Baseball's Best Decade (27 page)

1970s –
No one ever struck out more batters in a decade than Nolan Ryan did in the 1970s. Ryan’s strikeouts in that decade alone would be enough to rank him twenty-third in career strikeouts, more than the career totals of Hall of Famers Warren Spahn, Bob Feller and Christy Mathewson. Ryan led the American League in strikeouts 7 times. Tom Seaver was the National League strikeout champion 5 times during the decade.

Who almost made the list?
Phil Niekro at 1,866, Ferguson Jenkins at 1,841, Don Sutton at 1,767.

The Top Strikeout Pitchers for Each Decade (1980s-2000s)

1980s –
Though his strikeout total for the 1980s slipped by more than 500 from the 1970s, Nolan Ryan was still the best strikeout pitcher in baseball, with more than 500 strikeouts separating him from the rest of the pack. Ryan led his league in strikeouts 3 times during the decade, as did Steve Carlton in the National League and Mark Langston in the American League.

Who almost made the list?
Mike Scott at 1,324, Roger Clemens at 1,215, Dwight Gooden at 1,168.

1990s –
Randy Johnson emerged in the 1990s as a fitting successor to Nolan Ryan as baseball’s strikeout king. In amassing the second-highest strikeout total for any decade, Johnson led his league in strikeouts 5 times, and actually led the majors in strikeouts in 1998, but having split the season between the Seattle Mariners of the American League and the Houston Astros of the National League, ended up leading neither league. Roger Clemens led the American League that year and 3 other times during the 1990s. David Cone, John Smoltz and Curt Schilling each led the National League in strikeouts twice.

Who almost made the list?
Greg Maddux at 1,764, Curt Schilling at 1,561, Pedro Martinez at 1,534.

2000s –
For the second consecutive decade, two pitchers recorded more than 2,000 strikeouts. And for the second consecutive decade, Randy Johnson was the leader of the pack, and led the National League in strikeouts 4 times during the decade. (Johnson was the strikeout leader – in either league – 9 times during his career.) Johan Santana led the American League in strikeouts from 2004-2006.

Who almost made the list?
Curt Schilling at 1,545, Barry Zito at 1,501, Mike Mussina at 1,488.

Top St
rikeout Teams for Each Decade (1920s-1940s)

The Dodgers’ pitching staff led the majors in strikeouts during the 1920s. Burleigh Grimes (top) or Dazzy Vance led the league in strikeouts 8 times during the decade.

The Philadelphia Athletics led the American League in team strikeouts from 1925-1929. Lefty Grove was the individual league leader each of those seasons.

Walter Johnson led the American League in strikeouts 3 times in the 1920s – 11 times overall in his career.