Reggie Jackson is way ahead of #2 Willie Stargell, 2,597 to
1,936, but some major leaguers are closing fast. Mike Schmidt has
1,883 and Tony Perez‘s election to the Hall of Fame with 1,867
strikeouts means that now-#5 Dave Kingman‘s 1,816 whiffs are the
most by any eligible player not in the Hall. Perhaps someday, a committee
of fans will move to rectify that oversight as the BBWAA did with Perez.
Here are some prominent strikeout artists still playing in the major
leagues, or on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the case of Jose Canseco
and Fred McGriff. Strikeouts are as of June 5 and the three-year
average is 1997 through 1999.
| Active Strikeout Kings | ||||
| Player | Age | Ks | 3-Yr. Avg. | Comments |
| Jose Canseco | 35 | 1,812 | 139 | Will pass Schmidt for #3 this year if healthy. |
| Fred McGriff | 36 | 1,514 | 112 |
Has struck out in more ballparks than any other player with remarkable consistency. |
| Mark McGwire | 36 | 1,445 | 152 |
Didn’t master the strikeout until he got to the NL. |
| Sammy Sosa | 31 | 1,428 | 172 | Eight years away. |
| Matt Williams | 34 | 1,183 | 101 | A victim of injuries; won’t make it. |
| Mo Vaughn | 32 | 1,143 | 142 | He won’t make it: early career discipline dooms him. |
| Ken Griffey | 30 | 1,034 | 117 | Increasing his strikeouts, but too little, too late? |
| Juan Gonzalez | 30 | 973 | 113 | Strikes out less often than you’d think. |
| Jim Thome | 29 | 943 | 153 | He probably won’t make it, but could end up high on the list. |
| Carlos Delgado | 27 | 676 | 138 | Ditto. |
| Tony Clark | 27 | 584 | 135 | Started too late, plus won’t hold his job long enough. |
| Alex Rodriguez | 24 | 543 | 110 |
Keeps increasing his TTO (Three True Outcomes), which makes him a contender. |
| Derek Jeter | 25 | 501 | 120 | He’ll have to increase strikeout totals to have a chance. |
| Andruw Jones | 23 | 403 | 113 |
…and decreasing. He won’t make it, but could end up in the top ten if the bar doesn’t move too much. |
John Olerud‘s tutoring of Alex Rodriguez gives him amazing
potential. Rodriguez’s patience at the plate has improved his
strikeout-to-walk ratio, but has also increased his strikeouts to nearly
one per game. If that trend holds, he could pass Jackson in 2013 or 2014.
If Sammy Sosa breaks the record, it will be unclear if it will be
tainted by the improved ability of players to strike out these days.
Jackson had to strike out more than 100 times a year for 19 straight years
(with the exception of strike year 1981) without the advantage of
constantly facing fresh relief pitchers in the late innings.
Jackson was a dedicated strikeout batter, even striking out 97 times
playing part time as a DH for the Oakland A’s in 1987. He had 100-strikeout
seasons for four different teams in three different decades. Others may
argue that Jackson holds the record in a Harold Bainesian manner of
endurance, because he only had four seasons in which he averaged more than
a strikeout a game. Perhaps I’m too sentimental, but I feel that there’s
more meaning to Reggie’s accomplishment, which was done at a time when it
was really something special to strike out 150 times in a season.
Thank you for reading
This is a free article. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment.
Subscribe now