiring in 1966.

Bob Gibson struck out more batters in the 1960s than any other pitcher, even though he led the National League in strikeouts only once.

Sam McDowell led the American League in strikeouts 4 times during the 1960s.

1950s –
For the first time in the Twentieth Century, the 1950s produced 2 pitchers with 1,500 or more strikeouts for the decade (and Billy Pierce fell short of that mark by only 13 strikeouts). Early Wynn and Herb Score both led the American League in strikeouts twice. Robin Roberts led the National League in strikeouts twice, while Warren Spahn and Sam Jones each topped the senior circuit 3 times.

Who almost made the list?
Johnny Antonelli at 1,046, Mike Garcia at 1,000, Sam Jones at 994.

1960s –
For the first time since the end of the dead ball era, a pitcher struck more than 2,000 batters in a decade – in this case, two right-handed pitchers, Bob Gibson and Jim Bunning. Gibson and Bunning led their leagues in strikeouts once and twice, respectively. Sandy Koufax led the National League in strikeouts 4 times, as did Sam McDowell in the American League.

Who almost made the list?
Sam McDowell at 1,663, Jim Maloney at 1,585, Jim Kaat at 1,435.