Baseball's Best Decade by Carroll Conklin Page B

easily the most prolific strikeout pitcher of that decade. Vance finished more than 400 strikeouts ahead of runner-up Burleigh Grimes. Lefty Grove led the American League in strikeouts from 1925 to 1929, his first 5 years in the majors. Grove averaged 6.0 strikeouts per inning, just behind Vance’s 6.4 average.
    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)
     
    1950s
Early Wynn
1,544
Robin Roberts
1,516
Billy Pierce
1,487
Warren Spahn
1,464
Harvey Haddix
1,093
     
    1960s
Bob Gibson
2,071
Jim Bunning
2,019
Sandy Koufax
1,910
Don Drysdale
1,910
Juan Marichal
1,840
     
    1970s
Nolan Ryan
2,678
Tom Seaver
2,304
Steve Carlton
2,097
Bert Blyleven
2,082
Gaylord Perry
1,907
     
      
    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.
     
    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